Do a google search for both and decide which you prefer. C. Itza is far bigger. Tulum has some pretty views.

I doubt that someone offers a C. Itzaz PLUS Xel-ha trip on the same day.

Tulum and Xel-ha is doable.

If this is probably your only visit to the Yucatan go and see Chichen Itza. It is a very impressive Mayan city with a large pyramid, lots of temples, a ball court, a cenote and amazing sculpture. Tulum is a smaller post classic site. Great setting on the sea but no real carvings or art.

agree with pp that these are two very different sites but both worth seeing. chichen itza is huge and very striking with the pyramid et al. on the other hand tulum is just stunning with a beautiful beach. i got some of our best photos while on our tulum visit. it really depends on what you're looking for, but my personal preference is tulum. :)

Tulum is much smaller but on the beach ,Chicken itza is inland and carved into the jungle. The distance to chcken itza is much further , we spent several hours on the bus to get there and several hours to return. Our tour that day took 11 hours. Tulum is probably much closer depending on where you are staying.

Too bad Coba is not an option. Much closer than Chichen and my favorite--there you can still climb the ruins and not nearly so crowded or commercialized as the other two.

I agree with Robert. You might want to check Coba out and give it consideration.

What makes the decision so difficult is that every site has particular characteristics.

Cobá is also one of my personal favourites: you can still climb up the main temple (120 steps) and only 5% of the whole site has been excavated, so you get to a mayan structure, but behind it is a big hill of vegetation (ruins still uncovered). It's also a nice walk from the entrance to the pyramid. I once saw a coatimundi, a snake and loads of birds on the way there.

Chichen Itza is especially worth it with a guide. The acoustic and visual aspects of the construction are really quite amazing! It also has the biggest ball court in the Mayan kingdom. However, it's always better to arrive early in the morning so as to avoid the big tour buses.

Tulum is nice because of the setting mainly.

All three places were built in different periods. Cobá is classic (300-900 AD ca), Chichen is classic and postclassic (Toltec influence around 900 AD until the abandonment), and Tulum is mainly postclassic.

It really is a hard choice to make. I think it depends on what you would like to learn. The most interesting explanations were offered to me at Chichen Itza, however, I've never taken a guided tour in Tulum.

I also tried doing Chichen in the morning and Cobá in the afternoon...that was a really cool day, but very tiring. It was nice to hear the differences back to back on the same day. But it is not a light one!

If this is the only time you think you'll probably be in the Yucatan, see CI. I did CI the first time because it was on my list of things to do/see before I died. I've been fortunate enough to return twice more. I did Coba the 2nd time--don't think about it, just grab the rope and climb because the view is so worth it. Did Tulum last time; one of the most beautiful beaches I've seen. Followed the instructions on Laura the "map chick"'s map, and went to the beach down from the ruins.

Whichever you pick, go early to beat the heat and hordes of tour buses. I think it's worth renting a car to have the flexibility of going when I want.

for me, out of the two it would be C.I but if you can go to Coba then this is by far my fav out of tulum and C.I

the issue I had with tulum was the heat, we went very early in the morning and it was unbearable as there was no-where to get out of the sun, the only place to cool down as the sea, we went in fully dressed

coba is amazing, one of the most amazing places I have been too, xel-ha is also wonderful

when we return to mexico the two places we will go back to are xel-ha and coba