Bus Travel in Mexico
It may be a bus, a passenger van, a covered pickup truck, or a colectivo (shared) taxi. Wherever you want to go in Mexico, you can get there.
It may be easy, or a great adventure. It may be bumpy and drafty, or more comfortable than first class on American Airlines.
In Mexico, local buses with fixed prices stop and go everywhere, and round-the-clock long-distance buses run between cities.
Outside the city´s main bus station, in many parts of Mexico third-class (cheaper) buses leave from their own offices somewhere deep in the city.
Third-class buses often cost less than half the cheapest option at an “official” bus station. And they aren’t so bad. Really.
(By the way, third class is an arbitrary, meaningless name. Third class basically means cheap and not leaving from the main bus terminal).
Sometimes the bus you want leaves from a specific street corner, a tiny station, or a part of the market. This is more common in rural or out-of-the-way places.
Bus routes change, and information on the internet goes out of date. Your best resource to get information is to ask a local: a friend, someone at your hotel, or the driver of the bus you arrived in.
Bus stations
For long-distance travel, rather than an overpriced, inefficient semi-monopoly like Greyhound in the U.S., Mexico has around 20+ big bus companies and countless small ones that that go everywhere.
Most companies have websites where you can check schedules or buy tickets.
Here’s a list of some main destinations in Mexico and the bus companies that go there:
These buses usually leave from the main bus station in town.
Mexico City has four bus stations for the east, north, west, and south:
Tapo, aka Oriente, east (really in the center of the city so it takes some time to get out). Buses for Puebla and Veracruz. Go to the San Lorenzo metro station.
Norte, north, for Monterrey and all points north (duh). Go to the Autobuses del Norte metro station.
Observetorio, aka Poniente, west, for Guadalajara and everything between and beyond: Morelia, Toluca, Leon, Puerto Vallarta
Sur, south, Cuernavaca, Taxco, but not points very south – buses for Oaxaca and beyond pass through Puebla and leave from Tapo. For Sur, go to the Taxqueña metro station.
The airport has connections too – they can be more expensive, but you will save time. Look for Mexico Aeropuerto in their list of destinations.
If you don´t speak Spanish, don´t worry, most websites work the same as any in English.
Here´s a sample from ADO. Put in the departure and arrival cities and the date:
There´s your schedule. If you don´t know Spanish and the website is confusing, do not buy tickets online.
Check out bus company websites. Here are some I’ve used:
Here’s a list of some more of the common bus companies and where they go, thanks again to the Mexperience website:
The cheapest buses that leave from a bus station are, in my experience, always reasonably fast and direct, clean and comfortable.
The first or primera class of the most expensive lines (ADO, Caminante) are more comfortable than airplanes, with big reclining seats and free food. But you will pay!
First class bus vs. flights
Before taking a first-class bus, check for flights. Domestic flights can be cheaper than first-class buses, especially with anticipation (more than a month).
For example, never travel from Mexico City to somewhere far away like San Cristobal de las Casas or Cancun by first class bus. Get a flight – it will take only an hour, rather than 18.
Or to San Cristobal you can spend a fraction of the price on a second-class bus.
Second class bus, 13+ hours:
Viajes Aury, 350 pesos
Premium first-class bus, 12 hours:
First-class bus, 12 hours:
ADO: 1,196 pesos, with anticipation 920
1-hour flight:
Interjet, 1,399 – 1,799 pesos, possibly less (I paid under 1,000 a few years back).
This is just a sample. Expect prices to change, and change usually means prices go up.
My guide to flying in Mexico is coming soon.
Third-class, independent bus companies and stations
I don’t care about reclining seats, movies on flat-screens, or snacks. I want cheap, and I don’t mind riding in a bus with loud music, open/closed windows, overbooked, too slow/too fast, too hot/too cold – but I don’t love the breakdowns (rare).
In many parts of Mexico, buses beat up to various degrees leave from somewhere other than the bus station. These are the cheapest options by far.
They might go all night. So you´ll save on a hotel room too.
Bring warm clothes – often they crank the air conditioner. You might spend the day in shorts and flip-flops on the beach, but once evening falls and the overnight bus leaves, bundle up. It might get colder than a forgotten chimichanga in the bottom of a Taco Bell bag on a Michigan winter night.
I don’t know third-class buses for all of Mexico. I mostly use them in the south, so I left some suggestions below.
Please give us your suggestions, especially for the north.
Like I said before, ask locals. Keep your eyes open – sometime independent buses are right by the “official” bus station.
Oaxaca City and coast
In D.F. there is a line called FYPSA. It is near the Blvd. Pto. Aereo metro stop, maybe a ten-minute walk from the station.
It´s confusing and busy outside the metro stop. Ask directions. At the time of writing there are no reservations so show up an hour early.
In Oaxaca city there is an entire terminal for second-class buses next to the Central Abastos, a huge market about 15 minutes from the center of town. Here you can travel all over Oaxaca and to Chiapas for cheap.
Chiapas
Earlier I mentioned Viajes Aury and its 350-peso fare direct to San Cristobal. Next to Viajes Aury are other companies to Chiapas Cristobal Colon and more with names I can’t remember.
They all have the same price, 300 pesos regular, 350 in high season.
They all leave in the late afternoon, between 5-7. Show up early so you make sure you get a seat, or buy tickets a few days in advance.
The buses also stop in Puebla (on the highway, not in town) and much later Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas. After San Cristobal they continue on to Comitan and the Guatemalan border.
They leave from the Candelaria metro station. It’s about a 5/10-minute walk through tianguis,street markets.
Ask for directions for camiones para Chiapas, buses to Chiapas.
In San Cristobal de las Casas the second-class bus companies are much easier to find, all leaving from the main road in front of the bus station. Find colectivos (passenger vans) here to travel all over Chiapas for cheaper than the bus.
Cancun and the Yucatan
If you want to go to Cancun straight from Mexico City for cheap and you have the time, go to San Cristobal de las Casas, then Palenque.
See both places. They are two of my favorite towns in Mexico.
Then from Palenque go direct to Cancun. The buses are easy to find near the bus station in Palenque.
If I remember correctly, tickets for those in 2013 were 200 or 300 pesos.
They will take you to the highway about an hour from Palenque to catch a bus coming from Villahermosa with spare seats. Be patient – you’ll get there. You’ll want to pack light on this trip so you can keep the bag in front of you if necessary.
On the way to Cancun the bus probably stops in Tulum and Playa del Carmen. If you want off, keep your eyes open because no one will tell you when you get there.
So the cost of transport to Cancun from Mexico City can be less than 1,000. By traveling at night you save on hotels, though many websites and travel writers warn against traveling in Mexico at night by bus.
I don´t endorse it, but I do it all the time.
To travel around the Yucatan, when you go to the bus station in Cancun or elsewhere to buy tickets, they assume you want first class and will sell you ADO. Ask if you want the second-class bus.
Several companies go all over the Yucatan for cheaper than ADO. But ask how long they take – they may not be direct.
Local buses and the street
Every city in Mexico has a local bus system under roughly the same principle – several companies do different routes, with buses (or passenger vans) that look different.
You just wave at a local bus if you want it. Most have the routes – places they pass – in the front window. It doesn’t mean that it’s direct. They may zigzag all over the city before you get to the zoo.
And when you want to get off, you can do it anywhere. Push the button or pull the string, or yell ¡baja!
If you don´t speak Spanish, you need help. Ask someone at the hotel for directions to where you want to go, the name of the bus, which side of the street to wait on. If they don’t know, ask at a restaurant. Or better yet, ask another traveler who has done it recently.
Don’t follow a guidebook. Routes change too quickly.
Find out the price and bring exact change. Many cities have one price for everything, or different routes may cost something different. Bring extra change for the way home, or if you hear a higher price than what you expected.
General bus tips
Pack light. It’s nice to have your bag under your feet or above your head, rather than out of sight above or below the bus.
But don’t freak out if someone decides to put your bag in one of those places. It’s probably safe, the worst thing a good soaking if it rains. So bring a smaller bag with valuables onto the bus, or wrap up everything in waterproof bags inside your bag.
Tip: don´t travel with valuables.
Bring warm clothes on the bus at all times of day, even in hot weather. Sometimes they crank the air conditioning.
Get a seat the closest to the front as possible. You will be the first off. Also you want to be away from the bathroom in case it gets to stinking.
And finally, if you don’t take the bus in Mexico, you don’t know Mexico.
Tip: in Mexico City take the metro and avoid buses as much as possible, unless you have a local friend to show you around.
Thanks for reading, and please leave your tips below.
