Bus from Belize City to Flores/Tikal

Express Buses – Flores / Belize / Chetumal

Two Guatemalan bus companies, San Juan Express Bus Service and Linea Dorada, provide bus service between Flores, Belize City and Chetumal; they do not make any other scheduled stops in Belize. In Belize City, buses arrive at and depart from the Belize City Water Taxi / Marine Terminal on North Front Street near the Swing Bridge. Buses operate on Sundays and public holidays. Not all buses are air-conditioned. The schedule below was in effect on 20 December 2007 but always confirm times before travel.

BELIZE CITY TO FLORES (235 km / 146 miles / about 5 hours)
San Juan & Linea Dorada depart 9:30 am daily: US$ 15.00
San Juan Bus departs 2:30 pm daily: US$ 20.00

I checked for updates to this schedule last month but haven`t got them with me now. Will post later if there are any changes.

Thanks for the help!

The two bus lines you mentioned do go through, the times may be inconvenient for you perhaps. You can take any local bus to Benque Viejo, about a four hour ride, that stops briefly in the Capital Belmopan. At Benque you just take a local taxi to the frontier customs post. You pass through here and after clearing on the Guatemala side, walk across a bridge over a small river and the mini-vans to Flores pass and pick up passengers every 30 minutes thereabouts. They usually go when they have a passenger load. The ride to either Flores or Tikal takes about 2 hours.

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Just for the record, here are the complete schedules as at 15 May 2008...

EXPRESS BUS SCHEDULE – FLORES / BELIZE / CHETUMAL

Two Guatemalan bus companies, San Juan Express Bus Service and Linea Dorada, provide bus service between Flores, Belize City and Chetumal; they do not make any other scheduled stops in Belize. In Belize City, buses arrive at and depart from the Belize City Water Taxi / Marine Terminal on North Front Street near the Swing Bridge. Buses operate on Sundays and public holidays. Not all buses are air-conditioned. The schedule below was in effect on 15 May 2008 but always confirm times before travel.

The agent in Belize for these bus lines is Mundo Maya Deli located inside the Marine Terminal. Phone: (501) 223 0457 / 223 1235.

FLORES TO BELIZE CITY (235 km / 146 miles / about 5 hours)
San Juan Bus departs 5:00 am daily: US$ 20.00
Linea Dorada departs 6:00 am daily*: US$ 15.00
San Juan Bus departs 7:30 am daily: US$ 20.00
* Departure of the Linea Dorada bus is sometimes delayed because it waits for a connecting bus from Guatemala City. It then stops in Santa Elena.

BELIZE CITY TO FLORES (235 km / 146 miles / about 5 hours)
San Juan & Linea Dorada depart 9:30 am daily: US$ 15.00
San Juan Bus departs 2:30 pm daily: US$ 20.00

BELIZE CITY TO CHETUMAL (161 km / 100 miles / about 3 hours)
San Juan Bus departs 10:30 am daily: US$ 10.00
Linea Dorada departs 12:30 pm daily: US$ 10.00
** These buses are not always punctual.

CHETUMAL TO BELIZE CITY (161 km / 100 miles / about 3 hours)
San Juan Bus departs 5:00 am daily: US$ 10.00
Linea Dorada departs 6:00 am daily: US$ 10.00
The Linea Dorada bus boards in the bus terminal. The San Juan bus boards outside the terminal.

thanks for all the help! we are honeymooning and while usually adventurous, not sure if we want to take the local buses and then catch a minivan at the border. it seems like catching the linea dorada or san juan bus and then just a straight shot might be easier.

Can anyone provide info on the Lindea Dorada & San Juan buses? To be more specific, what condition are they in? Comfort? Are they modern "greyhound" buses, or are they pretty beat up, like a "chicken bus"? I've heard wildly conflicting reports.

The LD buses are not modern Greyhound type, but they're not old school buses either. They are large (maybe 40 or 50 seats); mediocre condition.

The San Juan buses are smaller (maybe 20 or 30 seats) minibus types. They're probably not the best buses on the road, but they're not the worst.

Do tickets need to be purchased in advance or is it pretty easy to get at the time of travel?

Also, does anyone know the link the San Juan bus site? I was able to find the Lindea Dorada website.

Edited by: lukemidd

I am wondering if the scheduling information provided above is still accurate, so many years later :-)

We are thinking we may take a bus from Tikal to Belize City - then traveling onward from there to Ambergris Caye. Leaving Tikal on a Wednesday or Thursday in case that matters.

Thanks in advance for any updates or confirmation of provided info!