Real de Catorce Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Sendor runs 1st-class buses from Matehuala’s bus station to Real de Catorce (M$47, two hours) at 7:45am, 9:45am, 11:45am, 1:45pm and 5:45pm; the bus can be caught in town 15 minutes later at the Sendor’s office on Guerrero, a little east of and across the street from Hotel Álamo on Méndez. Upon arrival in Matehuala, ask if you need to buy a ticket to Real in advance. Return tickets can be purchased in Matehuala only if you are coming back on the same day.

On arrival in Real, buses park at the east entrance of the Ogarrio tunnel. There, in order to pass through the tunnel, you change to a smaller bus which drops off (or picks up if returning to Matehuala) at the western end of the tunnel, in Real. Confirm the return bus schedule upon arrival.

Return buses from Real to Matehuala were at 7:45am, 11:45am, 1:45pm and 5:45pm (M$47, two hours). Tickets are purchased on board the bus at the tunnel’s western entrance in Real.

If driving from Hwy 57 north of Matehuala, turn off toward Cedral, 20km west. After Cedral, you turn south to reach Catorce on what must be one of the world’s longest cobblestone roads. It’s a slow but spectacular zigzag drive up a steep mountainside. The Ogarrio tunnel (M$20 per vehicle) is only wide enough for one vehicle; workers stationed at each end with telephones control traffic flow between 8am and 11pm. If it’s really busy, you’ll have to leave your car at the eastern tunnel entrance and continue by pick-up or cart. If you drive through, you must leave it in the dusty parking area to the left of the market.

Vintage Willys jeeps leave Real around noon (and on demand), downhill from the plaza along Allende, for the rough but spectacular descent to the small hamlet of Estación de Catorce (M$30, one hour). From there, buses head to San Tiburcio, where there are connections for Saltillo and Zacatecas.