Cancun to Tapachula Chiapas By Bus

A visitor to our blog inquired about traveling to Guatemala from Cancun but not going through Belize as a solo traveler.
I can appreciate the desire to avoid Belize after going through Belize City on a trip to Tikal.
There are optional routes that will take you through some interesting parts of Mexico

• Yucatan

The trip through Southern Mexico from Cancun to Tapachula could be a great route to go into Guatemala and one heavily traveled by solo travelers including solo women backpackers from Europe and North America.
The route will take you through some notable Mexican colonial towns including Valladolid, a very safe town with a well-lighted zocalo and many international visitors. 

Valladolid will offer good hotel options, transportation, night life, and a cenote for swimming. You are 25 miles from ChichenItza and an inexpensive collective cab ride to the ruin site.
Further northwest you will pass through Merida, a splendid colonial town with museums and nightlife. If traveling by bus you will be using ADO first class buses. ADO and OCC bus (ADO) cover all of southern Mexico and reach Tapachula.

Merida is well-lit in the central area and a great party place on weekends. Several main streets around the Zocalo are closed off to vehicles and given over to food kiosks and musical groups. From Merida you can reach Uxmal and other Mayan ruin sites.
Next stop heading northwest would be Campeche and then Villahermosa. In Villahermosa a visit to the La Venta Sculpture Park will offer artifacts from the Olmec culture including the large sculptured heads of the Olmec.

ADO bus runs service from Villahermosa to Palenque, which is in Chiapas. Palenque offers the great Palenque Ruin Site and several day trips to other sites including Bonampak and Xachilan. You can book a tour or make these trips on your own. See details.
Investigate a cross river trip to Tikal and then Guatemala City

In Palenque the area of the Canada (Canyada) is well-lit at night and offers a varied choice of hotel options. Also find camping at Maya Bell on the ruins road.

If you do party in any of these cities and towns, the key to safety would be to not make yourself an easy target. Stay in lighted areas and head home early and sober. Thieves like an easy target. Don't flash cash, cameras, jewelry, or logo backpacks/luggage. You are bound to meet travelers going in the same direction as you and it is often helpful to go as a group.

Stick to the first class buses on this trip. For the most part this will be ADO Bus or OCC, both run by ADO. Night buses by ADO, (OCC) are a good option and at time the only option. You can sleep on the bus and arrive in the morning.
There are bus routes where you will take second class buses, to Uxmal for instance, but they are Sur buses run by ADO. (A very good ride but perhaps no lavatory)


From Palenque book an ADO Bus (OCC) to San Cristobal de las Casas. San Cristobal offers an illuminated zocalo which is quite a sight at night.
From San Cristobal book OCC to Tapachula. In Tapachula's OCC station you will find Tica Bus, a cross border bus that goes through Guatemala City and Central America to Panama City.
Guatemala will require some additional precautions. Group with others, don't stray far from lighted streets, and try to get local info about unsafe areas.  

Tucson To Guadalajara By Bus    

Tucson Arizona

                                                                                        April 2013

The bus trip from Tucson Arizona to Guadalajara Mexico will take all of twenty-eight hours if you include the local bus in Tucson, taxi to the Tufesa Bus Station in Nogales, and the twenty two hour bus trip from Nogales Mexico to Guadalajara.

•   Local Tucson Bus and Shuttle   

This account starts with local bus transportation in Tucson, service that is inexpensive and extensive.  The Sun-Tran buses run routes throughout the city and pass through the Ronstadt Transportation Center, downtown.  Tucson Museums

• Nogales Shuttle

 From the center take the number eight bus to South 6th Avenue in the 300- 500 block where you find several shuttle van services to Nogales.  The Saguaro (sahuaro) Shuttle at 4202 S 6th Ave is a good ride at $12. USD.  The Saguaro vans are clean and the seat belts work. Tel 520-573-1399
 Other shuttles in the area include Sergios Shuttle and Sonora.  Figure at least an hours drive from South 6th to Nogales at the border.  Tucson Shuttles

• Tourist Card  Visa

If you need the tourist card, six-month permission for an extended stay in Mexico beyond the border states,  apply at the immigration office, just inside the border, and pay the 299 Pesos, $26 USD for the FMM, Forma Migratoria Multiple.
Once in Mexico you can go to one of the many bank ATMs and receive Pesos.  At the border, however many places, including Tufesa Bus, will accept dollars and calculate a fair exchange rate.

• Tufesa Bus

Take a six dollar taxi, 70 Pesos, to the Tufesa Bus Station to buy your ticket.  The bus to Guadalajara leaves at four pm.  Bus fare to Guadalajara from Nogales is 1,404 Pesos.  $115. USD
Tufesa Bus

Tufesa Bus Station Nogales Mexico

• Seating

You should choose your own seat.  Otherwise you might be assigned a seat in the back of the bus where road noise and lavatory noise could be a problem.
Any seat from seat one to seat twenty will provide a comfortable ride.  Seats on the left side of the bus on an afternoon trip heading south will avoid the hot afternoon sun.

• Sleeping

Plan on having a good long sleep to make the long night trip bearable.  Bring a jacket or sweater against the air conditioning system and bring ear plugs to overcome the noise from the action movies that will show until midnight.

• Mazatlan

The bus will arrive Mazatlan about 6 am after stops at Hermosillo, Los Mochis, and Culiacan.
From Mazatlan the bus heads through Tepic and then reaches Guadalajara where the Tufesa Bus serves two stations.  The bus will reach the second stop at about 2 pm in the afternoon.  The second stop is close to the Centro Historico of Guadalajara.

Guadalajara Mexico

To visit the Centro Historico cathedral and other sights take a 120 pesos cab.  To continue on from the Tufesa station by bus take a taxi or walk four blocks from the Tufesa Station to the Central Autobus for Primera Plus Bus and other buses to Mexico City and beyond.    Mazatlan

Primera Plus runs hourly buses to Mexico City Norte Station. The six to seven hour trip costs 612 Pesos.
Primera Plus Bus

Primera Plus Bus runs from Guadalajara to Mexico City

Mexico City Bus Stations, Terminal Norte, Terminal Tapo

Mexico City’s First Class Bus Terminals

Updated April 3, 2013

Mexico City, Four First Class Bus Terminals

Coming from the north of Mexico it is common to arrive at Mexico City Terminal Norte Bus Station.
From there buses are available in all directions including ADO first class bus to Oaxaca City, ADO to the northen border on the Gulf Coast, and Estrella Blanca Bus west and north with Chihuahuenses and Futura  First class buses.  Flecha Amarilla  running first class Primera Plus buses to the west coast and north to Mazatlan are also available.  

Norte is an old station but a great hub for bus trips throughout Mexico including trips to Teotihuacan ruin site and the ruin site at Tula.
Terminal Norte is one of four first class bus terminals that serve the country from Mexico City. You must start from certain terminals to reach a certain destination. That info is hard to find so I will list it here:

Mexico City’s Terminal Norte 
Norte is also called Terminal Central Norte and serves the country north to the US border and includes Matamoros, Nuevo Loredo, Juarez/ El Paso TX, Agua Prieta/Douglass, AZ, Nogales/Nogales, AZ, and as far west as Tijuana/San Diego. The States of Mexico served to the north and west include Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahiula, Nuevo Leon, Sinaloa, Durango, San Lois Potosi, Tamaulipas, Nayarit, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Hidalgo, Aguascalientes, Michoacan, Colima, and Queretaro. Southern and eastern States served: Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz, and Puebla.

Mexico City’s Tapo Terminal
Officially called Terminal Oriente and commonly called Tapo, this terminal serves the southern and southeastern parts of Mexico including the States of Puebla, Oaxaca, Tlaxcala, Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Veracruz, and Yucatan.

Palenque Ruin Site served by ADO 

first class bus.  

Mexico City’s Terminal Central Sur 
Central Sur serves the central and southern States of Guerrero Puebla, Morelos/Cuernavaca, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco, and Chiapas.

Mexico City’s Terminal Centro Poniente 
Poniente serves the central and western states of Michoacan, Jalisco, Guerrero, Nayarit, Queretaro, the State of Mexico DF, and northwest to Sonora, and Sinaloa.

My most recent trip was through Norte.
 The station has steadily improved and now offers clean restrooms, small restaurants, ATM machines, and many options for bus routes.
The trip from Norte to Oaxaca is a six to seven hour run.  Night buses are offered that reach Oaxaca City in the early morning just as the sun rises.   From the ADO station you can taxi or walk the ten blocks to the Zocalo.   The new ADO Bus station in Oaxaca offers underground parking, clean restrooms, baggage storage, and a small coffee shop.