Border Crossing, Nogales to Oaxaca Mexico by Bus:

Border Crossing, Tucson to Oaxaca by Bus

Update Dec. 2013 

The cross border buses run by Tufesa Bus from Phoenix and Tucson make it easier to take a bus trip from the USA through Mexico.  Tufesa runs first class buses from Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and several cities in California through Mazatlan and on to Guadalajara..

• Tucson to Oaxaca

If you travel from Tucson, Arizona to Oaxaca, Mexico, you can reach Oaxaca in about two days.
 Of course there is much to see along the way and the various buses in Mexico's extensive first class system will make it easy to visit the colonial towns and cities of Mexico.   A good event to plan for in Oaxaca is the Day of the Dead celebration, a spectacle of candle-lit cemeteries  and sand paintings that takes place during the afternoon of October 31 and the following two evenings.  The cemeteries are magic places during the evening vigils.

 See the sand painting process 

    Leave

• Mazatlan, Pacific Coast

Leave Tucson AZ in the early afternoon aboard Tufesa Bus and reach Mazatlan by dawn the following day (14-16 hour trip)

The luxury Tufesa buses are  high tech rolling hotels made for sleeping. Once darkness descends (7:00 PM) you can sleep as the miles speed by.

Farmland reaches all the way south from Hermasillo for 600 miles but at Mazatlan the mountains below Durango start to pinch in and the farms turn to citrus and tropical fruit. At Mazatlan you cross the Tropic of Cancer and enter the true tropics.

A good side trip here is the ruin site of Alta Vista  (link) on the Tropic of Cancer.  For the ruin site, go to Zacatecas either from Durango City or from Zacatecas City. Alta Vista is near Sombrerete in the small town of Chalchuhuites. It is a little-known site except for those that follow the solstice and the Zenith days.
Zacatecas is a great colonial city well worth a visit.
  April 2013 bus Fare: Nogales to Guadalajara, 1404 Pesos, $115 USD.

• Estimate Miles and Time Between Bus Terminal 

Plan a long bus trip through Mexico by using the maps offered by Guia Roji, a book of 42 maps that fits in the daypack. It is important on a long bus trip to estimate your miles between cities and bus stations, more importantly, your time between stops. Plan on doing 50 miles an hour and plan your departure so that you arrive in your destination terminal early in the morning.  This will give you daylight to explore the city, beach, or ruin site.

An example is the trip from Tucson to Mazatlan; it is 800 miles between Tucson and Mazatlan.  This computes to a 16-hour trip from Tucson. Therefore, it is best to leave Tucson around noon or early afternoon so that you arrive in Mazatlan at 6-7 am and have daylight to explore the beaches or search for a hotel.

Day of the Dead cemetery visits in Mexico

Mountain travel will be much slower than 50 mph. A trip from Oaxaca City to the Pacific Coast beaches of Puerto Escondido or Zipolite for example will cover only 125 miles but take 7-8 hours. You can ask the ticket sellers at the station the trip duration.


If you do head inland to Durango from Mazatlan, pick up some motion sickness medication. The old mountain road to Durango is as steep and twisting as any you will ever see and bound to make you queasy.  A new road is in the works and will open in 2013.  It has the highest bridge in Mexico, a cable-stay bridge that offers spectacular scenery.

     Bus travel will allow you to move at your own pace and to visit various cities and beach towns.  Bus travel (Link to Mexico Bus Travel Info) will offer comfort, sightseeing, adventure, flexibility, and a boots on the ground tour through the city, ruin site, or village. You are free to detour, stop, speed through, or lounge for a few days.

• Primera Plus

Primera Plus Bus also serves Mazatlan and their luxury buses make afternoon and evening trips to Mexico City with morning and mid day trips to Guadalajara..

• Guadalajara

Tufesa Bus continues southeast from Mazatlan and ends its bus route in Guadalajara.
In Guadalajara there are many bus options including Primera Plus Bus which offers a luxury ride to Mexico City.

• Coastal Route 200

 It is also possible to continue south on coastal Route 200 to Puerta Vallarta, Zihuatanejo, (link) Acapulco and Puerto Escondido.  First class buses such as Estrella Blanca cover the Pacific coast as far south as Oaxaca State.

• Oaxaca Coast 

In Oaxaca State, ADO buses cover the coastal bus routes all the way to Tapachula Chiapas and the border of Guatemala.
Reach Oaxaca City from Puerto Escondido via ADO  (OCC) bus through the resort town of Huatulco.  If your trip is through Mexico City , reach Oaxaca City via ADO Bus from bus Terminal Norte or Terminal Tapo.
Oaxaca City is 300 miles (6 hours) south of Mexico City.

• Oaxaca City

Oaxaca is a great colonial city with many ruin sites within reach and some great indigenous festivals including the Day of the Dead.