Photo: Arian Zwegers from Brussels, Belgium (CC BY 2.0)
A self-guided audio tour of Dzibilchaltún, the regional power of north-western Yucatán between about AD 600 and 900, with an estimated 8,400 structures and a population approaching 25,000. From the Museum of the Maya People, opened in 1994, where the seven clay figurines that gave the temple its name are kept, to Cenote Xlacah and the central plaza: Structure 44 with its 35 openings, Structure 42 over the tomb of the ninth-century ruler Kalom Uk'uw Chan Chaak, Structures 36, 38, 45 and 46, the ball court, and the Open Chapel the Franciscans built in the late sixteenth century from the stones of Maya buildings. Then east along Sacbe 1, past the sighting platform of Structure 12, to the Temple of the Seven Dolls, where the sun is widely reported to appear framed in the doorway around the equinoxes. From a cruise ship at Progreso the site is about 30 kilometres from the pier; the ship's own excursion is the safer choice, and keep your all-aboard time in mind.
13 narrations, yours to keep — no subscription, no expiry. Works offline once downloaded, and if it isn’t for you we’ll refund it.
Going somewhere with no signal? Put the guide on your home screen first, then download it from that icon while you are on wi-fi — that way you download once, and it works in airplane mode with no roaming charges. Show me the order →
Every claim in this tour traces back to a named source — excavation records, the heritage authority for the site, and the primary texts themselves. Nothing is copied from other guidebooks, and anything we can't source doesn't make the recording.
Each stop is built from OpenStreetMap · 11 features in this old town (the field-surveyed mapping database behind Apple Maps), Wikidata · 1 cross-referenced entries (peer-reviewed structured records), the heritage authority below, and the primary historical texts where they exist.
Cross-referenced against Modern excavation publications · academic peer-review.
Every sentence is checked against those sources before it is recorded. If a claim can't be traced, it doesn't make the audio.
Every tour is reviewed by a person before it goes on sale. Stop selection, the route and anything ambiguous come back to the editor for a decision, and those questions routinely send a stop back for another accuracy pass. Nothing publishes on a machine’s say-so.
Spot anything inaccurate? Email [email protected] — fixed in the next pass.
The sinkhole that supplied the city with water, from which offerings of pottery, bone and wood have been recovered.
A late sixteenth-century Franciscan chapel built from dismantled Maya buildings, with traces of blue and red painted plaster.
The long building over the tomb of the ninth-century ruler Kalom Uk'uw Chan Chaak, named on a carved deer bone.
Dated to about AD 458 to 508, with doorways on all four sides; at the equinoxes the sun is widely reported to rise framed in the doorway.
About 700 objects on Maya history and life, among them the original Stela 19 and the seven clay figurines.
A platform in the middle of Sacbe 1 that once held the tall plain Stela 3, facing the Temple of the Seven Dolls.
Tap "Start Walking Tour" and allow location access. The map shows all 13 narration points.
Follow the suggested route or explore freely. GPS tracks your position. Reach a site and the narration plays automatically.
Each site has its own narration. 13 narration points.
Narrations play when you reach each site. No buttons, no track numbers. Walk naturally — the stories find you.
Premium narration that sounds like a documentary. Warm and knowledgeable, not a textbook reading.
Every narration is drafted, cross-checked against primary sources, then passed through a second editorial pass that strips unsupported claims. Dates, names, and citations verified.
See all narration points on the map. Tap any point to hear it early or replay it later.
Every narrated point in Dzibilchaltún — the Temple of the Seven Dolls and Cenote Xlacah, each with its own narration.
Spend an hour or a full day. Skip sites, revisit favourites, take breaks. The tour adapts to you.
13 narration points, including Structure 46, The Museum of the Maya People, Structure 42, The Ball Court and Cenote Xlacah. That is about 16 minutes of narration in all, and you walk between the stops at your own pace.
Yes. It plays in your phone’s browser as you walk: no guide, no group, no app to install and no fixed start time.
Three ways, all built in:
The map-tap option means you can stand anywhere — even at home before you travel — and play any narration. GPS just makes it hands-free while you’re actually walking the site.
No. Use the “Download for offline” button before you go, and the entire tour — audio, maps, narration text — works without any data connection. Tap-to-play and the map both work fully offline. GPS itself doesn’t need data; only the download does.
Add the icon first, then download from the icon. On iPhone a guide downloaded in Safari cannot be seen by the home screen icon, so downloading first means downloading the whole thing twice.
Putting it on your home screen — iPhone or iPad (Safari):
On Android (Chrome): tap the three-dot menu at the top right, tap Add to Home screen (some phones say Install app), then confirm. On Android either order works.
If you opened this link from inside Instagram, Facebook or Gmail, you are in that app’s built-in browser. It cannot add anything to your home screen, and a guide downloaded there is thrown away when the app closes. Open the link in Safari or Chrome first.
Two backstops. First, the map shows every site — just tap the marker for the place in front of you. Second, you can manually queue any narration even when GPS is off. The platform never assumes GPS works; it’s the convenience layer, not the gate.
The audio runs ~2 hours total, but you walk at your own pace. 13 narration points across the site. Most visitors take 2–4 hours; some spread it over multiple visits. Once you buy it, it’s yours — there’s no expiry and no subscription. Come back next year if you like; the link in your receipt always works.
One purchase covers one device session. Most couples share earbuds and use a single phone — the audio is paced for that. If you want everyone listening on their own device, each person needs their own purchase. We do not gate sharing aggressively; we trust visitors to do the right thing.
Full refund if you never trigger a single narration on-site. Partial refund based on how far you got. See the refund policy for specifics.