Traveling from Mexico to Guatemala? There are two main ways:
1. From San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas State: You can cross at the Ciudad Cuauhtémoc town on Route 190, which leads to La Mesilla in Guatemala.
2. From Oaxaca State: Many travelers take the coastal Route 200 through Chiapas, crossing the border at Ciudad Hidalgo to Tecun Uman in Guatemala.
Most travelers, including us, spend some time in the colonial city of San Cristobal and often choose the first route.
Here’s how you can do it:
You can take public transport from San Cristobal, like the OCC Bus (about 100 MXN/$6.50, 3.5 hours) to Ciudad Cuauhtémoc. Once there, you’ll need to get your exit stamp from Mexico and then take a collectivo taxi (10 MXN/$0.65) to the Guatemalan border.
After crossing into Guatemala at La Mesilla, you can catch a chicken bus to your destination, such as Quetzaltenango (40 Quetzals/$5.25) or Huehuetenango (20Q/$2.65, 2 hours). There are also Pullman buses to Guatemala City (about 170Q/$22.30, 8 hours, departing at 9:00 pm).
Since our final stop was Lake Atitlan, which is 220 km from the border, we chose to take a shuttle bus from San Cristobal directly to Panajachel on Lake Atitlan. It was more straightforward and about the same cost.
In San Cristobal, tour companies or hostels can help you book a shuttle. We booked our tickets with our hostel, Rossco Backpackers, who worked with Chincultik. The shuttle cost 305 MXN ($19.75) each and took around 8 or 9 hours.
The minibus picked us up at our hostel at 7:30 am. We, along with 17 other passengers, left the city and stopped around 9:30 am for breakfast at a touristy restaurant (95 MXN/$6.15).
By noon, we arrived at Ciudad Cuauhtemoc. Here’s where things got interesting. There’s an “official” exit fee for leaving Mexico, supposedly included in airline tickets if you flew in. The fee we were told was 250 MXN ($16.22). We had documentation from our airline to avoid paying this again. However, the driver gathered everyone’s passports and exit fees of 332 MXN ($21.70). This fee seemed arbitrary, as it varied from our previous experience crossing from Mexico to Belize.
After receiving our stamped passports, we continued to the Guatemalan border in the same bus. There, you’ll encounter money changers, food vendors, and transportation drivers. We had to walk about 100 meters to the immigration booth to get our Guatemalan entry stamp, which involved a non-official fee of 20 MXN ($1.30).
From the border, you have options to head straight to Lake Atitlan or other destinations like Antigua. We initially tried to exchange Mexican Pesos for Guatemalan Quetzals in San Cristobal but had no luck. At the border, we exchanged at a rate of 0.45 Q for 1 peso, slightly below the standard 0.50 Q rate.
Our driver directed us to another minibus for the final leg to Panajachel. The rest of the journey was smooth, with bathroom breaks and an ATM stop for local currency.
We arrived in Panajachel and took a boat to the village of San Juan (25Q/$3.30). In total, the journey took 10 hours.
If you haven’t paid for your exit fee at a bank in San Cristobal or lack proof of payment, ensure you have enough pesos for these fees. US dollars might be accepted, but at unfavorable rates. Bring water, food, and snacks to avoid overpaying for en-route options.
We recommend the shuttle bus for $19.75 as it simplifies the long 10-hour journey, including food and bathroom breaks. Local transport might save you a bit but could take much longer and be less convenient.
Safe travels!