Getting to Tikal
It's best to take one of the many shuttles from Flores to Tikal. They cost 30 Q return, 20 Q one way and start leaving at 4 am, but there are buses at regular hours. You need to make reservations the day before, and they will pick you up at the hotel. It takes 1 hour.
Hotels
You must realize that all accommodation as well as food is much more expensive then in other places. Still, I think it's worth spending 1 night at the park and thus beat the crowds.
Tikal-Inn is quite good. They have doubles with bathroom for 35 US$ next to the lobby, but these fill up quickly. We arrived at noon in low season, and could only take the bungalow next to the pool for 55 US$. They have hot water and electricity available from 6 pm till 11 pm. Swimming pool, tel. 00502-926-0065 (12/99). Their restaurant is overpriced, we preferred the Jaguar Inn.
Jungle Lodge has equally good rooms at 60 US$, and they also have a swimming pool. However, they also have cheaper rooms without bathroom at 25 US$ (12/99). We had a reservation made by phone, but apparently they had lost that (tel. 00502-926-1519).
The third option is the Jaguar Inn. They charge 48 US$ for a similar room, but they also have cheaper rooms (12/99).
Restaurants
The Jaguar Inn's restaurant was very good offering good portions and reasonable prices.
The Tikal Inn's restaurants has napkins, but small portions and it's more expensive (and not better).
Visiting Tikal
Entrance is 50 Q nowadays, you can pay in US$, but they'll give you a bad rate for your $ (12/99). If entering by car, there's an extra 30 Q parking fee. D
on't take breakfast in Tikal. When we were there, the waitresses were illiterate, they can only handle few orders at once and it took ages before we got our order (especially since we were anxious to see the ruins before the crowds).
Take mosquito repellent with you, a torch is handy if you arrive before sunrise.
I got mixed reports about sunrise. Some people said it was fantastic, others said it was nothing special. Take into account that:
You'll probably won't see sunrise because there's a lot of fog in the jungle.
Temple IV tends to be very noisy since all tourists are going there. Another option could be El Mundo Perdido where you'll be all by yourself.
To see sunrise you need to spend the night in Tikal, but still then you need to get up extremely early to beat the guards. From 5.30 am onwards, you can be sure to be stopped by the guards at the gate. The people who had made it (unlike us), had passed the gate at 4.45 am, but .... they didn't see sunrise either because of the clouds.
You can get drinks at temples II and IV.
When we visited Tikal for the second time, it was no longer possible to climb temple I, nor was it possible to climb all the way up to the roof of temple IV, and that's a pitty especially at sunset, and temple V was being restored, so no climbing there either (12/99).
You will be approached by people willing to guide you, especially for a so-called bird tour. You can also go to the gate at 6 am, the guide will be there. The one in English charges 40 US$ for 3 to 4 hours, the one in Spanish 20 US$. I think these prices are way out of proportion, but apparently some people pay it.
I think 1 full day is enough to see everything.
Go to Sayaxche
