Panajachel Travel Forum

is there a strait shuttle bus from Panajachel to San Cristobal de la Casas and how much it costs, or one has to do a lot of bus changes as it was discribed by one VT member? I am looking for the fastest way (if any), rather than the cheapest way. any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

My experience in Guatemala was that shuttle services are not really shuttle at all! I don't know if it is the same all over the country, but when I traveled from Semuc Champey to Flores... I was transfering buses and vans all the time with guys that had paid the supposed-to-be a shuttle bus. We did like 7 or 8 transfers and I paid some 40 Q less than them.

So, my advice... go on your own. You won't spend much time waiting for connections, during the day transportation in Guatemala is unbelievable effective. It's annoying, I know... but that's what it is!

You can get some better options from Sololá, quite close to Pana. Maybe something straight to Huehue, and from there it's a short ride to the border and on to San Cristobal.

Good luck!

thanks for your insight, i guess we would have to do bus hopping. interesting you mentioned Semuc Champey-Flores route. I am doing the same but from Flores to Semuc Champey. so that requires 8 bus changes??? unbelivable... do you rember how long did it take you to do that? and how long would it take form Pana to SCC?

From Pana.to Los Encuentros[via Solola]1 hour,Los Enc.to Huehuetenango[4 hours],Huehue.to La Mesilla[Mexican border}2 hours,La Mes.to Comitan {2 hours]Com.to San Cristobal[3 hours]Factoring in waiting time,be sure and leave Pana.EARLY in the morning,and you should make San Cris.by nightfall.

From Flores to Semuc Champey ... you should go this way >>

* Flores / Santa Elena to Sayaxche (you'll have to cross a river there, on some kind of weird boat ... you'll see!)
* Sayaxche to San Antonio
* San Antonio to Raxruja (although you'll get off at San Antonio las Cuevas, on the highway ... by a gas station)
* from there to Coban, then on to Lanquin and on to Semuc Champey.

I did it on a long day! Around 10 hours, maybe a little more.

A friendly advise, (in Semuc) stay at Hospedaje Las Marias ... a lovely and cheap camping / hostel / cabanas. But get some fruits and stuff on your way, there's nothing around Semuc and the restaurants and not really cheap, everything is quite isolated.

From Pana to SCC ... the previous post is right, but I think you can go straight from La Mesilla all the way to SCC. I don't think you need to transfer in Comitan.