Hecelchakán and the Camino Real

Hecelchakán lies 70 km northeast of San Francisco de Campeche, about an hour by car or by ATS or SUR second-class bus running north on Highway 180 to the Paradero Hecelchakán; the Tren Maya also stops nearby, 2 km from the plaza. The town grew up on the colonial Camino Real that once linked Campeche city with Mérida, and its Museo Arqueológico del Camino Real holds one of the region's best collections of Jaina-style clay figurines, small painted funerary pieces recovered from the island necropolis of Jaina offshore, alongside other Maya artifacts from the surrounding Camino Real towns. The centre itself is compact: a Franciscan-era church faces an arcaded plaza where roadside stands sell cochinita pibil and other Yucatecan-style dishes through the morning and midday. A half-day plan works well, arriving by mid-morning, spending an hour or so in the museum, then walking the plaza and church before lunch at one of the stands facing the square. Because the drive north continues naturally toward Bécal's hat-weaving workshops and the town of Calkiní, many visitors treat Hecelchakán as the first stop on a northern loop rather than a standalone trip, extending the day into the early afternoon before returning south to Campeche city. The route is comfortable year-round, though the mid-May Feria de Hecelchakán brings extra activity and crowds to the plaza for those timing a visit around the town's biggest annual event.