San Cristóbal de las Casas
San Cristóbal de las Casas travel guide
Maya weaving, Dominican baroque and cool highland nights in Chiapas
San Cristóbal de las Casas is a colonial highland town in Chiapas, surrounded by Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya villages, with superb textiles, cheap cafés and a big traveller scene. November to April is dry and sunny though nights are cold; plan four days or more to include Chamula, Zinacantán and the Sumidero Canyon.
San Cristóbal de las Casas sits at about 2,200 m in a pine-ringed valley of the Chiapas highlands, a town of red-tiled roofs, cobbled lanes and single-storey houses painted in faded pinks and ochres. Tzotzil Maya speakers still call it Jovel. It was the capital of Chiapas until 1892, and it remains the place where the state's indigenous cultures meet its colonial past and a large backpacker crowd.
Spanish settlers founded it in 1528. The Dominicans built the great Templo de Santo Domingo, whose carved pink facade mixes baroque styles from Oaxaca and Guatemala, and the friary next door now holds one of the best collections of Maya textiles anywhere. Every morning, women from the surrounding villages spread embroidered blouses and woollen shawls across the plaza outside.
This is also where the Zapatista uprising began. On 1 January 1994 masked rebels occupied the town hall. Their influence still shows in murals, bookshops and the political posters in cafés. The town today is calm and easy-going. It has more cafés and language schools than anywhere else in the highlands.
Most visitors use it as a base. Within an hour lie the Tzotzil villages of San Juan Chamula and Zinacantán and the boat trips through the Sumidero Canyon. Give it four days at least; many people stay weeks.
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San Cristóbal rewards slow wandering between churches, markets, museums and cafés, with Maya villages and canyons close by.
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Best time to visit San Cristóbal de las Casas
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Under 40 mm of rain a month and clear skies; days reach 21-24C but nights drop to 5-9C, so bring a warm fleece and check your room has blankets or a heater.
Heavy afternoon downpours, with over 200 mm in June and September; mornings are usually fine and the hills turn deep green.
The Spring and Peace Fair brings crafts and the Burning of Judas in April, and the Cervantino Barroco fills October with music and theatre.
Christmas, New Year and Holy Week bring crowds of Mexican visitors and the town's guesthouses fill fast; book ahead for those weeks.
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Getting there
Tuxtla airport shuttles and the OCC terminal on Insurgentes
San Cristóbal de las Casas has no commercial airport. Flights land at Ángel Albino Corzo International (TGZ) outside Tuxtla Gutiérrez, linked to Mexico City and other cities, and from there shuttles and taxis climb a winding highway for about 1 hour 15 minutes; coaches use the OCC terminal on Insurgentes. Shared shuttle vans to San Cristóbal wait beyond the taxi desk and time their departures to flight arrivals, dropping passengers on Boulevard Juan Sabines Gutiérrez near the bus station. A private taxi takes the same time but costs much more. Many tour agencies in town run a shuttle back to the airport once or twice a day with hotel pickup. By bus, the OCC terminal of the ADO group is on Avenida Insurgentes at the Pan-American Highway, with direct services from Tuxtla, Oaxaca, Palenque, Mérida, Villahermosa and Mexico City and connections to the Guatemalan border at Ciudad Cuauhtémoc. Other bus and colectivo companies cluster nearby. The centre is a 15-minute walk up Insurgentes.
- Tuxtla airport (TGZ)
- About 1 hour 15 minutes by shared shuttle or taxi
- OCC bus terminal
- Avenida Insurgentes; 15 minutes on foot to the main square
- Bus from Palenque
- Roughly 8-9 hours; ADO goes the long way via Villahermosa and Tuxtla
- Colectivos from Tuxtla
- Frequent vans in about an hour from the city centre
Staying safe
Taxis after dark and village photography rules
San Cristóbal itself is relaxed, and the main risks are small. Watch for petty theft in crowded markets, call a taxi after dark because of past assaults by drivers on lone women at night, and in the surrounding villages respect photography rules, since misunderstandings there are the real risk. The main issues are petty theft in crowded markets and a history of assaults by taxi drivers on lone women at night, so call a taxi after dark. In the surrounding villages, misunderstandings over photography are the real risk.
- Markets
- Pickpockets work the crowds; carry little
- Night taxis
- Ask your hotel to call one
- Never photograph people in Chamula or Zinacantán without asking first; inside Chamula's church, cameras are forbidden outright.
Where to stay
Real de Guadalupe, El Cerrillo or Mexicanos
Almost everything in San Cristóbal lies within a 15-minute walk of the cathedral, so most visitors stay in an old barrio such as Real de Guadalupe, El Cerrillo or Mexicanos, usually in a courtyard guesthouse. Weigh noise and warmth: pedestrian streets get late music, and few older buildings have heating. The deciding factors are noise and warmth: rooms on the pedestrian streets get late-night music, and few older buildings have heating.
- Real de Guadalupe and Barrio de Guadalupe
- The main pedestrian street east of the plaza, lined with hostels, cafés and bars; lively, noisy at weekends
- Andador Eclesiástico and the centre
- Hotels in colonial houses between the cathedral and Santo Domingo; central for everything
- El Cerrillo
- Quiet streets around Santo Domingo and Na Bolom, close to the craft market
- Barrio de Mexicanos
- One of the oldest districts, north of the centre; peaceful guesthouses, a longer walk to restaurants
- Barrio de la Merced and El Carmen
- West and south of the plaza; quieter mid-range hotels near the amber museum and the Arco del Carmen
Getting around
Walking the andadores and colectivo vans to Chamula
Nearly every San Cristóbal sight is reachable on foot along two pedestrian streets: Real de Guadalupe, running east from the plaza, and the Andador Eclesiástico, running north to Santo Domingo. For Chamula and Zinacantán, colectivo vans leave from the market. Two long pedestrian streets cross the centre: Real de Guadalupe runs east from the plaza, and the Andador Eclesiástico, made up of Calle 20 de Noviembre and Miguel Hidalgo, runs north to Santo Domingo and south to the Arco del Carmen. The town is flat in the middle, but the churches on the Cerro de San Cristóbal and the Cerro de Guadalupe sit on top of long staircases. Taxis are plentiful and cheap; they have no meters, so agree on the fare before getting in. After dark, women travelling alone are advised to book a taxi through their hotel and not hail one. Locals get around on colectivos, vans and minibuses with destinations painted on the windscreen, which stop anywhere along the route. Colectivos to Chamula and Zinacantán leave from the streets around the Mercado Municipal, north of Santo Domingo. Bicycles can be rented and are handy for the outer barrios.
- On foot
- Plaza to Santo Domingo in about 10 minutes along the Andador
- Colectivos
- From the market to San Juan Chamula in about 20 minutes
- Taxi
- No meters; agree the fare first
- Tours
- Agencies on Real de Guadalupe run daily vans to the Sumidero Canyon
Culture and etiquette
Respect in the Tzotzil villages
The Tzotzil highland communities around San Cristóbal have their own authorities and customs, and visitors are tolerated, not courted. Ask before photographing anyone, never photograph inside the church at San Juan Chamula, and dress modestly when visiting the villages and their churches.
- Ask before photographing anyone, and accept a no.
- Dress modestly and speak quietly in churches.
- Buy textiles directly from the weavers when you can.
- Taking any photos inside the church at San Juan Chamula.
- Haggling aggressively with the women selling crafts at Santo Domingo.
Know before you go
What makes San Cristóbal de las Casas worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- The textile collection at the Museo de los Altos, in the old Santo Domingo friary, with huipiles from both Chiapas and Guatemala.
- Na Bolom, the house of explorer Frans Blom and photographer Gertrude Duby-Blom, full of Lacandon Maya photographs.
- The Templo de Santo Domingo by candlelight, when the gilded interior glows.
- Climbing to the Cerro de Guadalupe at the end of Real de Guadalupe for a view over the red roofs.
- Tamales from a front door on Saturday evening, when houses with a red light are selling them.
Good to know
- Nights are cold all year, sometimes near freezing in December and January; pack layers.
- Taxis have no meters, so settle the fare before you go.
- Many museums close on Mondays, including the Museo de los Altos de Chiapas.
- The lowland roads are slow; Palenque is most of a day away.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in San Cristóbal de las Casas, month by month
San Cristóbal's altitude keeps days mild all year; winter nights near freezing and heavy summer rain are what change. Tap a month for averages.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for San Cristóbal de las Casas (Servicio Meteorológico National, via Wikipedia).
Four days between Santo Domingo, Chamula and the Sumidero Canyon
Four days in San Cristóbal de las Casas cover the old town, the Tzotzil villages and the Sumidero Canyon. Begin on the Plaza 31 de Marzo with the cathedral's yellow and red facade, walk the Andador north to Santo Domingo and its craft market, and spend late morning in the Museo de los Altos de Chiapas and its textile centre.
In the afternoon, visit Na Bolom on Avenida Vicente Guerrero. At sunset, climb the steps to the Cerro de Guadalupe at the east end of Real de Guadalupe.
Day two. Take a colectivo from the market to San Juan Chamula, where the church floor is covered in pine needles and families pray among candles, bottles of soft drinks and, sometimes, live chickens. Continue to Zinacantán, a community of flower growers and weavers whose families sometimes welcome visitors into their workshops. Back in town, eat at the Mercado Municipal.
Day three. Join an early tour to Chiapa de Corzo for a boat ride through the Sumidero Canyon, whose walls rise about a kilometre above the Grijalva River. Look out for crocodiles and spider monkeys. Return in the afternoon and visit the Museo de la Medicina Maya, run by a collective of traditional healers.
Sopa de pan, chipilín tamales and pox in the highlands
Highland Chiapas cooking is heartier than the coast's, made for cold evenings. San Cristóbal's dish to look for is sopa de pan, layers of bread soaked in broth with vegetables, plantain and raisins, served in festive seasons and in the comedores of the main market, where it is cooked best.
Tamales are everywhere. Try chipilín tamales, flavoured with a leafy local herb, and the round tamales de bola, wrapped in corn husk and filled with pork and a sweet-savoury sauce. They are a breakfast food in the Mercado Municipal, and on Saturday evenings families sell them from their doorways, signalling with a red light. The town also has a tradition of cured meats, the embutidos sancristobalenses, sold in delis around the centre, and cochito horneado, pork roasted in a spiced adobo, turns up at lunch.
Chiapas grows some of Mexico's best coffee, and San Cristóbal has dozens of cafés roasting highland beans, many tied to indigenous cooperatives. Chocolate is a local habit too.
The traditional spirit is pox (pronounced "posh"), a strong cane liquor used in Maya rituals and now poured, often flavoured with fruit, in bars along Real de Guadalupe. In winter, stalls sell ponche, a hot fruit punch sometimes laced with pox.
Spring fair fireworks, Cervantino Barroco and cold dry winters
San Cristóbal de las Casas sits at 2,200 m and never gets hot: highs of 21C to 24C year-round, so plan around rain and cold nights. December to February is driest, under 10 mm a month with clear skies, but nights fall to 5-6C with possible frost; from May the rains come, topping 200 mm in June and September.
The Feria de la Primavera y de la Paz, held after Easter in April, is the town's main fair: a week of parades, crafts, concerts, fireworks and the Burning of Judas, when papier-mâché figures, often satirising politicians, are set alight. Holy Week before it brings processions and Mexican tourists.
In October the Festival Internacional Cervantino Barroco brings music, dance, poetry and theatre to the plazas and churches. Late October and early November also mark the Days of the Dead, when villages like Chamula and Zinacantán decorate their cemeteries.
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How we research our San Cristóbal de las Casas travel guide
San Cristóbal's village etiquette, festival dates and transport links are checked against the official city website, UNESCO's Mexico listings and the town's Wikipedia record, with entry rules from the Instituto Nacional de Migración.
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Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of San Cristóbal de las CasasInstituto Nacional de MigraciónUNESCO World Heritage Centre
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting San Cristóbal de las Casas.
Getting there
About 1 hour 15 minutes. Shared vans wait beyond the taxi desk and leave after each flight arrives.
Join a day tour from an agency on Real de Guadalupe, or take a colectivo to Chiapa de Corzo and board a boat from the river jetty.
Roughly 8 to 9 hours. ADO buses avoid the shorter Ocosingo road and go round via Tuxtla and Villahermosa, while tour shuttles take the direct mountain route with stops at Misol-Ha and Agua Azul.
General
No. Photography is strictly forbidden inside, and cameras can be confiscated. Ask permission before photographing anyone in the village.
A strong cane liquor used in Tzotzil Maya rituals, pronounced posh. Bars along Real de Guadalupe serve it neat or flavoured with fruit.
Vans for both villages gather in the lanes beside the main market; Chamula is roughly 20 minutes away and Zinacantán a little further.
The Museo de los Altos de Chiapas for its Maya textiles, Na Bolom for the Lacandon photographs and the Museo de la Medicina Maya, run by traditional healers.
A week of parades, crafts stalls, concerts and fireworks after Easter, ending with the Burning of Judas figures.
It is central and full of cafés and hostels, but noisy late on weekends. Light sleepers do better in El Cerrillo or Barrio de Mexicanos.
Nearly every San Cristóbal sight is reachable on foot along two pedestrian streets: Real de Guadalupe, running east from the plaza, and the Andador Eclesiástico, running north to Santo Domingo. For Chamula and Zinacantán, colectivo vans leave from the market. Two long pedestrian streets cross the centre: Real de Guadalupe runs east from the plaza, and the Andador Eclesiástico, made up of Calle 20 de Noviembre and Miguel Hidalgo, runs north to Santo Domingo and south to the Arco del Carmen.
Stay & facilities
Quite possibly. January lows average about 5C and frost is possible, yet few colonial guesthouses are heated, so ask about heaters or extra blankets when booking.
Timing & weather
The best time to visit San Cristóbal de las Casas is Nov to Apr. Dry, sunny days of 21-24C with almost no rain from December to March, though nights fall to 5-7C.
- Dry highland season: November - April (Under 40 mm of rain a month and clear skies; days reach 21-24C but nights drop to 5-9C, so bring a warm fleece and check your room has blankets or a heater)
- Rainy season: May - October (Heavy afternoon downpours, with over 200 mm in June and September; mornings are usually fine and the hills turn deep green)
- Festival months: April and October (The Spring and Peace Fair brings crafts and the Burning of Judas in April, and the Cervantino Barroco fills October with music and theatre)
April is the warmest month in San Cristóbal de las Casas, with average highs of 24°C, and January the coolest, with lows of 5°C. June is the wettest month, at about 235 mm of rain; February is the driest. San Cristóbal's altitude keeps days mild all year; winter nights near freezing and heavy summer rain are what change.
Visa & documents
Tourist stays in Mexico are visa-free for citizens of the US, Canada, the UK, the EU and many other countries. Immigration officers decide how many days you can stay (up to 180) and stamp your passport or issue a digital record. Holders of valid US, UK, Canadian or Schengen visas may also be exempt.
Health & safety
San Cristóbal itself is relaxed, and the main risks are small. Watch for petty theft in crowded markets, call a taxi after dark because of past assaults by drivers on lone women at night, and in the surrounding villages respect photography rules, since misunderstandings there are the real risk. The main issues are petty theft in crowded markets and a history of assaults by taxi drivers on lone women at night, so call a taxi after dark.
