M Visita México Find a hotel
Home/ Areas/ Chiapas Jungle and highlands · Chiapas

Chiapas

Two Chiapas in one state: a colonial town at two thousand two hundred metres with five-degree nights, and Maya ruins buried in hot jungle.

55 m at San Cristóbal 0 Indigenous peoples 0 h Tuxtla to Palenque 0 minimum days
In two minutes

What it is, and what it is not

Chiapas does not travel in a straight line: it is two climate storeys separated by five hours of switchbacks. Above, the Tsotsil highlands with San Cristóbal de las Casas and its villages. Below, the Usumacinta jungle with Palenque, Yaxchilán and Bonampak. In between, a thousand-metre canyon.

What almost nobody says before you book: you will be cold here. San Cristóbal is higher than Mexico City and almost no hotel has heating. The roads are slow and are not driven after dark. And the highland villages are living communities with their own rules, not a set.

State Chiapas Airport Tuxtla Gutiérrez (TGZ) Best time Nov – Mar Avoid Sep – Oct Minimum days 6 Currency Peso (MXN)
The places

Six stops, valley to jungle

They run west to east and top to bottom: the order you travel them if you land in Tuxtla.

Canyon and river Chiapa de Corzo and the Sumidero
01 / 06
01 Canyon and river Chiapa de Corzo and the Sumidero Thousand-metre walls above the Grijalva river, run by boat from the town jetty. Two hours there and back, with crocodiles along the banks. 2 h boat trip 45 min from Tuxtla
02 Highland town San Cristóbal de las Casas Cobbled streets, painted façades and two pedestrian avenues at two thousand two hundred metres. It is the natural highland base, and the nights are genuinely cold. 2,200 m altitude Nights at 5 ºC
03 Tsotsil villages San Juan Chamula and Zinacantán Two communities half an hour from San Cristóbal, self-governing, with a pew-less church where people pray on a floor of pine needles. No photographs inside. No photos in the church 25 min by colectivo
04 Mountain lakes Lagos de Montebello Sixty lakes on the Guatemalan border, each a different green depending on its floor. Three hours from San Cristóbal, by way of Comitán. On the Guatemala border 3 h from San Cristóbal
05 Waterfalls Agua Azul and Misol-Ha Two stops on the old road to Palenque. The blue of the name only shows in the dry season: after rain the river runs loaded and the pools turn mud-coloured. Blue only Nov-May On the Palenque road
06 Archaeological sites Palenque, Yaxchilán and Bonampak Maya cities inside high jungle, with howler monkeys for a soundtrack. Yaxchilán is reachable only by boat up the Usumacinta, on a long day out. Yaxchilán by boat only Heat and humidity
When to go

Chiapas has four seasons

Here the month decides the colour of the waterfalls and whether the road to Palenque is open.

The best November to March Dry both upstairs and down: the waterfalls are blue, the jungle is bearable and the mountain roads are open. Also the coldest months in San Cristóbal. —Warm clothes for the evening —Christmas and Easter are full
With a caveat April to June The hottest months in the jungle, with high humidity at Palenque and crop-burning haze over the highlands. The rains start in mid-June. —Palenque first thing —Heavy air in April and May
Risk September and October The wettest months of the year, with landslides on the mountain roads and stretches closed for days. Chiapas also catches the tail of Atlantic hurricanes. —Leave slack between flights —Check the Palenque road
Good value July and August It rains most afternoons, but the whole state is green and prices drop. The caveat is that Agua Azul stops being blue. —Mornings are usually dry —Waterfalls run muddy
Getting around

Legs, times and prices

All of it works by bus and colectivo. A car helps at the lakes and gets in the way in San Cristóbal.

Tuxtla Gutiérrez (TGZ) → San Cristóbal 1 h 15 $8 ADO The motorway climbs sixteen hundred metres in an hour. Colectivos run from the airport for half the price. San Cristóbal → Palenque 5 h $24 ADO Via Ocosingo, the fast route. The old road passes the waterfalls and takes eight hours with stops. San Cristóbal → San Juan Chamula 25 min $2 colectivo They leave the market as soon as they fill. Sunday is market day and assembly day. San Cristóbal → Lagos de Montebello 3 h $12 Bus to Comitán and a colectivo on to the lakes. Without a car it is a full day there and back. Palenque → Mérida 8 h $38 ADO An overnight bus linking Chiapas to the peninsula. The Maya Train also departs from Palenque.

Reference prices in dollars gathered in 2025, per person, economy class. ADO sells online; colectivos take cash, keep no timetable and leave when they are full.

Where to sleep

Four bases, four different trips

See hotels →
From $35 Central San Cristóbal Courtyard houses on the pedestrian streets, nearly all of them unheated. For a five-night base with a different village every morning.
From $45 Palenque and La Cañada Rooms among the trees, ten minutes from the site entrance. For being at the ruins at eight, while there is still mist between the temples.
From $30 Comitán A quiet provincial town, a thousand metres lower and warmer for it. For doing Montebello without three hours of road in each direction.
From $40 Tuxtla Gutiérrez City hotels near the airport, hot and with no charm to them. For one night before an early flight, and for nothing else.
Before you book

What everybody asks

Yes. It sits at two thousand two hundred metres and from November to February the nights drop below five degrees. Almost no hotel has heating, so you sleep under the house blankets: bring layers and something warm.

Inside the church, never: it is forbidden and the rule is enforced. Outside, you ask each person before you take their picture. These are self-governing communities and the rule is not negotiable.

Six is the honest minimum: three up top for San Cristóbal and the villages, one for the transfer and two below for Palenque. Eight or nine if you want Montebello, or the river run up to Yaxchilán.

It is not a good idea. The mountain roads are narrow, unlit and full of unmarked speed bumps, and in Chiapas it is normal to meet a protest blockade closing a stretch for hours. Everybody travels in daylight.

No. The colour depends on the river: from November to May it runs clear and the pools are turquoise; at the height of the rainy season it runs full of sediment and the water stays brown for weeks at a time.

By road to Frontera Corozal, three hours from Palenque, then an hour by boat up the Usumacinta. It is a long day that leaves before dawn and comes back after dark.