This short transport guide to getting around San Cristobal de las Casas includes practical information about navigating the colectivos, taxis, buses, and car rentals in San Cristobal de las Casas and surrounding areas!
Read later: Neighbourhoods and Best Place to Stay in San Cristobal de las Casas.
Is San Cristobal Walkable?
No matter where you choose to stay in San Cristobal de las Casas (any I mention in the post above), you’ll definitely be able to walk everywhere! The most you’ll walk from A to B is 30 minutes. Real de Guadalupe is the main walking street, and from this street, everything is around 15/20 minutes walk maximum.
To all your hold-handing lovers, some of the pavements in San Cris are incredibly narrow, and it’s often difficult to walk together side-by-side, sad times.
Tip: If you want to get your bearings when you first arrive in San Cristobal, I’d recommend taking the Free Walking Tour San Cristobal running from Plaza de la Paz (next to the wooden cross) at 10am & 4pm for English speakers and 10am for Spanish.
Catching taxis in San Cristobal de las Casas
Taxis are abundant in San Cristobal de las Casas and you’re never waiting more than a few minutes before one drives past. All you need is to flag one down, tell them the destination and agree on the price before you jump in. It should be no more than MXN 50 within the central, historical zone.
Taxis run all night, so there’s never a problem about catching one at 5 am. One of the things you shouldn’t miss out on in San Cristobal is hiking El Mirador at sunrise. This requires a taxi, which you can easily catch on any road near your hostel or hotel. I’ve never waited more than 5 minutes, even at 5 am.
Where do the colectivos leave from in san cristobal?
Colectivos are the cheapest and most local way to travel around San Cristobal de las Casas and its surrounding areas. But I’ll be honest, it was only after two months of living there I finally felt pretty confident about where to go to catch each colectivo. So here is my little gift: a guide on where to catch the colectivos in San Cristobal de las Casas.
Most colectivos in San Cristobal depart from the market area at Avenida Utrilla. If you see a colectivo pass with your desired destination on its windshield, don’t hesitate to flag it down and jump on! But here are some exact spots for you for some particular locations:
To go to San Juan Chamula from San Cristobal, take the colectivo from Calle Honduras.
For Arcotete Eco Tourist Park from San Cristobal, take the colectivo from the corner of Nicolas Ruiz.
To go to Ocosingo (en route to Palenque), take the colectivo next to the OCC ADO Autobus Station.
To travel from San Cristobal de las Casas to El Chiflon Waterfall via public transport, you must take the OCC bus from the OCC ADO Autobus Station to Comitan. Once you’re in Comitan, you’ll need to take the colectivo from this stop, which will drop you off at the entrance of El Chiflon.
is San Cristobal bicycle friendly?
You can definitely rent a bike and cycle around San Cristobal de las Casas. While I never biked around San Cris, our friend bought a bike off a “San Cristobal Buy and Sell” FB group for 30 euros and resold it when he left. He said it was sometimes a little bumpy on the cobblestones but he preferred it to walking.
If cycling is your thing you can rent a bike from Jaguar Adventours.
Renting a car in San Cristobal de las Casas
While I wouldn’t recommend driving in and around the historical centre of San Cristobal (four words: narrow roads and high curbs), I’d recommend renting one to explore Chiapas from San Cristobal.
We rented a car to go on a road trip to El Chiflon and Lagos de Montebello for two days. We chose Optima Car Rental because of the good Google reviews, and can’t recommend them enough! You can pop into their office inside Hotel Mansion del Valle, the agent is really helpful and very fair and transparent about costs, etc. If my memory serves me correctly, we paid 500 MXN for a small car with full insurance per day.
Just a warning, drive in Mexico is not the easiest. There are A LOT of potholes and speed bumps. By the end of the two day drive, I was exhausted from constantly keeping an eye out for speed bumps.
But aside from that, San Cristobal de las Casas is a great base to explore the rest of Chiapas by car!
Okay, that’s a round-up on how to get around San Cristobal de las Casas by walking, taking a taxi, catching a colectivo, cycling, or renting a car! As always, reach out if you need any further advice.
