Bus travel in Mexico, the definitive thread.
 

Many people have asked questions about taking the bus in Mexico. Is it safe? Is it reliable? Is it even half-comfortable? Well, it depends!

There are still the "chicken busses" ("bus pollo" de segunda clase) like the intertown many stops that stop at every stick in the road, and can be waved down anywhere on the route. They are often packed (seats are not only not assigned, they may have more than one person per seat), have roof racks with livestock crates, baggage, backpacks and even on occaison a person or two. Unless you are adventurous, tolerant and can even stand the idea of maybe getting some lice or scabies from a seatmate (I have!:eek:) don't even go there. These can still be found in Guatemala and Honduras and are generally recycled US school busses held together with lots of layers of paint and chrome accessories.


But for many, the intercity luxury busses can be the way to go - I've personally used ADO, Estrella de Oro, Cristobal Colon, Estrella de Oro, Estrella Roja, Autobuses Pulman de Morelos, etc. etc. A recent poster on FT asked about cheap flights to Cancún or Mérida, and with a cheap flight to CUN (hardly existent to MID) I recommended going to CUN and taking the ADO First Class bus to Mérida (in four hours for USD $35) here. You want Clase Primera / First, De Lujo / Luxury, Ejecutiva / Executive, Plus or the like as your class of service, for reliability, time, on time departure and safety. Primera is likely to have have lavatories, the classes better than Primera will, often one for men and one for women; Primera and higher will provide some snacks and soft drinks, often from an attendant. There is video entertainment ranging from several screens with cabin-wide sound to individual video screens. And, of interest to FTers, some have points accumulation schemes! Busses may be Volvo, Mercedes Benz, Saab Scania, M.A.N., Irizar and the like - top makes, mostly European.


Mexican first class bus services can range from those similar to US domestic First - 34" - 38" seat pitch, two to a side - to reclining "Z" seats with leg rests in a 2 + 1 configuration with pillows, blankets, ear plugs and eye shades and an attendant that will fetch you coffee, snacks, soft drinks, etc. I'd still take an eye mask and good ear plugs for the shoot-em-up overhead screen videos on some busses. Nearly (if not) all are air conditioned and have a restroom, the drivers are top notch and well trained, and many are continuously monitored by GPS recording and monitoring to the central offices. Speed or fool around and get fired, because this is a much-desired and fairly prestigious job in Mexico, kind of like a pilot's job might be in the US.


They run on time and many have websites where you may even be able to purchase tickets in advance. Baggage gets checked in and placed in the belly pans, and you get baggage checks to use on arrival. When you buy tickets, you get assigned seats - see below for tips. Non-express busses usually make short stops for breaks (and expensive snacks), as well as longer (45') stops for meal times - through Express busses make very limited stops. Bus stop food may vary from really nasty to OK but overpriced.

Some of the most luxurious services - ADO Platino, for example, offer VIP waiting lounges. I have used several of these companies - ADO, Cristobal Colón, Estrella Blanca, Estrella de Oro and ETN among them, and do not hesitate to use or recommend them.

Here's a link to a useful page (by differentworld.com) that has links to most of the major bus companies, annotated to provide language and other relevant information.

And another link to a page from mexicoguru.com

Many Mexican bus company websites rely on technocrap - Flash or other enhancements that may not run well on your browser, and often in Spanish. You may try purchasing tickets, and if you can navigate and do so, they'll be reliable (tickets are reliable, but you will find more than your share of horribly clunky websites with plug ins that probably won't run, is not optimized for, may be crashy or just plain won't load.) Most Mexicans purchase in person or by sending someone to the station with a day or so of departure; this will not work at high seasons - I had to stand from Mazatlán to Tecate half the day and half the night and finally got to sit Tecate to Tijuana, crossing to San Diego and flying to Sacramento getting to a suddenly available job interview - I did get the job.)



SEATING TIPS (NOTE: No smoking busses)

OK, there is no "AsientosGuru", the seating varies a lot on various bus lines and configurations and it's very difficult to find information. But essentially:

When purchasing tickets at the bus station, ask to see a seat chart (mapa de asientos would work, as would lista de asientos when there is no actual chart, or even gráfico de asientos. Note that in Mexico the word "asiento" is used, and not "butaca" as in Spain, unless you are going to the movies or theatre.) The ticket agents usually have them, though because this takes a bit more time they may be loath to show them - and at least they will have a list with the seat numbers of assigned passengers. I would select - as do most Mexicans - seats toward the front or center of the bus.

Seats at the back of the bus can be too close to the lavs - which smell a lot like the blue fluid in some portable lavs, sweetly sickening, plus whatever has been deposited in them. As well, they are subject to more motion, and noise from passengers slamming lav doors or chatting at the self-service fridges.



BAGGAGE TIPS:

There is generally not a limit on baggage, and it usually is checked in like on an airline. You will get ticket stubs (hold on to them, they may demand them at your destination) and load them into weatherproof lockers in the belly of the bus.

Carry-on baggage is generally not limited, but there's not much place to store it. Overhead lockers are generally smaller than on most aircraft, and in some cases might hold what a regional jet has - the kind a large bag must be valet-checked on. A 22" rollaboard would be checked in. I've never had baggage pilfered or stolen, er, "lost", but personally, I always secure my checked in bags with zip ties or locks, and do not pack valuables in my checked bags.


SCHEDULES, TICKETS and INFORMATION

MEXICAN BUS COMPANIES

CENTRAL AMERICAN BUS COMPANIES
TYPICAL TIMES AND PRICES (July 2012, US Dollars, rate USD 1.00 = MXN 13.33)
Central American bus companies include Hedman Alas, Pullmantur, Ticabus, King Quality and Expresso Panama.




SHUTTLES and PASSES

BAMBA Experience - passes for using local and long distance ground transport (e.g. Ahuevos Ways (Mexico City - Costa Rica) Price: € 1,019

WAYAK - uses Toyota HiAce vans , connects Mexico City, southern tourist destinations and Queretaro and San Miguel Allende



MEXICO CITY BUS HUBS / STATIONS

As many will be connecting or taking their bus in Mexico City, it's important to know that Mexico City has four main bus terminals - Norte, TAPO, Observatorio and Taxqueña / Sur. It's important to find out which station serves your destination - some few serve their main station and TAPO but you may have to change busses in some cases - others stop at their primary station first, with limited busses on to TAPO.

TAPO / Terminal de Autobuses de Pasajeros de Oriente at the San Lázaro Metro station: this bad boy is the 500 pound gorilla of bus stations with about 10,000 people using this place per day (as many as 220,000 during Semana Santa high holiday period). Most important destinations served for visitors include Acapulco*, Cancún, Huatulco, Mérida, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tapachula (for the Guatemala border and Ticabus connections) Tehuacan, Tuxtla Gutierrez and Villahermosa. TAPO offers nine bus companies - including Autobuses del Oriente (ADO), ADO GL and ADO Platino, Estrella de Oro, Estrella Roja, Omnibus Cristobal Colón. (*Some services here are connectors to other stations, such as Taxqueña, with occasional busses - you may be better off going to Acapulco, say, straight from Taxqueña / Sur.)

TAPO is a very large domed open space with ticket counters in one area, as well as a food court and some businesses. There is an underground taxi rank for legitimate taxis; do not use "pirate" taxis, as this can even lead to harm in some cases (they drive off, make an unscheduled stop, pick up accomplices and bang, you are robbed.) It's in a not-so-great neighborhood, some some petty crime is possible in the neighborhood. Keep alert here and accept no help from anyone not clearly identified as a bus company employee or in an official capacity. Don't go for a walk between bus rides - there has been a lot of human trafficking in the area.

Observatorio / Terminal Central de Autobuses del Poniente is near the Observatorio Metro line 1 station. There are 15 bus lines here, the ones of primary interest in this thread being those serving Toluca, Valle de Bravo, Ixtapan de la Sal, Queretaro, Morelia, Pátzcuaro, Guadalajara and secondarily Taxco, Acapulco and Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo (I'd rather go from Taxqueña myself), using Omnibús de México, La Linea, and Primera Plus.

Taxqueña / Terminal Central de Autobuses del Sur AKA Central Camionera del Sur at the Tasqueña (sic) Metro station and light rail station. Mostly service to west and southwest, especially Cuernavaca, Taxco, Acapulco, Iztapa - Zihuatanejo, Puerto Escondido, Huatulco and Puebla. Eleven lines here, those of particular interest would include Turistar Ejecutivo, Autobuses del Oriente / ADO / ADO GL, Omnibus Cristobal Colón, Grupo Pullman de Morelos and Estrella de Oro.

Norte / Terminal Central de Autobuses del Norte is in the north area of the City and is on the Metro line #5 from the airport (Autobuses del Norte station) and serves, naturally enough, a heavy concentration on the north, including Toluca, Querétaro, San Luis Potosi, Guadalajara, Chihuahua, Culiacan, Hermosillo, Durango, Nuevo Laredo, Tepic, Mexicali, Monterrey, Tijuana, but also Veracruz, Acapulco, Morelia, Tampico, Guanajuato,Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and even Oaxaca.

31 companies serve Norte include ADO, ADO GL and ADO Platino, Estrella Blanca, ETN, La Línea, Omnibus de México, Primera Plus, TAP, Transportes del Norte, Transportes Norte de Sonora, / TNS, Turistar Ejecutivo and Vía Plus.

There is also Aeropuerto AICM (airport) serving Terminals 1 and 2 (see schedule and costs here (English)), with destinations to:


BASIC VOCABULARY

Hint: Latins are more formal and courteous; curtness and abruptness unfortunately indicate disrespect or an implication one is of a higher social class than that of the person being addressed. Be courteous and you will probably get better service. Start with a "Buenos días" or "Buenas tardes" when approaching a ticket agent, and adding "gracias" after, for example. These folks get a lot of attitude from local "DYKWIAs" and the way they strike back is indirectly - issuing a bad seat, pretending they do not understand, etc.
more to come...

wow, AWESOME, super valuable post! you are absolutely correct.

I have regularly used the Caminante bus service to/from Toluca-MEX and it is fantastic. it is super clean, modern, and cheap - currently about $13 one way. It costs more in gas if you were to drive it yourself.

Thanks for the great compendium. I used buses to get around Argentina and Chile, and found them to be a great way to go. I have thought about doing the same in Mexico, so it is nice to have your experience here to draw on.

Between Mexico City / Aeropuerto Benito Juarez and Cuernavaca, for example, it is cheaper (safer) to ride the first class bus that to pay fuel and highway tolls.

Thanks for the kind comments.

I have traveled on Pullman de Morelos many times between Cuernavaca and MEX. I also have travel between MEX and Pachuca by bus. It's a great way to travel.

most helpful! Been going crazy trying to pre-schedule from Mexico City to Acapulco. I now understand why I can't find anything - no direct service from Terminal Norte to the south! Finally found a bus line with premier service to Acapulco - but their web page is all in Flash and none of the links work right LOL - but at least now we have a plan. Go to the Tasqueña terminal on the south side, look at all the different lines and find the best deal, service and time for Acapulco. Bueno.

Estrella de Oro is nearly the, er, gold standard on Mexico - Acapulco, and takes ~5:00. Their website, in Castilian Spanish, works fairly well for most pages. It also gives tollfree numbers to call to book tickets.

They also offer Servicio Diamante is $610 MXN (this part of the website is absolute crap). All out of Taxqueña / C. Sur, and they also serve Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa (and Cuernavaca, Taxco, Chilpancingo, capital of the state of Guerrero, in which Acapulco is situated, as well). Even an MEX airport - Acapulco bus!

As well, they connect Veracruz / Córdoba (as well as Xalapa separately) in Veracruz as well as Oaxaca city to Acapulco via Chilpancingo (bypassing Mexico City).

Check this page for hours and tariffs for Diamante and Pluss.

They have regularly scheduled MEX-ACA services: $599 Lujo / Diamante (USD $44.50 currently) and $445 Ejecutivo / Pluss (USD $33.50 currently). Primera is only used on minor such as Cuernavaca - Taxco, and Económico (nope, not at all chicken bus!) on some coastal runs.

Their classes of service can be viewed here.

As an example of a better Mexican bus line, the Estrella de Oro classes signify:

Económico / Economy: ~ 50-55 iirc seats in 2 x 2 seating, air conditioning, used on west coast routes. Think "coach".

Primera / First: 42 2 x 2 seats with partial recline (think airplane), air conditioning, restroom, video (not individual screens) and more space than Economy.

Pluss / Plus: 36 seats with more recline, legrests, air conditioning, men and women lavs, video, boarding beverage of your choice.

Diamante / Diamond: 24 seats with extensive recline ("bed type") and leg rests, air conditioning, men and women separate lavs, individual touchscreen video, electric connections, isolated cabin (from driver compartment) and light meal.

I'd not hesitate to take Diamante (though Pluss takes the same length of time, as they are expresses,) and enjoy the greater comfort (and avoid the common video screens with loud shoot-em-up videos).

Getting to Taxqueña is easy via taxi or the Metro (called "Tasqueña" on the metro map).

We ended up opting for the Futura Plus service. It would have been great, except that we ended up on the last row, right in front of the restrooms. Every time someone flushed and then opened the door to exit, the sickly sweet smell of recycled porta-potty waste washed over us for about sixty seconds. No music or headphones or internet either. Other than that, it was a great ride! :)

Didn't want to try the Metro with three overhead bags and two shoulder bags, but the Taxi was great.

Argh! I've been there and I am familiar with the smell you so eloquently describe. I can't advocate enough asking at check in for the seats chart - I have waited out a bus or even two to secure a seat toward the front, as they are less odorous, subject to slamming noises from people using the lavs or self-service fridges and less subject to motion in comparison to the aftmost seats.

And I agree - the metro (or trolleybus) with luggage is not a fantastic idea.

We did see the charts, and we picked the seats (it was either right or left side - the last row was the only row with two seats together) - in retrospect, waiting until a later bus might not have been a horrible idea.

For tomorrow morning's jaunt to Puerto Escondido we are on an AltaMar Primera bus - would have preferred Plus but it would have required a late-night arrival. We're trying to coordinate schedules with a friend there so that reduced our choices a bit. Unfortunately, after we already bought tickets the friend was run off the road by a truck and the van is in repair for a day or two, so we're still going to be using a bus or taxi to find a hotel/hostel. Good news: it's all great material for the blog! lol

Another couple of lessons learned: 1 - Google Maps travel time estimates may or may not be accurate for cars, but way off for buses. (4.5 hours vs. 8.5 hours). 2 - Planning a Mexican bus trip via bus line web pages is almost a complete waste of time. Until you are at the bus terminal and talking to an agent you can't accurately plan anything...

Sorry for what happened to your friend - it's not unknown, and one of the safety pieces of Mexican "busology" is they are big, and the drivers are expert. And you are right about being at the station with some companies - their websites, when they work, don't usually give you much to work on. (Others, I have successfully purchased in advance, as reliably as SNCF / French railroads.)

Google maps is OK for the US, but not so much for some other locations.

Good luck with the rest of your trip!

Thanks for the great info! We've done ADO, ETN, and UNO and I really wish we had a comparable system here in the US.

We took an overnight from Oaxaca to Tuxtla and before the start of the trip the female attendant introduced our 2 older, male drivers, each decked out in suits with shoulder bars. The drivers gave us a courteous greeting and then closed themselves off in the front "cockpit" area for the duration of the trip.

Totally in agreement with you about the status of the drivers: their position is comparable to that of an airline pilot here in the USA.

Glad you enjoyed the bus system, elizadoo! And thanks for the feedback.

"Planning a Mexican bus trip via bus line web pages is almost a complete waste of time. Until you are at the bus terminal and talking to an agent you can't accurately plan anything... "

This depends greatly on the bus line. With ETN you can purchase in advance with a credit card, pick your seat, print out your boarding pass, and you're good to go. Easier than a flight. Others....not so much. Some you can buy at a convenience store or kiosk though if you can fumble through in Spanish. Like Oxo stores for Primera Plus.

That's quite right - it depends on the company, and with some the station is the place yet others you can purchase and plan reliably. The problem with most non-Mexico residents is they do not have any way of evaluating which company, so members' experiences posted on FT make a difference (e.g. ETN, a top notch company).