In this guide I will explain step by step how to do the border crossing Mexico – Guatemala. There are several ways to get from San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico to San Pedro la Laguna in Guatemala. The easiest is to organize a shuttle with one of the tour agencies in town. This is quite expensive though, so if you’re looking for a cheaper option, keep reading!
The cheap and adventurous way involves quite a few changes and a little chaos. It’s definitely possible though and if you leave early enough, you might make it in one day. It is a little tricky, so I’d recommend not to make a booking yet in San Pedro if you want to attempt this. This way you can spend the night in Xela (Quetzaltenango) if you don’t make it. Casa Seibel is probably the cheapest option out there. It’s a nice hostel which offers private rooms as well and has lots of common spaces and a patio. A great place to hang out and meet people.
If you’re not in a rush, I’d recommend making a stop here anyway. You can hike up volcanos and there are hot springs for a more chilled day out as well. We’re planning to go here before going back to Mexico, so we decided to travel straight to Atitlán.
Another way to shorten a trip is by leaving from Comitán. Comitán makes for an excellent base to explore the national park Lagunas de Montebello and/or some of the other lakes. The Chiflon waterfalls are also very close to Comitán, although easily visited on a day trip from San Cristóbal as well.
Protip: Make the crossing with a little cash at hand, so you can change it to Quetzales and pay for the busses and/or taxi.
Step 1: How to get from San Cristóbal de las casas to Comitán
Take a colectivo from the terminal in San Cristóbal to Comitán for 60 pesos. The terminal is a 10-15 minute walk from plaza 31 de Marzo/the Cathedral of San Cristobál. If this sounds like too much, you can of course also take a taxi. Colectivos leave when full and take about 1.5 hours. Ours took almost 2, but we had to change a tire on the way.
Step 2: How to get from Comitán to Cuauhtémoc
Take another colectivo from Comitán to Cuauhtemoc. They leave from the exact same spot as where the colectivo from San Cristobal drops you off. Just buy your ticket at the kiosk (60 pesos) and you’re good to go. This colectivo takes about 1.5 hours as well.
Step 3: How to get stamped out of Mexico
You need to pass immigration here in Cuahtémoc before heading to the border. Head to the immigration office across from where the colectivo will drop you off. There was almost nobody here when we entered, and the process is quick and straightforward. Just give them your passport and the form that you filled in when you entered (the FMM). I read about people who had to pay an exit fee or show proof that they had paid already as part of the plane ticket. We weren’t asked anything, but did enter by air. We were a little delayed due to an illegal immigrant before us, but still managed to get out quickly. It took us about 15-20 minutes.
Step 4: How to get to the actual border
In order to get to the border and cross into Guatemala, you’ll need to take a taxi to La Mesilla (the border town in Guatemala). You’ll find an orange taxi stand right next to where the colectivo drops you off, so in front of the immigration office. Shared taxis are 10 pesos per person, or pay 50 for the whole taxi and go straight away.
Step 5: Get stamped into Guatemala
If you’re entering Guatemala while Covid restrictions are in place, enter the white tent next to the migration office. Here they will check your antigen-test and temperature. They’ll give you a little piece of paper saying all is ok and with that, enter the immigration office.
Enter the immigration office where you’ll need to fill in a standard immigration form and will receive your stamp (90 days normally). There is no fee to enter Guatemala.
Step 6: Change money
You’ll need cash for transportation, bathrooms and quick bites along the way so change the pesos you’ve got left here. We got offered Q. 35 for 100 pesos when the official rate was almost 39 and managed to negotiate a rate of 37. Check the current rate here.
Step 7: How to get to the chicken bus terminal
The local chicken busses go from the bus terminal. When exiting the immigration office head to your right and you’ll see red tuk-tuks and taxis waiting for you. The normal rate to the terminal is 3 quetzal per person, but if you have a lot of luggage (like we do) they’ll probably charge you Q. 5 per person. You can also walk, it’s about a kilometer/15 minute walk away. There are bathrooms in front of the terminal for Q. 2 and places to buy snacks for the road.
Alternative: If you don’t feel like spending hours on local transport and/or want to be sure to make it to Lake Atitlan in one day, there are shuttle busses that leave from the immigration office that can take you directly. Expect to pay around Q. 200. The last bus going to San Pedro leaves Xela at 5 pm. So if it’s after 11 am by the time you’re across and want to be sure to make it in one day, catch a shuttle.
Step 8: How to get to Lake Atitlan the cheapest way
As there is no direct local transport, so we need to break this part down into a few more steps.
Step 8.1: Take a bus to Huehue (or Huehuetenango in full) for Q. 25-30, or in our case we paid 60 for the whole way to Xela (Quetzaltenango) as the bus was continuing on. Unfortunately, that did not mean immediately… The bus left La Mesilla at 1:30 pm and we reached Huehue at 4 pm, so in 2.5 hours. We were told we’d leave in 15 minutes, but this turned into half an hour and with a few more stops, we ended up leaving the city close to 5 pm.
Step 8.2: If you don’t find direct transport to Xela, change in Huehue. Busses leave from the same terminal and you’ll people shoot out Xela, or ask and you’ll be pointed in the right direction. This bus should cost you Q. 25-30 as well.
Step 8.3: Take a bus from Xela to Laguna Atitlán. There are busses going to San Pedro la Laguna for Q. 40-50 or to Panajachel. The bus heading to San Pedro stops by a few other villages on the lake on the way, so even if you’re staying at one of the other towns along the lake, you might still want to take this bus. Note that the last bus to San Pedro leaves at 5 pm, which is why you need to leave early to make it in one day. Another option is going to Panajachel and take the boat from there. The boat from Panajachel to San Pedro is Q. 25 and stops at the towns along the way.
Note that they are currently working on the road between San Juan la Laguna and San Pedro la Laguna (and probably will be for another year or so), meaning that unless you arrive at San Juan after 5:30 – 6 pm, you’ll need to either walk from San Juan to the center or to the end of the roadworks and take a tuk-tuk from there. We stayed out of town, on the other side of San Pedro and should have paid Q. 10 for the tuk-tuk according to locals, but only got it down to 15 from 20. If you arrive after this time, the road should be opened and the bus should be able to pass.
San Pedro la Laguna
We decided to go to San Pedro as based on what we read and heard this was the most backpacker-friendly and cheapest town. There seem to be a few hostels and plenty of bars and restaurants in the center indeed. The real reason why we wanted to stay in San Pedro however, was to hike up the volcano San Pedro. So we were very disappointed to find out that it’s not safe to hike up there as people often get robbed at the top.
According to every agency in town and a handful of locals, it’s farmers from the town on the other side of the volcano (Santiago, which they claim is quite dangerous as robberies are common). They hike up from there and rob hikers with heavy arms, like the stuff used in wars. Valuables or no, rumor has it that plenty of people had to hike down barefoot as they took even their shoes. Agencies don’t even offer the tour anymore. We found one that goes at 2:30 am, gives you about 5 minutes to take your pictures, and then takes you back quickly to be gone before the robbers head up. Others will arrange a guide for you if you really want to, but don’t take any responsibility or whatsoever if something does happen. We thought it wasn’t worth the risk and decided to skip it.
This doesn’t mean that there is nothing to do in San Pedro, but just a heads up that it’s a little more complicated to get to because of the roadworks and you can’t hike up the volcano.
From San Pedro, you can hike up la Nariz del Indio (the nose of the Indian), which is actually in San Juan and also accessible from San Pablo. Take a guided tour to see the sunset, or go by yourself during the day. We actually didn’t hike up all the way, but stopped at the first viewpoint (Q. 10). It was getting very cloudy so we wouldn’t have been able to see anything and we wanted to be back before the rain started as well. To get to the Nariz, just keep heading up and there will be another entrance fee to pay.
On the other side of town, there is a black sand beach you can walk to, which makes for a nice (half) day out.
If it fits your budget, I can 100% recommend staying at Santa Maria del Lago. This place is actually what made us love the lake. It’s located out of town, but still within walking distance (about 30 minutes) and lies right on the lake. We had the luck that we were the only ones there during the majority of our stay and we felt at home more than staying at a hotel. We loved the peace and comfort and the design of the house is just gorgeous.
