Updated August 13, 2025
Tikal is open from six in the morning until six at night all year long. Twelve hours to explore the ancient kingdom
Tikal Sunrise Tour or Sunset Tour?
I wondered those same things and searched for as much information as possible before booking my family’s tour.
We finally decided to book a private tour guide for the Tikal sunrise tour and then go back into the park in the afternoon without a guide.
Did we make the right choice? Yes and no.
Read-Tikal National Park- 7 Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Trip
Tikal Sunrise Tour-
After reading so many wonderful reviews of the Tikal sunrise tour, I was convinced it was something that shouldn’t be missed.
Walking the worn path past ancient pyramids in complete darkness; climbing to the top of an east-facing pyramid and settling on cool stone steps; listening to the chorus of creatures slowly amplifying as the jungle wakes; seeing the first beams of sun come up through the jungle.
I was sold.
We booked a private guide through Gem Travel for our Tikal Sunrise Tour, and our tour guide was great.
I would recommend having a guide when visiting Tikal National Park and I would also recommend using Gem Travel.
But, I would not recommend going on the Sunrise Tour
Why I Wouldn’t Recommend the Tikal Sunrise Tour-
- The Tikal Sunrise tour leaves so early! If you are staying in the park the tour leaves from the lobby of your hotel at 4:30 am. But, if you are staying in Flores, your tour will start at 3:15 am! I would totally recommend staying in the Park. We stayed at the Jungle Lodge and it was perfect.
- Walking into the park with only the light of your headlamp is an eerie experience, but I think it would be much more interesting to walk in when you can actually see what you are passing and not just the big dark shadows of the temples.
- The tours arrive at the base of the east-facing Temple IV an hour and a half before the sun comes up. You will sit on the cold stone steps of the temple in silence with 50 other tourists waiting for the sun to rise. It is a long, chilly wait. The birds didn’t even start singing for a half hour after arriving at the temple
- Listening to the jungle wake up was underwhelming. With the wind blowing, we could hear birds and the occasional truck but that was about it.
- Our guide said that it’s foggy 90% of the time so seeing an actual sunrise is rare. It was so foggy when we were there that it was impossible to tell when the sun crested the horizon.
You would be much better off postponing your tour until six am when the park opens. That way, you could sleep in a few more hours and save the extra
Tikal After Sunrise
After the sun came up, we were truly able to experienced the wonders of Tikal.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and spoke perfect English. My dad described him spot-on by saying “he gave us all the important information but didn’t ever talk just to talk”.
We made our way around Temple IV learning how the temples were originally built and how they were being meticulously uncovered and restored.
Mid-Morning In Tikal National Park
The fog started to lift when we arrived at Temple III around 8:30 in the morning. Steep wooden stairs have been built to the platform at the top of the temple. The fog was almost completely gone when we got to the top and we had an amazing 360-degree view of Tikal.
We were lucky to have Temple V all to ourselves for the ten minutes we were there.
Right around the corner was the Great Plaza. The Great Plaza was nothing short of spectacular.
Tikal Mid-Day
I would suggest avoiding Tikal during the middle of the day if at all possible.
On our drive out at 11:00 we passed hordes of people heading in.
Our guide told us that Tikal generally gets crowded around ten o’clock. That’s when the tourists arrive from Belize. He also said there are quite a few tourists who fly from Guatemala City to Flores in the morning and they usually arrive around ten also.
Mid-day in Tikal isn’t ideal because it gets so hot. It was just starting to get hot as we left the park.
Tikal in the Late Afternoon
My mom and I were ready to go back into Tikal after a late breakfast, a long nap, and a refreshing swim in the pool at the Jungle Lodge.
We walked back in at about 3:30 and were surprised to discover that all of the crowds were gone. When we arrived at the Great Plaza we had a few minutes when we were the only people there! It was surreal.
The evening was hands down my favorite time to experience Tikal. We had two hours to explore the Great Plaza with only a few other people.
We hiked up the stairs to the top of Temple I and watched the shadows grow long across the Great Plaza and Temple II.
The jungle came to life after the heat of the day. Coatimundis scurried around looking for scraps of food left behind by the tourists.
Tikal was the highlight of our trip to Guatemala. Although we spent most of the day there, it was still hard to leave that evening.
Tikal Sunrise Tour or Sunset Tour?
The ideal time to visit Tikal would be at six am, right when the national park opens.
I would recommend skipping the Tikal sunrise tour, it isn’t worth the extra entrance fee and waking up so early. Instead, get to Tikal at six am when the National Park opens and then leave around ten-thirty or eleven. Take a break when the park starts to get crowded and head back into the National Park in the evening.
Tikal National Park at sunset is absolutely incredible.
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