Planning a trip to San Cristobal de las Casas
Getting There & Departing
By Plane -- The local airport is little used, and the closest airport with regular service is in Tuxtla Gutiérrez.
By Car -- From Palenque (5 hr.), the beautiful road provides jungle scenery, but portions of it may be heavily potholed or obstructed during rainy season. Check with the local state tourism office before driving. From Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the 1 1/2-hour trip winds through beautiful mountain country.
By Taxi -- Taxis from Tuxtla Gutiérrez to San Cristóbal cost around 650 pesos.
By Bus -- The ADO station (which also handles the affiliates Altos, Cristóbal Colón, and Maya de Oro) is at the corner of Insurgentes and Bulevar Juan Sabines, 8 blocks south of the main square. This company offers service to and from Tuxtla (12 buses per day), Palenque (almost every hour), and several other destinations: Mérida (two buses per day), Villahermosa (two buses per day), Oaxaca (two buses per day), and Puerto Escondido (two buses per day). To buy a bus ticket without going down to the station, go to the Ticket Bus agency, Real de Guadalupe 24 (tel. 967/678-8503). Hours are Monday to Saturday from 7am to 10pm.
The best cheap way to get to and from nearby Tuxtla Gutiérrez is by microbus, 16-seat buses that depart every 5 to 15 minutes from the small bus station across the street from the ADO bus station. The company is called Omnibuses de Chiapas (no phone). Look for white buses that say omni or expreso on the front. The fare is 38 pesos and the trip takes an hour. There are also vans making the run every 15 to 30 minutes. They can be found just off Juan Sabines by the bus station. You'll have to ask someone to point them out to you because there isn't a sign. The problem with these is that they pack too many passengers in them for comfort.
Orientation
Arriving -- To get to the town square from the highway, turn on to Avenida Insurgentes (at the traffic light). From the bus station, the main plaza is 8 blocks north up Avenida Insurgentes (a 10-min. walk, slightly uphill). Cabs are cheap and plentiful.
Visitor Information -- The Municipal Tourism Office (tel./fax 967/678-0665) is in the town hall, west of the main square. It's open daily from 9am to 9pm. Check the bulletin board here for apartments, shared rides, cultural events, and local tours.
Personal Safety -- Though criminal organizations are active in the state of Chiapas (smuggling drugs overland from Guatemala and preying upon Central American immigrants attempting to get to the U.S.), they mostly work in the Pacific coast region of the state. San Cristóbal is far from this area. Life here remains normal. Locals don't evince the concern that they do in other parts of Mexico. The city doesn't have a gang problem and is by and large a safe place to visit.
City Layout -- San Cristóbal is laid out on a grid; the main north-south axis is Insurgentes/Utrilla, and the east-west axis is Mazariegos/Madero. All streets change names when they cross either of these streets. The zócalo (main plaza) lies where they intersect. An important street to know is Real de Guadalupe, which runs from the plaza eastward to the church of Guadalupe, and has many hotels and restaurants. The market is 7 blocks north of the zócalo along Utrilla.
Take note that this town has at least three streets named Domínguez and two streets named Flores. There are Hermanos Domínguez, Belisario Domínguez, and Pantaleón Domínguez; and María Adelina Flores and Dr. Felipe Flores.
Getting Around
Most of the sights and shopping in San Cristóbal are within walking distance of the plaza.
Urbano buses (minibuses) take passengers between town and the residential neighborhoods. All buses pass by the market and central plaza on their way through town. Utrilla and Avenida 16 de Septiembre are the two main arteries; all buses use the market area as the last stop. Any bus on Utrilla will take you to the market.
Colectivos to outlying villages depart from the public market at Avenida Utrilla. Buses late in the day are usually very crowded. Always check to see when the last or next-to-last bus returns from wherever you're going, and then take the one before that -- those last buses sometimes don't materialize, and you might be stranded.
Rental cars come in handy for trips to the outlying villages and may be worth the expense when shared by a group, but keep in mind that insurance is invalid on unpaved roads. Try Optima Car Rental, Av. Mazariegos 39 (tel. 967/674-5409). Office hours are daily from 9am to 1pm and 5 to 8pm. You'll save money by arranging the rental from your home country; otherwise, a day's rental with insurance will cost around 700 pesos for a VW Beetle with manual transmission, the cheapest car available.
Scooters can be rented from Croozy Scooters (tel. 967/631-4329), at Belisario Domínguez 7-A. Passport and 500 pesos deposit required.
Bikes are another option for getting around the city; a day's rental is about 140 pesos. Los Pingüinos, Av. Ecuador 4-B (tel. 967/678-0202; pinguinosmex@yahoo.com), offers bike tours out-of-town. Tours in the valley around San Cristóbal last 4 to 6 hours and cost 300 to 400 pesos. It's open daily from 10am to 2:30pm and 4 to 7pm.
Fast Facts
Area Code -- The telephone area code is 967.
ATMs -- San Cristóbal has a number of ATMs.
Currency Exchange -- There are at least five casas de cambio on Real de Guadalupe, near the main square, and a couple under the colonnade facing the square. Most are open until 8pm, and some are open Sunday.
Doctor -- Try Dr. Roberto Lobato, Av. Belisario Domínguez 17, at Calle Flavio A. Paniagua (tel. 967/678-7777). Don't be unsettled by the fact that his office is next door to Funerales Canober.
Internet Access -- Internet cafes are everywhere.
Parking -- Use the underground public lot in front of the cathedral, just off the main square on 16 de Septiembre. Entry is from Calle 5 de Febrero.
Post Office -- The correo is at Crescencio Rosas and Cuauhtémoc, a block south and west of the main square. It's open Monday to Friday from 8am to 7pm, Saturday from 9am to 1pm.
Spanish Classes -- The Centro Bilingüe, at the Centro Cultural El Puente, Real de Guadalupe 55, 29250 San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chi. (tel. 800/303-4983 in the U.S., or tel./fax 967/678-3723), offers classes in Spanish and can arrange home stays for their students.
Weather -- San Cristóbal can be chilly when the sun isn't out, especially during the winter. It's 2,100m (7,000 ft.) above sea level. Most hotels are not heated, although some have fireplaces. There is always a possibility of rain, but I would avoid going to San Cristóbal from late August to late October, during the height of the rainy season.
