Campeche is a Gulf-coast state on the western side of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, best known for its walled capital, San Francisco de Campeche, a UNESCO World Heritage city of pastel facades, baroque churches, and Spanish colonial ramparts built to repel Caribbean pirates. Inland, the state holds two-thirds of the Yucatan Peninsula's tropical forest and the vast Maya metropolis of Calakmul, hidden inside a biosphere reserve on the Guatemalan border. Campeche receives a fraction of the visitors that reach Cancun or Merida, which is precisely its appeal.
Local currency: Mexican Peso.
Daily budget by traveller style
Typical per-person daily spend in Campeche.
Cost breakdown
Typical price ranges across major spending categories.
Accommodation
- Hostel
- 250-400 MXN (~USD 15-24)
- Budget
- 600-950 MXN (~USD 35-56)
- Midrange
- 1,100-2,200 MXN (~USD 65-129)
- Luxury
- 3,000-7,500 MXN (~USD 176-441)
Food
- Street
- 20-60 MXN (~USD 1.20-3.50)
- Local
- 90-160 MXN (~USD 5-9)
- Midrange
- 250-450 MXN (~USD 15-26)
- Fine
- 700-1,400 MXN (~USD 41-82)
Transport
- Bus
- 9-12 MXN city bus (~USD 0.55-0.70)
- Taxi
- 45-90 MXN in-city (~USD 2.65-5.30)
- Airport
- 180-250 MXN taxi from CPE airport to Centro (~USD 10.60-14.70)
- Daytrip
- 400-600 MXN ADO round trip to Merida (~USD 24-35)
Activities
- Museum
- 75-95 MXN (~USD 4.40-5.60)
- Sites
- 90-100 MXN INAH archaeological sites such as Edzna (~USD 5.30-5.90)
- Tour
- 250-600 MXN walking tour or tranvia city circuit (~USD 15-35)
- Excursion
- 1,800-3,500 MXN full-day Calakmul trip with transport (~USD 106-206)
Items
- Typical
Trip budgets by length
What a typical trip to Campeche costs end-to-end.
Weekend 2 Nights Budget traveller
2,200-3,000 MXN per person (~USD 129-176)
Week 7 Nights Midrange traveller
16,000-20,000 MXN per person (~USD 941-1,176)
Week 7 Nights Luxury traveller
45,000-70,000 MXN per person (~USD 2,647-4,118)
Items traveller
Money-saving tips
Practical ways to stretch your budget further.
Eat the comida corrida set lunch between 1PM and 4PM: three courses for 90-140 MXN (~USD 5-8) versus 300 MXN or more a la carte at dinner
Campeche's walled centre is small and flat, so almost everything can be reached on foot with zero transport spend
Base in Campeche rather than Merida or the Riviera Maya: comparable rooms cost 30-50 percent less
Buy fruit, water, and snacks at Mercado Pedro Sainz de Baranda instead of tourist-strip convenience stores
Travel between cities on ADO's second-class lines (Sur, Oriente) for roughly half the first-class fare if the extra hour does not matter
Book ADO tickets online in advance for advance-purchase discounts, and ask about INAPAM or student fares if eligible
The free evening entertainment (Puerta de Tierra show, Fuentes Marinas, plaza dancing) covers most nights without paying for a tour
Shared Calakmul tours from Xpujil cost far less than driving there and back from Campeche city in one day
Drink agua de jamaica or horchata from a market stall at 20-30 MXN rather than bottled soft drinks in restaurants
Avoid Carnaval week (February) and Christmas if the goal is cheap rooms; the same hotel can double in price
Use bank ATMs inside branch lobbies to dodge the high fees charged by standalone convenience-store machines
Refuse dynamic currency conversion when paying by card and always choose to be charged in pesos
Free things to do
Memorable experiences that cost nothing.
Walking the restored baluartes and the surviving stretches of the 17th-century city walls
Puerta de Tierra light and sound show, Thursday to Sunday evenings at the Land Gate
Fuentes Marinas, the free musical fountain display on the Malecon at 8PM
Strolling the 7 km Malecon promenade at sunset, with dedicated running and cycling lanes
Parque Principal (Plaza de la Independencia) and the Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Concepcion
Photographing the pastel facades of Calle 59, Calle 57, and Calle 55 inside the walled city
Barrio de San Roman and its 16th-century church housing the revered black Christ (Cristo Negro)
Barrio de Guadalupe and Barrio de Santa Ana, the quieter colonial neighbourhoods outside the walls
Mercado Pedro Sainz de Baranda, for browsing tropical fruit, achiote paste, and habanero salsas
Free Sunday entry to INAH sites and museums for Mexican nationals and residents
Sunset over the Gulf of Mexico from the Baluarte de San Carlos or the Malecon
Live marimba, salsa, and folkloric dance performances on Parque Principal on weekend evenings
The Casa Seis cultural centre courtyard on the main plaza
Swimming and beachcombing at Playa Bonita, where the sand and shade palapas are free to use