Planning a Trip

Getting There & Departing

By Plane -- Villahermosa (airport code: VSA) is served by the following carriers. Continental ExpressJet (tel. 800/525-0280 in the U.S., or 01-800/900-5000 in Mexico; www.continental.com) has direct service to/from Houston on a regional jet. Mexicana (tel. 800/531-7921 in the U.S., or 01-800/502-2000 in Mexico; www.mexicana.com) and AeroMéxico (tel. 800/237-6639 in the U.S., or 01-800/021-4000 in Mexico; www.aeromexico.com) both have flights to and from Mexico City. Aviación de Chiapas (Aviacsa; tel. 01-800/006-2200 in Mexico or 993/316-5700; www.aviacsa.com) flies to and from Mexico City. The regional airline Aerolitoral, a subsidiary of AeroMéxico (tel. 800/237-6639 in the U.S., or 993/312-6991), goes through Mexico City with a connection to Tampico, Monterrey, and Houston. It also has a direct flight to Veracruz and Mérida. Click (tel. 01-800/122-5425 in Mexico; www.clickmx.com), a subsidiary for Mexicana, provides nonstop service to and from Mexico City.

By Car -- Highway 180 connects Villahermosa to Campeche (6 hr.). Highway 186, which passes by the airport, joins Highway 199 to Palenque and San Cristóbal de las Casas. The road to Palenque is a good one, and the drive takes 2 hours. Between Palenque and San Cristóbal, the road enters the mountains and takes 4 to 5 hours. On any of the mountain roads, conditions are apt to get worse during the rainy season from May to October.

By Bus -- The bus station is at Mina and Merino (tel. 993/312-8900; www.ticketbus.com.mx), three blocks off Highway 180. There are eight nonstop buses per day to/from Palenque (2 1/2 hr.). There are seven nonstop buses per day to Mexico City (10 hr.), six deluxe services on ADO-GL, and two superdeluxe on UNO. To Campeche, there are eight buses nonstop per day (7 hr.); some of these go on to Mérida.

Orientation

Arriving -- Villahermosa's airport is 16km (8 miles) east of town. The trip takes between 20 and 30 minutes. Once you cross the bridge over the Río Grijalva, turn left to reach downtown. Taxis to the downtown area cost 170 pesos.

Parking downtown can be difficult; it's best to find a parking lot. Use one that's guarded round-the-clock.

Visitor Information -- The State Tourism Office (tel. 993/316-5122, ext. 229) has two information booths: The one at the airport is staffed daily from 10am to 5pm; the one at Parque-Museo La Venta (next to the ticket counter for the park) is staffed Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm.

City Layout -- The downtown area, including the pedestrian-only Zona Luz, is on the west bank of the Grijalva River. About 1.5km (1 mile) upstream (south) is CICOM, an academic organization with the large archaeology museum named for the poet Carlos Pellicer Cámara. The airport is on the east side of the river. Highway 180 passes the airport and crosses the river just north of downtown, becoming Bulevar Ruiz Cortines. To get to the downtown area, turn left onto Madero or Pino Suárez. By staying on Ruiz Cortines you can reach the city's biggest attraction, the Parque-Museo la Venta. It's well marked. Just beyond that is the intersection with Paseo Tabasco, the heart of the modern hotel and shopping district.

Getting Around -- Taxis are your best way to get around town. Villahermosa is rare for being a Mexican city without a capable public transportation system.

Fast Facts -- The telephone area code is 993. There aren't a lot of casas de cambio, but you can exchange money at the airport, the hotels, and downtown banks on calles Juárez and Madero. ATMs are plentiful.