Getting Around Mexico

For any trip over about 800 km, flying is faster than the bus and often no more expensive. Three airlines carry almost all domestic traffic. Aeroméxico is the full-service carrier, with a checked bag on most fares and the densest network from Mexico City. Volaris and Viva (formerly VivaAerobus) are low-cost airlines whose cheapest fares include only a small personal item; a cabin bag, a checked bag and seat selection are all extra, and adding them at the airport costs far more than online. Compare the final price with bags, not the headline fare.

Mexico City has two airports. Benito Juárez (MEX) is close to the centre and handles most flights; Felipe Ángeles (NLU, usually called AIFA) is 45 km north and serves some Volaris, Viva and Aeroméxico routes, which can mean 60 to 90 minutes in traffic each way. Check which one your ticket uses. Cancún, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Tijuana are the other main hubs, and Tijuana’s Cross Border Xpress bridge lets travellers from San Diego walk straight into the terminal, which often makes Tijuana the cheapest way into Mexico’s domestic network from California.

Useful routes include Mexico City to Oaxaca (1 hour 15 minutes instead of 6 to 7 by bus), Mexico City to Cancún, Mérida or Tuxtla Gutiérrez for San Cristóbal, and the hop from Mexico City to Puerto Escondido or Huatulco that saves a long mountain drive. Fares rise sharply around Easter (Semana Santa), July, and from mid-December to early January. For airport transfers and terminal details see our Mexico airports guide.

Mexico’s intercity buses are among the best in the Americas, and for routes under eight hours they are usually the right choice. First-class (primera clase) coaches run on toll highways with assigned seats, a toilet, air conditioning, films and few stops. Above that sit luxury classes such as ADO GL, ADO Platino and ETN, with wider seats in a 2+1 layout, a snack and more legroom. Second-class buses stop everywhere, use the free roads and are slower; take them only where nothing else runs.

The main companies divide the country loosely by region: ADO and its brands (OCC, ADO GL, Platino) dominate the southeast, the Gulf coast, Oaxaca, Chiapas and the Yucatán; ETN and Primera Plus cover the central highlands and the Bajío (Guadalajara, Querétaro, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende); Estrella Blanca and its affiliates run north; Tufesa serves the northwest. Book on each company’s website or app, or at the terminal; foreign cards are sometimes declined online, in which case pay in cash at the counter. Buy a day ahead for holiday weekends.

Mexico City has four bus terminals, and going to the wrong one costs an hour: TAPO (east) for Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz and the Yucatán; Terminal Norte for Teotihuacan, Guanajuato and the north; Taxqueña (Sur) for Cuernavaca, Taxco and Acapulco; and Observatorio (Poniente) for Toluca and Morelia. Direct buses also leave Mexico City airport for Puebla, Cuernavaca, Pachuca, Toluca and Querétaro.

First-class buses are one of the safer ways to travel in Mexico. Bags in the hold get a claim tag, passengers are often filmed or wanded at boarding, and the toll highways they use are better policed than free roads. Overnight buses are routine on main routes such as Oaxaca to San Cristóbal or Mexico City to Oaxaca, and save a night’s accommodation. Keep your passport, phone and cash on your body, not in the overhead rack, and bring a fleece: drivers set the air conditioning to arctic.

The risk that remains is highway robbery and road blockades in specific regions, which is why the US State Department tells its own staff not to travel between cities after dark in much of the country. Avoid night buses through states under the highest advisories (see our Mexico safety guide) and check local news before riding through Chiapas, where blockades by protest groups can hold buses for hours. Mountain roads in Oaxaca and Chiapas are winding; take motion-sickness tablets for the Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido vans, which can be rough.

The Tren Maya is a 1,554 km loop around the Yucatán Peninsula with 34 stations, including Cancún Aeropuerto, Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Bacalar, Chetumal Aeropuerto, Xpujil, Escárcega, Campeche, Mérida (Teya), Izamal, Chichén Itzá, Valladolid and Palenque. Three classes run: Xiinbal (standard, reclining seats), Janal (with a restaurant car) and P’atal (long distance, with sleeper cabins on some services). Buy tickets on the official Tren Maya booking site or at stations; foreign visitors pay a higher fare than Mexican residents, and prices vary by section and class, so check the site for your route. Cancún Aeropuerto to Mérida takes roughly four to five hours.

The train is comfortable and quiet, but plan around its quirks. There are only a few departures a day on each section, schedules change, and many stations sit well outside town (Mérida’s is in Teya, east of the city; Tulum’s is on the edge of town), so add a taxi or shuttle at both ends. On the Cancún to Tulum corridor, ADO buses are often quicker door to door. Where the train shines is the long east-west hops, such as Mérida to Campeche or Bacalar to Palenque, and stations next to ruins like Chichén Itzá.

Elsewhere, El Chepe through the Copper Canyon is Mexico’s classic scenic train, running between Chihuahua, Creel, El Fuerte and Los Mochis; the tourist Chepe Express covers the most dramatic stretch and books up in peak season (see our Copper Canyon Railway page). El Insurgente links Toluca with Mexico City’s Observatorio Metro, the commuter Tren Suburbano runs north from Buenavista, and the Tren Interoceánico crosses the Isthmus of Tehuantepec between Coatzacoalcos and Salina Cruz.

Colectivos (also combis or vans) are shared minibuses that run fixed routes and leave when full or every few minutes. They are the cheapest way along the Riviera Maya: white vans on Highway 307 link Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Akumal and Tulum, stopping anywhere on request for 40 to 100 pesos depending on distance. In Oaxaca they reach Monte Albán, Hierve el Agua and the craft villages; in Chiapas they connect San Cristóbal with San Juan Chamula and Chiapa de Corzo. Ask the driver your destination before getting in and pay in small notes.

Uber, DiDi and Cabify work in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Mérida, Puebla, Querétaro and most large cities, and are the safest, cheapest way to take a car: the fare is fixed, the car is tracked and you avoid street-hailed taxis, which are linked to express kidnappings in the capital. A 20-minute ride across Mexico City typically costs 100 to 200 pesos. In Cancún, Tulum, Los Cabos and some other resorts, taxi unions fight app drivers; airport and hotel pickups can be refused or confronted, so use the airport’s authorised taxi or shuttle counter and ask your hotel.

Sitio taxis work from fixed ranks and can be phoned or called by your hotel; they are the safe alternative where apps are thin. At airports, pay for an authorised taxi at the booth inside the terminal, never outside. Most taxis outside Mexico City have no meter, so agree the fare before you get in; many towns have a posted zone rate.

Renting a car opens up cenotes, haciendas and ruins the buses skip, and in the Yucatán, Oaxaca’s coast and Baja California Sur it is the easiest way to travel. Driving is on the right and your home licence is accepted.

The trap is insurance. Mexican third-party liability (TPL or SLI) is compulsory, cannot be replaced by your credit card or US policy, and is often left out of online quotes, so a car advertised at $5 a day can cost $40 to $70 at the desk. Book a rate that already includes liability insurance, photograph the car, and decline extras you do not need. In a crash without Mexican cover you can be held until damages are settled.

On the road, the hazards are topes (speed bumps, often unmarked at the entry to every village), potholes, animals, unlit vehicles and slow trucks on two-lane roads. Use toll highways (cuota) over free roads (libre): they are faster, better maintained and safer. Tolls are paid at booths in cash or by card, and long routes add up to several hundred pesos. Do not drive at night outside cities. At Pemex and other petrol stations an attendant fills the tank; check the pump reads zero and count your change. Military and police checkpoints are normal; be polite and never offer a bribe.

The Green Angels (Ángeles Verdes), green government trucks, patrol main highways and help stranded drivers with fuel, minor repairs and first aid; call 078. In Mexico City, cars without local plates cannot circulate on weekdays from 5am to 11am, and the Hoy No Circula rule bans every car one weekday a week, so do not drive into the capital at all.

The Caribbean ferries are fast, frequent and easy. Playa del Carmen to Cozumel takes about 45 minutes, with Ultramar and Xcaret’s Xailing boats leaving roughly every hour; buy at the pier and expect a rough ride on windy days. Cancún to Isla Mujeres takes 15 to 20 minutes from Puerto Juárez (cheapest, frequent) or the Hotel Zone piers. Chiquilá to Holbox takes about 25 minutes; leave your car in a paid lot in Chiquilá, as Holbox has no cars. Ultramar’s “Island Hopper” return ticket covering Isla Mujeres and Cozumel costs about $41 on its website.

On the Pacific side, Baja Ferries runs car and passenger ferries from La Paz (Pichilingue port) across the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlán, an overnight crossing of 12 to 16 hours, and to Topolobampo near Los Mochis, about seven hours. Cabins sell out in holidays; book ahead if you are driving the Baja and mainland loop. A smaller ferry links Santa Rosalía with Guaymas a few times a week.

The Metro CDMX has 12 lines and 195 stations and costs 5 pesos a ride with unlimited transfers, among the cheapest in the world. Buy the rechargeable Integrated Mobility Card (Tarjeta MI) at a station; it also pays for the Metrobús, the light rail and the Cablebús cable cars. Trains run from about 5am to midnight (later starts at weekends). Rush hours, roughly 7am to 10am and 6pm to 9pm, are crushingly full, and pickpockets work the crowds, so keep your phone in a front pocket. The front carriages are reserved for women and children at busy times.

The Metrobús is a bus rapid transit network on dedicated lanes; Line 1 runs the length of Avenida Insurgentes past Roma, Condesa and San Ángel, and Line 7 runs along Reforma. A ride costs 6 pesos (30 pesos at the airport stops). For the airport, Metrobús Line 4 serves both terminals of Benito Juárez airport from the historic centre and Buenavista, and Metro Line 5 stops at Terminal Aérea next to Terminal 1. With luggage at rush hour, an Uber or an authorised airport taxi is easier.