Protip: Salina Cruz Mexico to Tapachula To Guatemala City to Antigua

From Salina Cruz, Mexico, I caught the OCC bus to Tapachula, Mexico (ticket was 294 pesos). There was only one daily bus and it was an overnight ride that left Salina Cruz at 10:55pm. It is about an 7-8 hour ride. I arrived in Tapachula, the border town, around 6:20am. Luckily the bus to Guatemala City leaves at 7am at the same station, it is a Tikal Bus. I had to buy my ticket directly from the bus driver and conductor instead of the ticket booth. It cost USD$17. They accepted both Pesos and Dollars, they take your money after crossing the Guate border. It’s a short ride to the Guatemala border from Tapachula. You get off the bus at the border, get the exit stamp from the Mexico immigration office. You might get asked to pay a 262 peso exit fee, but this may be a fake fee because I only paid the official 200 and he let me go for that. then walk down to a small office on the left that is the Guatemala Immigration office. you get your passport stamped and they usually give you a 90 day visa that is good for the four countries (guatemala, honduras, el salvador and Nicaragua, i think).

There are lots of guatemalan money changers around the border. If you wanted to you could change money with them, but be aware you are changing money with unofficial strangers on the border. You need to pay Q10 (or you can pay 20 pesos) for the guatemalan entry visa.

after the mexico visa, the guate visa and passing through the hordes of money changers, you get back on your bus a little further down the road. Enjoy the beautiful ride for the 5 or 6 hours because once you get into Guatemala City you have to be on guard. I didn’t change money at the border. I found a couple of ATMs in the gas station right across the street from the Tikal Bus station. This was on Calzada Aguilar Bartres, it is the street on the border between zona 11 and zona 12.

From the bus station, I took a cab to the chicken bus station that goes to Antigua. it was Q40 for the taxi ride. You could just try to find the route that the bus travels and jump on the chicken bus from the street, but going straight to the station you can get a good seat. The bus will get full to standing room only or three to a seat. I paid Q50 to the chicken bus for the 1.5 hour ride to Antigua.

Once in Antigua, you are safe. Don´t listen to the hawkers trying to convince you to go to their school or hotel because it “owned by real local guatemalans” instead of gringo expats.

Random advice: In Antigua, all Tuk Tuk rides within the main city area is Q10, if you ask first, they may quote you 15, just get in the tuk tuk and when you arrive, just pay Q10. If you want drugs, go to the shoe shiners in Parque Central. Best coffee in town is at El Portal right in Parque Central, or Fernando’s Kaffee around Campo Seco street on the edge of town. La Union Spanish School is great, very well organized, take the morning class cuz it has more students to mingle with and you get time for activities during the day. Staying with a local family is a subjective choice. The family you get may not feed you particularily well and the accomodations may not be the best…I guess “authentic “would be the optimistic way of describing the local family experience. I ended up spending a lot of money eating out because the food outside was better and more interesting. so, if you don’t like the family, you end up paying for a room that is marginally cheaper than a hostel, and food that may dissapoint.

Antigua is expensive, don't expect third world prices in this city.