Holmul is a Maya city in northeast Petén, 35 km east of Tikal and 50 km northeast of Melchor de Mencos, according to the 2022 report of the Proyecto Arqueológico Holmul, which has excavated it since 2000. It sits in the Maya Biosphere Reserve created by Decreto 5-90. The Ministry of Culture’s 2022 list of sites to visit gives no hours or entry fee for Holmul. Private visits are offered through the Árbol Verde community forestry group and by helicopter from Flores.
In short: Holmul is an active research site, excavated by the Proyecto Arqueológico Holmul since 2000. It is known for a polychrome frieze, a building mask and a run of royal tombs found since 2009. The Market Ready directory lists Árbol Verde for community tourism there, and Maya Jets sells a helicopter day from Flores. The Ministry of Culture’s 2022 list gives no hours or ticket price to plan around.
Quick summary
| Item | Value (source) |
|---|---|
| Where | 35 km east of Tikal, 50 km northeast of Melchor de Mencos (Proyecto Arqueológico Holmul, 2022 report) |
| Protected area | Inside the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Decreto 5-90 (project report; FAOLEX copy of the decree) |
| Site-specific decree or hectares | None in Decreto 5-90 or the 2022 project report |
| Research | Proyecto Arqueológico Holmul since 2000; now Tulane University; director Francisco Estrada-Belli |
| Official hours and entry fee | None given on the Ministry of Culture’s 2022 list of sites to visit (read 9 November 2026) |
| Community tourism | Sociedad Civil para el Desarrollo Árbol Verde (Market Ready Tourism listing, undated) |
| Helicopter day trip | Maya Jets, from Flores: $2,550 (1), $1,550 (2), $1,150 (3-5), basis not stated (undated) |
| Headline finds | Building B mask (2009), Building A polychrome frieze (2013), four royal burials |
Where Holmul is, and what protects it
The Proyecto Arqueológico Holmul gives the site’s position in its 2022 field report to Guatemala’s Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes: 35 km east of Tikal and 50 km northeast of Melchor de Mencos. The report says the project was founded in 2000 under Boston University, later Vanderbilt and now Tulane University. Its study area is the northeast strip of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, running from the northern edge of Yaxhá-Nakum-Naranjo National Park to Guatemala’s northern border with Mexico.
That reserve is the legal umbrella. Decreto 5-90 of the Congress, dated 30 January 1990, declared the Reserva Maya a protected area of about one million hectares in the municipalities of Melchor de Mencos, Flores, San José, San Andrés and La Libertad. It divides the reserve into core areas, cultural areas, multiple-use areas and recovery areas. Neither the decree nor the project report says which zone the ruins fall in, or gives a separate decree, hectare figure or municipality.
The 2022 report describes the project’s Holmul camp as lying in the area of the S.C. Árbol Verde. Árbol Verde is the community organisation the Market Ready directory lists as managing tourism at Holmul. The report itself is addressed to the Ministry’s Department of Prehispanic and Colonial Monuments. Whether you may enter the site, and on what terms, is something to settle with your operator before you go.
What archaeologists have found
The project’s 2022 report lists its findings of greatest scientific importance and value for presenting the site. The ones at Holmul itself:
| Year(s) | Find (per the 2022 report) |
|---|---|
| 2001 | Holmul’s ballgame marker |
| 2001-2015 | Remains of numerous Preclassic substructures in Groups I and II, some with traces of masks |
| 2009 | The mask (mascarón) of Building B, Group II |
| 2012-2015 | The burial of the ruler associated with the frieze substructure |
| 2013 | The polychrome frieze of Building A, Group II |
| 2012, 2016, 2018 | Burials of four rulers and three rulers’ wives in Groups I and II |
The same report says the project has also studied smaller sites whose history was linked to Holmul’s, including Dos Aguadas, T’ot, Chanchich, Riverona, K’o, Hamontun and Hahakab. It has also worked at larger centres such as Cival, and more recently Witzna, Xmakabatun and Chochkitam. Its Lidar survey (2016-2018) mapped some seven thousand structures, plus irrigation canals, terraces and bounded fields, across the region. In June and July 2022 the team excavated at Holmul, La Sufricaya and Chochkitam, with an average of 70 field, kitchen and professional staff in two camps.
Some highlights belong to Holmul’s neighbours, not to Holmul itself. The project credits the Teotihuacan-style painted palace and inscribed stelae to La Sufricaya, and the massive jade offering and the masks on Structures 1 and 9 to Cival. A tour sold as Holmul may or may not include them.
How visits are arranged
Both visiting options below are private.
Community tourism through Árbol Verde. An undated listing in the Market Ready Tourism directory describes tourism at Holmul as managed by the Sociedad Civil para el Desarrollo Árbol Verde. It says the group belongs to the Asociación de Comunidades Forestales de Petén. According to the listing:
- visitors can walk interpretive trails to hidden archaeological sites and natural spots such as La Trampa, Cibal and the El Tigre viewpoints;
- the listed services include archaeology, birdwatching, cabins, camping and hiking;
- adventurous visitors can follow the route linking Holmul with Nakum and Yaxhá, ending at Tikal.
The listing gives no price, schedule or departure point. Ask Árbol Verde directly for the route, the vehicle, the walking distance and what the price covers.
By helicopter from Flores. Maya Jets’ undated tours page sells a one-day helicopter trip from Flores to Holmul and back. It quotes $2,550 for one person, $1,550 for two and $1,150 for three to five, without saying whether that is per person or per group. The trip includes a guide speaking English or Spanish, transport in a 4x4 vehicle, a packed lunch and a cooler of drinks. See helicopter tours in Guatemala for how that operator’s other routes compare.
Fees, hours and opening
- Entry fee: the Ministry of Culture’s 2022 list of sites to visit gives no entry fee for Holmul and has no entry for it (read 9 November 2026). In practice the price you pay is the operator’s: the Market Ready listing gives no Árbol Verde price, and Maya Jets prices its helicopter day on its tours page.
- Hours: none on the Ministry of Culture’s 2022 list or in the project’s 2022 report.
- Opening status: neither the Ministry’s list nor the Market Ready listing gives an opening schedule. Treat any trip as an arranged visit and confirm it in writing with the operator.
Safety and the border area
- United States. For the northeast Petén forest around Holmul, the State Department’s Guatemala-wide Level 3, Reconsider travel (issued 12 March 2026) is the applicable level: Petén is not one of its do-not-travel areas, which are San Marcos, Huehuetenango, Zone 18 of Guatemala City and Villa Nueva.
- Canada. Canada’s advice, last updated 13 October 2026, tells travellers to avoid non-essential travel to several border crossings, including the CA-13 Melchor de Mencos crossing with Belize. That warning covers the crossing, not Holmul. The same page says drug-related armed attacks occur in all departments near borders, and that the area near the Belize border is especially affected. It also tells travellers to get advice from a registered travel agency before off-road travel in remote Petén.
Holmul is remote, and the project’s distance reference for it is Melchor de Mencos. Go with an organised operator and not on your own. If you are combining it with Belize, read the Melchor de Mencos border crossing first.
Holmul and its neighbours
The Árbol Verde route described above links Holmul with Nakum and Yaxhá, two of the four ancient cities the Ministry of Culture places in Yaxhá-Nakum-Naranjo National Park (June 2026), and then Tikal. If you want the same landscape on a visit with a set entry price and hours, start with Yaxhá, which has both on the Ministry of Culture’s 2022 list, and its island site Topoxté. For a wider comparison, see Guatemala’s archaeological sites compared.
Sources
- Proyecto Arqueológico Holmul (Estrada-Belli, director), Investigaciones arqueológicas en el noreste de Petén, Temporada 2022, report to the Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, hosted by Tulane University: Holmul_Informe 2022.pdf, read 9 November 2026. Academic, primary for the excavations.
- Decreto 5-90 of the Congress (Reserva Maya), on FAO FAOLEX: gua201211.pdf, read 9 November 2026.
- Market Ready Tourism directory, Holmul: Turismo y Conservación, Sociedad Civil para el Desarrollo Árbol Verde, undated, read 9 November 2026. Directory listing, secondary.
- Maya Jets, Tours, undated, read 9 November 2026. Operator.
- Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, Autoridades del MCD realizan visita técnica al Parque Nacional Yaxhá-Nakum-Naranjo, 18 June 2026, read 31 October 2026.
- Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, Sitios arqueológicos para visitar en Guatemala, 20 January 2022, read 9 November 2026.
- US Department of State, Guatemala Travel Advisory, issued 12 March 2026, read 9 November 2026.
- Government of Canada, Travel advice: Guatemala, last updated 13 October 2026, read 9 November 2026.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where are the Holmul ruins?
In northeast Petén. The Proyecto Arqueológico Holmul’s 2022 report places the site 35 km east of Tikal and 50 km northeast of the town of Melchor de Mencos, within the project’s study area in the northeast strip of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, which runs from the northern edge of Yaxhá-Nakum-Naranjo National Park to the Mexican border.
Can you visit Holmul?
As a privately arranged trip. The Ministry of Culture’s 2022 list of sites to visit gives no hours or entry fee for Holmul and has no entry for it (read 9 November 2026). Two private options are listed: an undated Market Ready Tourism directory listing says tourism at Holmul is managed by the Sociedad Civil para el Desarrollo Árbol Verde, and helicopter operator Maya Jets sells a one-day flight from Flores.
How much does it cost to visit Holmul?
Holmul does not appear on the Ministry of Culture’s 2022 list of archaeological sites to visit (read 9 November 2026), and no entry fee is listed there. Maya Jets’ undated tours page prices a helicopter day trip from Flores at $2,550 for one person, $1,550 for two, $1,150 for three to five, without saying whether that is per person or per group. It includes a 4x4 transfer, a guide, a packed lunch and drinks.
What is the Holmul frieze?
A polychrome frieze on Building A of Holmul’s Group II, which the project lists among its most important finds (2013). Its other headline finds include the mask on Building B (2009), the burial of a ruler tied to the frieze substructure (2012-2015) and the burials of four rulers and three rulers’ wives in Groups I and II (2012, 2016, 2018).
Is Holmul a protected area?
It lies inside the Maya Biosphere Reserve, declared by Decreto 5-90 of the Congress on 30 January 1990 over about one million hectares of northern Petén. Neither the decree nor the project’s 2022 report gives a separate decree or hectare figure for the Holmul site itself.
Is it safe to travel to Holmul?
Holmul’s nearest reference town, Melchor de Mencos, is on the Belize border. The US State Department’s Level 3, Reconsider travel advisory (issued 12 March 2026) leaves Petén off its do-not-travel list, but Canada (updated 13 October 2026) advises avoiding non-essential travel to the Melchor de Mencos border crossing with Belize and says the area near the Belize border is especially affected by drug-related armed attacks. Go with an organised operator.
