Border Towns Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Combis of Autotransportes Paulino Navarro (962-626-11-52; 7a Pte 5, Tapachula) head to Ciudad Hidalgo (M$15, 50 minutes) every 10 minutes, 4:30am to 9:30pm.

Combis of Unión y Progreso (962-626-33-79; 5a Pte 53, Tapachula) leave for Talismán every few minutes, between 5am and 10pm (M$10). A taxi from Tapachula to Talismán takes 20 minutes and costs around M$100. You can also catch combis to either border from the street outside the OCC bus station in Tapachula.

Frequent buses leave Ciudad Tecún Umán until about 6pm for Guatemala City (US$8, six hours) by the Pacific slope route, through Retalhuleu and Escuintla. Buses to Quetzaltenango (US$3.50, 3½ hours) depart up to about 2pm.

The majority of bus services from El Carmen, which include around 20 a day to Guatemala City (US$8.50, seven hours), go via Ciudad Tecún Umán, and then head along the Pacific slope route. For Quetzaltenango, you can either take one of these and change at Coatepeque or Retalhuleu, or alternatively get a colectivo taxi to Malacatán, on a more direct road to Quetzaltenango via San Marcos, and then look for onward transportation from there.

If you’re heading for Lake Atitlán or Chichicastenango, you need to get to Quetzaltenango first.

Drivers: the processing point for vehicle import permits, whether you’re entering or leaving Mexico by these borders, is north of Tapachula on Hwy 200, at Carretera Tapachula-Huixtla Km 8.