Traveling Mexico by Bus

As some readers may know, Kevin and I gave up our vehicle in April of 2019.  One of the reasons we knew we would be able to do without a car is that we rarely have had one in Mexico.  We first traveled to Mexico in April of 1999 and have been back many times since, sometimes for extended periods of time.  The only time we have had a vehicle in Mexico was when we first retired, from October of 2018 through early March of 2019.

We have done some extensive traveling within Mexico by bus.  Some may be envisioning the proverbial “chicken bus.”  I have never seen a chicken on any kind of bus in Mexico!  The buses we travel for longer-distance trips have always been first class buses with airplane-style seating and one or more bathroom.  Mexico has an extensive bus network served by many companies of various classes, and it is the method many Mexicans use when they travel within the country.

The following is a summary of the trips we have taken by bus in Mexico over the years.

Our first time taking a trip on a bus in Mexico was in December of 2004.  We took an overnight bus from Mazatlán to Los Mochis to board the train to the Copper Canyon (Barranca del Cobre).  This trip was documented on our website from our sailing adventures in Mexico.

We took two other inland trips by bus when we were sailing, one to Guadalajara in March of 2005, and the second one to several locations in the states of Colima, Jalisco, and Michoacán in 2006, shortly before we put our boat up for sale and returned to the US to go back to work:

• Colima
• Guadalajara
• Tequila
• Uruapan
• Patzcuaro
• Guadalajara on the return
• Bus back to Barra de Navidad, where our boat was anchored

In February of 2014, we flew to Cancun and then traveled around the Yucatan peninsula by bus.  We spent time in Cancun, visiting the ruins of Chichen-Itza, in Tulum (beach and ruins), and Isla Mujeres (also requiring travel by ferry).

In April of 2018 we flew to Guadalajara to explore a few potential places to retire.  Our friends in Ajijic picked us up at the airport, and we took a local bus from there to Guadalajara and bused from Guadalajara to San Miguel de Allende and back before flying home.

We have resumed traveling by bus recently, once we felt that pandemic conditions allowed it.

Our first trip was our move from Mazatlán to Guanajuato in late May/early June of 2021, documented as part of a previous blog post.

Our next trip was our trip to Mexico City in December of 2021, the subject of another prior blog post.

We just returned from another bus trip, to see friends in Bucerías in the state of Nayarit.  We had last visited in April of 2005 when we were on our boat; it appears to have been “discovered” and is quite different than we remembered.

Because we do not like long travel days, we took a few days to get there.  Our first day was our regular trip when we travel through Guadalajara; we stayed at Posada Margaritas in Tlaquepaque, a Guadalajara suburb.

In our years of traveling by bus, this was the first time any of the buses had an issue.  Our bus blew a tire about an hour out of Guadalajara.  The bus driver expertly navigated to an offramp, where we then spent three hours waiting for someone to come to change the tire and then change it.  The bus was airconditioned and had a bathroom, and we were able to get off the bus and stand around outside as we wanted to.  Our lesson learned was not to plan an arrival at 6:30 pm, later than we normally prefer.  We did not get to our hotel until after 10:00 pm and ended up eating food from the bus station; the food was okay and hit the spot because we were starving, but it wasn’t what we had in mind.

Our second leg of our journey was from Guadalajara to Tepic.  We had been there once before on our move from Mazatlán.  We stayed in a nice hotel with a great view of the cathedral and square.

The final leg of our trip was on a very curvy mountain road from Tepic to Puerto Vallarta, near Bucerías.  It was beautiful but somewhat uncomfortable, particularly for Kevin who has motion sickness issues.

We had a great time visiting with our friends, eating ceviche, walking the beach, and generally warming up before heading back home to Guanajuato.

On the return trip we decided to skip Tepic and take a longer bus ride to Guadalajara for our stay in Tlaquepaque.  This time we arrived in plenty of time to eat out in a restaurant we like there.

Our final leg home was uneventful, Guadalajara to Guanajuato, a trip that has become somewhat routine.

Traveling by bus in Mexico is a great way to see the country without dealing with driving.  It works well for us and is something we recommend that people try if they would like to avoid flying, renting a car, or driving within Mexico.