Where to stay in Tulum: Our neighborhood guide

Tulum, a lively town melting with a chilled white beach surrounded by jungle, is one of the area you should visit during your travel to Mexico. This apparently small town has it all: amazing hotels with a pool in the center, many luxury boutique hotels on the beachfront, great restaurants (even with Mayan cuisine) and many archaeological ruins all around. Whether you’re staying in Tulum on a budget or you want to treat yourself during your stay with a hotel with a private pool in Aldea Zama, a luxury neighborhood of Tulum, you will be able to have a great experience in any case.

Discover in our Tulum’s neighborhood guide which is the best zone to book your resort, or if you prefer sharing your travel with other guests in a hostel in the Centro or staying long term in a room or an apartment with a shared pool. Check out our Tulum’s Travel Guide before coming to Mexico to find out all the tips and the best places before you travel!

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The Centro of Tulum is lively and it’s the best zone to start discovering the town. In this area you’ll find supermarkets, many free rooms for rent, plenty of restaurants from the typical cuisine to a more international or vegetarian one, top spa to unwind after a shopping day, and you’ll not be so far from the most beautiful beaches and cenotes. The Centro is usually very crowded, so if you’re searching for peace, prefer staying in the South of the city. There you’ll find Aldea Zama or La Veleta, two places where most expats and travelers live.

If you’re on a budget and you know you will spend your money on parties in the jungle or at the beach, then booking a hostel or one of the many hotels of the city will be for sure the right thing to do before you travel. If you’re searching for a more private area, with less noise and calmer, then you should keep on reading about the other areas of Tulum located outside from the center and the main road.

This place is heaven for travelers who want to book a long-term apartment, room or boutique hotel. Here’s where the expats are concentrated and where it will be easier for you to make friends. Not crowded like the Centro, La Veleta is full of beautiful small restaurants and “casa”, the way Mexicans call private houses. Here you can find a casa with a private pool in a small garden that will feel like a jungle, more rooms to have space to host your friends or to share the whole house. We lived here and we really love this place: it’s definitely the best to visit Tulum!

If you are searching for luxury, Aldea is definitely the best area in Tulum. The proximity to the beach is one of the reasons that make people book a hotel or a room here. Yeah, because sometimes from the Centro it can take you up to an hour to reach the playa and that can be really annoying. Aldea is also a pretty private zone, so you will not have to walk in crowded streets like on the main road in the Centro.

This area located in the South of Tulum has one side with the best beaches in Mexico and the other with jungle. This area is perfect for travelers who will not stay a long period in Tulum. In fact, there’s the highest concentration of resort with private restaurant and hotels with great rooms. For sure the view on the white beach is guaranteed and just think about the privilege you will have by doing yoga alone in the morning beachfront. Tulum Beach is definitely the dreamiest zone.

If your stay will last a week or two and you want to be in a great hotel, this place is the best. You will be able to choose between many beautiful rooms with private a pool and you will not be far away from the town. We’re sure that when you check the resort out, you will be spoilt for choice. In the beach area you’ll for sure make friends with other guests or travelers. If you are staying in the city center, don’t worry: beaches are free in Tulum, so you can enjoy them without booking a beachfront hotel here.

We hope our Tulum’s neighborhood guide helped you choose the perfect zone for you before starting your travel to Mexico. If you have any questions, share them with us and other travelers below: we will be happy to share our experience with you!