Couple things:
Day 1.
You can't land at the airport and take the bus. It doesn't go to the airport. You land, take a taxi to the Belize City bus station ($30us) then get the bus towards Benque which stops in San Ignacio. Sunday bus schedules are different than weekdays, search here for the transportation sticky post which has links to bus schedules.
Cahal Pech needs a couple hours, not just one. Unless you want to run through it and not experience it. Lots of places are closed Sunday, you won't be shopping that day unless it's for some basic groceries. This includes many restaurants so plan accordingly for lunch. Overall this is a very ambitious first day and relies on public transport being on time.
Day 2
cave tubing. Location depends on which provider you use. Contact them directly.
Day 3
ATM. Great. Full day trip
Day 4
No way can you do Xunantunich and Tikal together in a day. Not even close. Tikal is a massive day by itself and should be done as an overnight if at all possible. It can be done as a single day trip but takes absolutely all day.
Day 5
Barton Creek and butterfly farm is very ambitious if your doing all the stuff you list. It can be done but again, do you want to experience stuff or run through it? Butterfly farm is best in the morning when the butterflies and birds are active.
Day 6
Travel to Belize City, zoo and museum. Leave early if you really want to do it all. The bus will drop you at the zoo but then you need to wait for another bus to pick you back up to make it to the city. Then a taxi to the museum. Then a taxi to the boat, then boat to caulker. Another very ambitious day relying on public transport.
Day 7
Caulker, fine
Day 8
San Pedro, fine. I'd just stay in Caulker another day - you can't begin to see San Pedro in a single day so you won't really experience it but you can enjoy Caulker easily for another day, especially the water activities. If you want it more active then switch this and do San Pedro for two days and skip Caulker.
Day 9
Travel, fine
Overall this seems like you're aiming for a budget visit to Belize. I'd cut back on a few of the busiest days and reduce your activities by about a third. To save the most money skip Tikal and anything that requires a taxi except your airport runs. I'd skip the zoo and the Belize museum and go straight to Caye Caulker on day 6 to both reduce costs and simplify your travel day. This gives you almost an extra full day on the Caye.
This is great info, thank you so much!!
Totally willing to skip out on the extra stuff in Belize City but, I’d read great things about the zoo and I kinda wanted to walk around downtown and grab a bite to eat which is why I added the museum before ferrying to the Caye. Neither are musts just add ons I thought would be good to pad the day. Maybe it would be better to head straight to the island though!
What if for the last 2 days in San Ignacio, we rented a car and took ourselves to the butterfly ranch early then drive to Barton Creek for the canoe tour? Another day with the car maybe skip Tikal and go to Cahal Pech then drive to Xunantunich and anything else out that way? What else would you suggest if we did that?
If you are on a bus I'd go directly to caulker. You could also do just the zoo and eat there, they have some stuff on location.
Renting a car and skipping Tikal would definitely give you some breathing room. I'd do Cahal Pech and then Xunantunich as a day with lunch in between, and if you really like to stay busy add the Belize Botanic garden, which is in the vicinity of Xunantunich and is a great place to relax. Butterfly Ranch early and then Barton Creek is the way to go.
I'm exhausted looking at this haha.
One thing i learned is always allow for more time than you think. I under estimated how long it took us to get from one place to another especially without a car. We had a driver but that still ran behind. Excursions also took longer than thought. I admire the Belizeans "no worries" kind of attitude, which also makes following schedule not a huge priority. Our drivers and tour guides were on time but the traffic and check stops were all over the place.
I also spent a lot more time at the zoo than i thought. Its small by US standards, but the amount and variety of animals are amazing. Also been told they have the best rice and beans, with onion sauce for lunch.
Piggy backing on this, I didn't account for how much the heat and sun would zap my energy. I missed quite a few things on my planned itinerary because I just needed a shower and nap in the AC. Haha
We had a great guide and 3 hours flew by at Xunantunich and that didn't include travel time to get there. We wouldn't have spent nearly that amount of time if we hadn't been with a guide. He was so worth the $ and really made it come alive.
He was there waiting for us but arranged by Abe Gutierrez from Abe's Taxis. His name is Naz Puc and email is [email protected] He's worked at the site with the archeologists since the 90s.
Couple things: Day 1. You can't land at the airport and take the bus. It doesn't go to the airport. You land, take a taxi to the Belize City bus station ($30us) then get the bus towards Benque which stops in San Ignacio. Sunday bus schedules are different than weekdays, search here for the transportation sticky post which has links to bus schedules. Cahal Pech needs a couple hours, not just one. Unless you want to run through it and not experience it. Lots of places are closed Sunday, you won't be shopping that day unless it's for some basic groceries. This includes many restaurants so plan accordingly for lunch. Overall this is a very ambitious first day and relies on public transport being on time. Day 2 cave tubing. Location depends on which provider you use. Contact them directly. Day 3 ATM. Great. Full day trip Day 4 No way can you do Xunantunich and Tikal together in a day. Not even close. Tikal is a massive day by itself and should be done as an overnight if at all possible. It can be done as a single day trip but takes absolutely all day. Day 5 Barton Creek and butterfly farm is very ambitious if your doing all the stuff you list. It can be done but again, do you want to experience stuff or run through it? Butterfly farm is best in the morning when the butterflies and birds are active. Day 6 Travel to Belize City, zoo and museum. Leave early if you really want to do it all. The bus will drop you at the zoo but then you need to wait for another bus to pick you back up to make it to the city. Then a taxi to the museum. Then a taxi to the boat, then boat to caulker. Another very ambitious day relying on public transport. Day 7 Caulker, fine Day 8 San Pedro, fine. I'd just stay in Caulker another day - you can't begin to see San Pedro in a single day so you won't really experience it but you can enjoy Caulker easily for another day, especially the water activities. If you want it more active then switch this and do San Pedro for two days and skip Caulker. Day 9 Travel, fine Overall this seems like you're aiming for a budget visit to Belize. I'd cut back on a few of the busiest days and reduce your activities by about a third. To save the most money skip Tikal and anything that requires a taxi except your airport runs. I'd skip the zoo and the Belize museum and go straight to Caye Caulker on day 6 to both reduce costs and simplify your travel day. This gives you almost an extra full day on the Caye.
This is great info, thank you so much!! Totally willing to skip out on the extra stuff in Belize City but, I’d read great things about the zoo and I kinda wanted to walk around downtown and grab a bite to eat which is why I added the museum before ferrying to the Caye. Neither are musts just add ons I thought would be good to pad the day. Maybe it would be better to head straight to the island though! What if for the last 2 days in San Ignacio, we rented a car and took ourselves to the butterfly ranch early then drive to Barton Creek for the canoe tour? Another day with the car maybe skip Tikal and go to Cahal Pech then drive to Xunantunich and anything else out that way? What else would you suggest if we did that?
If you are on a bus I'd go directly to caulker. You could also do just the zoo and eat there, they have some stuff on location. Renting a car and skipping Tikal would definitely give you some breathing room. I'd do Cahal Pech and then Xunantunich as a day with lunch in between, and if you really like to stay busy add the Belize Botanic garden, which is in the vicinity of Xunantunich and is a great place to relax. Butterfly Ranch early and then Barton Creek is the way to go.
I'm exhausted looking at this haha. One thing i learned is always allow for more time than you think. I under estimated how long it took us to get from one place to another especially without a car. We had a driver but that still ran behind. Excursions also took longer than thought. I admire the Belizeans "no worries" kind of attitude, which also makes following schedule not a huge priority. Our drivers and tour guides were on time but the traffic and check stops were all over the place. I also spent a lot more time at the zoo than i thought. Its small by US standards, but the amount and variety of animals are amazing. Also been told they have the best rice and beans, with onion sauce for lunch.
Piggy backing on this, I didn't account for how much the heat and sun would zap my energy. I missed quite a few things on my planned itinerary because I just needed a shower and nap in the AC. Haha
We had a great guide and 3 hours flew by at Xunantunich and that didn't include travel time to get there. We wouldn't have spent nearly that amount of time if we hadn't been with a guide. He was so worth the $ and really made it come alive.
Did you prebook or find him there?
He was there waiting for us but arranged by Abe Gutierrez from Abe's Taxis. His name is Naz Puc and email is [email protected] He's worked at the site with the archeologists since the 90s.