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.
Luxury hotels
Five-star and palace properties.
Hacienda Puerta Campeche
Fifteen rooms and suites in a terrace of 17th-century houses on Calle 59, with a pool running through the roofless shells of the original mansions and the walled city's most polished restaurant. Marriott's Luxury Collection operates the property.
Features: Pool among restored colonial ruins · Fifteen rooms and suites · Spa and garden courtyard · Five minutes on foot from Puerta de Tierra
Hacienda Uayamon
A henequen estate from the 1700s reopened with 12 villa-style rooms among its ruined chapel and machine house, 25 km inland from the capital. Suites in the former hospital building have private plunge pools.
Features: Twelve rooms on a restored henequen estate · Private plunge pool suites · Spa among candlelit ruins · Dinner service in the roofless chapel
Hotel Boutique Casa Don Gustavo
Ten individually decorated rooms in an 18th-century merchant mansion on Calle 59, restored with its original tiles, ironwork, and furniture around a courtyard pool and whirlpool, with full breakfast included.
Features: Restored 18th-century mansion · Courtyard pool and whirlpool · Ten individually furnished rooms · Breakfast and in-house restaurant
Hotel Puerta Calakmul
Sixteen stilted wooden cabanas in high forest at the Calakmul access road, with a pool, restaurant, and no televisions, giving the earliest practical start on the 60 km road into the biosphere reserve.
Features: Private cabanas in biosphere reserve forest · Pool and restaurant · Pre-dawn guided departures for Calakmul · Resident howler monkeys and toucans
Fine dining
Michelin-starred and chef-driven restaurants.
La Pigua
Open since 1987 and the benchmark for Gulf seafood in the state capital, serving coconut shrimp, pan de cazon, and the freshwater pigua crayfish in a glass pavilion wrapped in tropical planting. Reserve on +52 981 811 3365.
Restaurante Hacienda Puerta Campeche
The Luxury Collection hotel dining room and poolside terrace among restored colonial ruins, serving refined regional cooking and the most polished service inside the walls. Non-residents are welcome by reservation on +52 981 816 7535.
Restaurante Hacienda Uayamon
Dinner in the converted engine house of an 18th-century estate, or by arrangement under the open sky in the ruined chapel, built on chaya, achiote, and Gulf fish. Reserve on +52 981 813 0530.
Marganzo
A decades-old institution beside the Puerta del Mar known for pan de cazon, chile mestizo, and shrimp, served by staff in embroidered regional dress. Reserve on +52 981 811 3899.
Casa Vieja del Rio
A first-floor dining room with balcony tables over the Plaza de la Independencia facing the cathedral, serving Mexican and Campechano dishes. The sunset balcony seats are the most requested in the walled city. Reserve on +52 981 811 8016.
Exclusive experiences
Bespoke and once-in-a-lifetime activities.
Private Air Expedition to Calakmul
A chartered flight from Campeche over the biosphere reserve replaces a five-hour road round trip, with a private guided tour of the pyramids and lunch at the Hacienda Puerta Campeche restaurant on return.
Private Calakmul Day Tour by Road
A private vehicle, driver, and archaeologist-guide depart Conhuas or Xpujil before dawn to reach the reserve road at opening and climb Structures I and II above the canopy.
Private Sunrise Visit to Edzna
A private guide reaches the Five-Storey Building at Edzna for the opening hour, when the Gran Acropolis is empty and the light suits photography, usually combined with a hacienda lunch.
Private Sunset Sail on the Bay of Campeche
A chartered boat on the flat Gulf water off the malecon, timed for the long sunset that turns the city walls orange, with drinks and seafood snacks served on board.
Private Dinner in the Uayamon Chapel Ruins
The roofless 18th-century chapel at Hacienda Uayamon is set for a single candlelit table with a regional tasting menu and a dedicated server, arranged in advance.
Private Walled-City Architecture and Gastronomy Walk
A licensed historian leads an evening walk of the baluartes, Calle 59, and the San Roman and Guadalupe barrios, with stops for pan de cazon, marquesitas, and horchata at family kitchens.
Spas & wellness
World-class spa retreats and treatments.
Spa at Hacienda Uayamon
Treatment rooms draped in tulle netting on a restored henequen estate, offering aromatherapy massage and body wraps using chaya, honey, and other regional botanicals, with outdoor treatments beside the plunge pools.
Signature treatment: Regional botanical body wrap followed by a plunge-pool cool-down
Spa at Hacienda Puerta Campeche
A compact spa inside the walled-city hotel offering massage, facials, and couples treatments, followed by time at the pool that runs through the ruined mansion walls. Non-residents may book subject to availability.
Signature treatment: Couples massage followed by the ruined-mansion pool
Maya Temazcal Ceremony at the Haciendas
A traditional steam ceremony with copal, herbs, and heated volcanic stones, led by a local practitioner and arranged through either Luxury Collection hacienda, usually held at dusk and followed by a cold plunge.
Signature treatment: Dusk temazcal with copal and herbs in the hacienda gardens
Luxury transport
Travel in style.
- Car
- A private chauffeur with an air-conditioned SUV costs roughly MXN 5,100-8,500 (~USD 300-500) per day and is the standard way to combine Edzna, the haciendas, and the Champoton coast without driving the narrow centro streets.
- Air
- Light aircraft and helicopter charters operate from Campeche International Airport (CPE) to the Calakmul airstrip and to Merida and Villahermosa, from about MXN 68,000 (~USD 4,000) for a day expedition.
- Airport
- Campeche International Airport is a small single-terminal facility 12 km from the walled city; hacienda concierges arrange meet-and-greet and a private transfer for around MXN 850-1,400 (~USD 50-82) each way.
- Rail
- The Tren Maya stops at Campeche and Escarcega, and first-class carriages give a comfortable, scenic link to Merida and Palenque; private transfers connect the stations to the walled city hotels.