SAN CRISTOBAL DE LA CASA, MX
San Cristobal de la Casas, or more commonly known by the people who go there, live there, or are there, San Cris, is a lovely colonial-style Mexican highland town in the state of Chiapas. It's located up in the mountains at an elevation of about 7,000 feet or 2,100 meters. So in short, it's very high up. As a result, the weather here is nice and brisk. Cold even especially at night. Which, at least for me was absolutely amazing following the unbearable heat of Oaxaca. Nestled up in the mountains, this place is known for its colorful colonial streets, large Indigenous presence, rich cultural heritage and natural beauty in the surrounding areas. There's going to be a lot of hippy types. Both Mexican and travelers up here. Some of the most beautiful things to see in the entire country are also located up here. Like the 'Cañon del Sumidero', which is a massive Grand Canyon-like feature here that is pretty stunning and shocking to see. San Cris is also known for a few other things. Less glamorous I guess. It's widely known in the traveling community that San Cris is home to the poorest water quality in the entire country. It's really really bad, and it's not uncommon for half of your hostel to be sick from the water or the food while you are up here. The reason behind that is thought to be that the largest Coca Cola factory in Mexico (also being the largest consumer of Coca Cola in the world) is just outside of San Cris. The factory sucks much of the clean water from the area, so the tap water and shower water left over for San Cris is dirty and often makes people sick. It's gross. I know. But you just need to be careful your first few days up here. Don't drink the tap water (obviously), don't brush your teeth with the tap water, try not to get any water in your mouth when you are showering, and probably avoid salads and such things with lettuce and uncooked greens. Or don't do any of those things. I didn't worry about it at all and I was fine. That was long-winded, but that's the water situation in San Cris. Additionally, San Cris is notable because drugs are practically legal. There are some stores here where you can walk in and buy whatever drug that you want, from a storefront. Who knows the legitimate legality of this, but the limited government presence here and the Zapatista control of the area (see an overview of the Zapatistas and who they are on this page), creates a big grey area here. People coming and buying these legal-ish drugs is a pretty common and popular thing to do amongst the traveler and backpacker community. Outside of that, and if you get past the water, there are so many amazing things to do in San Cris. It's a place that has delicious food. Lots of culture, and isn't all that touristy. It's frequently overlooked by people. It's hard to get to, and if you aren't spending a long time in the country, it's unfortunately a place that you are going to skip. It shouldn't be. It's authentic, it's interesting, it's unique in comparison to many other parts of Mexico, and it's beautiful. The place is certainly not untouched by tourism. There are women in Indigenous clothes selling handmade goods throughout the streets everywhere. It's clearly a draw for tourism. But one of my favorite things about the place was that it still felt very authentic. As compared to Antigua Guatemala, which I feel has a similar vibe but has lost some of its authenticity. An authentic Antigua. A pretty good way to put it. San Cris is a great place to come spend some time. A few days, a few weeks. The hostel scene is really good here. There are cool and interesting backpackers and travelers. The difficulty of access and relative obscurity of the place makes that certain. The food is good. The weather is refreshing. The culture is extremely interesting. It's just a really nice spot and a great opportunity to do something that's not fully on the tourist track of Mexico. It's certainly a backpacker stop though.
San Cris isn't a hard place to get to if you are already in the area. But if you aren't in the area, it's not really the easiest place to get to either. It's located in Chiapas, the most southern state in Mexico. Bordering Guatemala. It's a highland town. Extremely high up in the sky actually. Located at an elevation of nearly 7,000 feet, or 2,100 meters. Considering that Denver's elevation is only 5,200 feet, you are very high up here. As a result, the weather is great. Nice and brisk. You can even throw on a sweatshirt. It's amazing. I don't think I had worn a hoodie in months until I got here, and it was so very welcomed.
San Cris though is very much in a mountainous area. The palm trees of the coastline has given way to pine trees up here. There's a stunning view at this elevation also. The city itself is located in a bit of a valley surrounded by mountains and hills. Once you're in town there's a main town square called Plaza 31 de Marzo that is going to serve as the cultural and location center of the city. You'll want to know this place to get your bearings.
It's a really big place too, from a population perspective. There's 215,000 people living in it. Which really surprised me given the vibe the city has. It's about an hour from another large city called Tuxtla Gutiérrez. This town has an airport and is even larger than San Cris. It's got a really nice and modern international airport. So if you are flying, you should be aware of this place. If you are driving or taking a bus you should also be aware of this place. You're going to go through it pretty much regardless.
There's a few ways to get here.
1. BY FLYING - You'll need to fly into the international airport in Tuxtla. The code is TGZ. It's located a little outside of Tuxtlas. Taxis from the airport to San Cris are about $50 USD. Price drops to less than $20 if you can get yourself to Tuxtla and get a taxi from there. The ride is about an hour. There are also bus options from the airport and collectivos vans that will be going to San Cris. Cheaper option. But also, ya know, more of a hassle. If you are flying maybe you have the budget to taxi.
2. BY BUS - You can get here by bus from pretty much anywhere in Southern Mexico.
- OAXACA --> SAN CRIS - It's really common for people to take the grueling long night bus into or out of San Cris. A lot of people take this bus, which is about 12 hours, from Oaxaca City to San Cris. There are daytime options, but considering the length of the ride, why not just take the night bus and sleep the pain away. The bus is going to be comfortable enough, as is the case with Latin American buses. But it will be cold in there as they pump the AC. So be prepared for that. The ride will cost about $60, but you are getting accommodation for the night included in that as well.
- GUATE --> SAN CRIS - The other way people typically come to San Cris is after traveling up from Guatemala. People backpacking up will want to be coming from Antigua a lot of the time and get up to San Cris. It's an even more brutal trip, but you can get it out of the way in a day, including a border crossing. There's the chicken bus option, but that will probably take you two days and end up being close to the same price, and a lot more miserable than the $60 shuttle that gets you straight there. There's a few options, but Gekko is a good one. It will leave at about 3AM, you'll have to do a border crossing, then you will be up in San Cris by sunset. Probably.
3. BY CAR - For my overlanding people. This is the route by car. It's how I did it. It's going to be a really long drive, no matter where you are coming from. 10 hours from Oaxaca City, same from Puerto, and about 6 if you are coming from the surf towns in Southern Oaxaca. You, unlike the buses, should ABSOLUTELY NOT BE DRIVING AT NIGHT. Never drive at night, especially up here. There are stories of robberies up here at night and the windy mountain roads are not something you want to deal with in the dark anyways. So just don't do it. That being said, give yourself enough time to get there. Understand the drive is long, and roadblocks and government protests can be frequent and cause delays. They will pass, but they do happen and I had about a 3-hour delay in one of them on the way up.
- OAXACA --> SAN CRIS - You are going to take MX 190 up to Tuxtla and then once you pass through Tuxtla you can take the new toll road 190D to get into San Cris. I would recommend the toll road. It's only $3.50, and it's going to save you a lot of time and stress. From Tuxtla, you'll be in San Cris in about an hour. There is going to be some SERIOUS elevation gain. So just be prepared that your car is going to be going up and winding for a majority of the day.
HOSTELS, CAMPING, AND HOTELS (IF ANY)
This is the place that I stayed. It was a bit random but I actually really liked it. The location is out to the far east side of town right near a little park. The vibes were certainly mellow, but the people traveling through were really cool. A more genuine crowd. There's a couple really nice common areas and a backyard with a firepit and a pizza oven. Pizza nights with everyone are common here, and it was super fun. Accommodation is super basic, but that's true of a lot of San Cris. For $6 a night, you can't complain.
The hostel scene is really good up here. It has an awesome variety of little hippy homey feeling places and backpacker friendly spots that have a party vibe to them. Things are really cheap up here too, which is great. So you will have plenty of options when it comes to hostels. I will outline a few of them that I either stayed at or know of through the grapevine. There are so many hostel options. None of the big ones are here, so they are all going to be independently run. With good vibes. Kind people.
I'm sure there are some hotel and Airbnb options here, but I never met anyone who stayed at them or used them. Also I never really met anyone who camped. It probably exists somewhere, but it's pretty cold at night, so you have to be rather camping-prepared to be able to handle it.
I would say the most popular hostel in San Cris. If you are talking to people in other parts of Mexico, this is the hostel you will hear about. It's kind of a crazy deal really — you have breakfast and dinner included. Along with free drinks a few nights a week. All for like $10-$12 a night. The price never really made sense to me, but it's quite a deal. It's a big hostel, in a good location, with a bar. You'll find more of a party vibe here, but it's a great place to stay.
A really nice small and family-style hostel. It's going to be super intimate, cozy and friendly. They have won a lot of awards in the past from Hostelworld for being 'the best small hostel', 'the best hostel Mexico', etc. So it's certainly an excellent option. Maybe the best option in San Cris if you want something on the smaller side. — Will certainly sell out though. Get on it early. ~200 pesos for a dorm bed.
Another really nice and chill option. Won't be a party vibe, but a lot of the hostels in San Cris will be like that. Cozy common areas on each floor, with 2 outdoor terraces, 3 indoor living areas, and a shared kitchen where a continental breakfast is served each morning. Can't go wrong with this one either. ~200 pesos for a dorm bed.
EATS
The food is really good in San Cris. It's also really cheap. You can eat your way through the city, trying some really interesting and unique foods. Like 'brain tacos', which were pretty interesting. But keep in mind that the water quality thing is an issue here. So I would avoid getting salads or anything like that from this place. It just might end up being a bad time.
There is certainly a touristic center here in San Cris. A big walking street that is cobblestoned and lined with restaurants that will cater to tourists. Also some nicer options around the town square that are modernized and serving international cuisine. You should go and check this scene out for yourself if you have time. Most of my recommendations below will be more local options. In an effort to promote supporting local if nothing else. But there are some nice options to get food from all over, at a pretty good price point.
But be careful here, along the tourist walkway there are a ton of tourist-trappy restaurants. Avoid them at all costs. You should know what they are just by looking at them.
Food Options
Delicious taco spot where you can go to find all sorts of crazy types of tacos like eyes, brains, whatever. It's not for the faint of heart to try all these things. They have delicious normal tacos outside of this though.
One of the coolest, if not the coolest restaurant that I went into in San Cris. It's a very well-designed little spot with plants all over the place. Nice place to hang out for a morning and have a nice breakfast or lunch. 100% recommend.
Bomb local taco spot with hand pressed tortillas. Will find a local crowd here, which is always a good sign.
Great little local spot tucked away on a side street kind of off-the-beaten-path a little bit. They will be serving up local food, for a good price, with a smile.
Fancy-ish taco restaurant. Not expensive, but certainly not going to feel like your plastic chairs taco joint. Really good tacos though, with a modern spin.
Local hole in the wall, with delicious quesadillas. Good for being on the run, or for take-out at a good price point.
A very modern and fancy-looking food court in the tourist center of town. If nothing else, this is a cool place to walk around. I elected not to eat anything here. But it's really fancy and modern, certainly a cool spot to check out — maybe grab some food and a drink.
Absolutely amazing spot in town. With a rooftop that has some great sunset views. They have drink and food options, Asian teas, and what not. They also have a little film studio. It's great to pass a day or watch the sunset. A must.
You will stop here for a little while when you are on your way to Cañon de Sumidero. It's an awesome traditional town, and you get to walk around a bit. I had some unbelievable street food from the tents along one of the streets that is linked.
and many more...
Go explore. There are restaurants all over the place. Eating your way through a city can be one of the best places to figure it out anyways. Try to avoid the tourist traps — there's places all over the place.
NIGHTLIFE
Bars and Clubs
Nightlife in San Cris is fun. You'll be able to find something to do most nights if you want to, and the weekends for sure. If you are trying to go out most of it is going to be centered around the town square or the Zocalo. Theres options everywhere to pop in for cheap drinks and chill atmospheres. The walking streets at night are full of people, and a really good vibe. Some of the bars will be overflowing onto the streets with young people drinking and hanging out.
Another thing up here is that there are frequently raves in an old industrial warehouse. They are certainly something that I would try to get amongst, and if it's your thing, especially because of the access to the essentially legal drugs that are sold here. The raves will go all night long, and they will attract pretty much the whole backpacking crowd. If you want to know when these are, just head over to Puerta Vieja and ask around. One of the volunteers there will know.
Other than that, below are some options for nightlife. There are some clubs, some cozy bars on here. It's going to be one of the most budget places to drink in Mexico. There's a traditional type of alcohol up here called pox (pronounced posh) which is a liquor that the Tzotzil — the local Maya ethnic group, has been making for generations. It's corn-based, and kind of like rum. It can be stronger than mezcal, and can be up to 60% alcohol. You can get a few shots of this stuff here for about $1, or 20 MXP. Chiapas is not only going to be one of the cheapest places to party in the country, it's probably just going to be one of the cheapest all around places in the country. So enjoy yourself.
Really cool little spot to drink. It's also a perfect place to get Poz, as that's what the place is named after. It's right near the tourist walking street. Awesome decor, good vibes, great drinks. Top of the list of 'musts' from a bar perspective in San Cris.
Rowdy spot to get drunk near the plaza. It's going to be popping on the weekends. Full of travelers and locals alike.
Another spot to go out at night that will be pretty full. It gets crowded, and goes late into the night. Near the center of town on the north side of the plaza.
A cool, if not a little weirdly designed cocktail bar at the outskirt of town. They have nice drinks, for a good price, and a little rooftop spot as well.
Raves
Every Tuesday and Thursday there’s a big rave that draws a big backpacker crowd. It's located in an abandoned industrial building, and goes all night and into the morning. Ask about this in Puerta Vieja.
Poz
Make sure you try the aforementioned drink called Poz (pronounced Posh). It's cheap, it's local, it's traditional and it will get you going.
SIGHTS
Easily, one of the most jaw-dropping things to do in the entire country of Mexico. It's this unbelievable natural wonder that is reminiscent of the Grand Canyon. You will get a tour from San Cris to do it. They will usually pick you up at your hostel, then drive you about an hour to the canyon. You will then get on a boat, and the boat takes you through the stunning almost 1km deep water-filled canyon. It's amazing to see, and the best thing to do in San Cris. There's a little boat selling beers right at the beginning of the tour if you feel like hydrating.
I loved it here. This amazing little traditional town will likely be a part of your tour to the Cañon del Sumidero. The boats after the canyon will drop you off here, and then you will have some time to walk around. There's a lot of people walking around trying to sell things to the tourists and right when you get off the boat there are some touristy restaurants. Try to avoid those, and go walk around the whole town. It's traditional, colorful and cool. There's lots of great street food options and cheap tacos. Such a great little town.
There's a lot of really nice things to do in San Cristobal. Chiapas itself is home to so many amazing natural wonders to see. A few of them are listed below, but a lot of them will actually be further away from San Cris and more near Palenque. So I have included them on that page. Other than that, there's plenty of things to do here to keep yourself busy for quite a while.
If you have been traveling Mexico for realistically any decent amount of time, you will probably have heard of the crazy church where they have chicken sacrifices as a part of their religious traditions. That place is here. It's a Mayan-Christian tradition that only happens in this church. Also, the town is full of Indigenous with traditional black fur outfits. It's an amazing piece of culture. A really cool thing to go see. The inside of the church is a crazy experience. There are no pews in the church, and the floor area is completely covered in a carpet of pine needles and there are candles everywhere. There are no phones allowed in the church so pictures of the inside are illegal and looked down upon. But they exist if you google it. It will be one of the most interesting things, culturally, that you do in Mexico. Witnessing a chicken sacrifice here is also pretty common. Up to you if you want to witness it though.
Another popular touristy thing to do here in Chiapas. I personally didn't do it. It's a stunning and massive waterfall. It takes a few hours to get there though as it's nearly in Guatemala. But it's a popular thing to do from San Cris, and there will be tour options almost every day. Inquire at your hostel.
There's a really cool scene here, and the town is full of hippies and Mexican artists. Theres a bunch of nice little shops selling vintage clothes, and it's fun to poke around, even just to look. I spent an a few hours doing this one day, and found it fun.
I'll say this frequently throughout The Bobi Book. Go take some Spanish lessons. It's an amazing way to give back to the community and support some local people, and it will also immensely help you communicate with locals and get around. It also gives you something to do. As backpackers we know that sometimes that's exactly what you need. Go take some Spanish lessons here — it is a great place to do it. There is a shitty picture of one of my old Spanish notebooks.
There's really cool and bustling markets all over the city. Including the one that happens on the ground daily in the Plaza. It's full of indigenous people selling little crafts and souvenirs. Support local, and buy something here.
You in the mountains baby, you already know there's nothing going on up here.
SURFING