Guatemala

How to travel around Guatemala

Travel around Guatemala is not straight-forward. Much of the ‘public transport’ systems are private transport companies or chicken buses. As a result, centralised bus terminals aren’t commonplace, and so travel is not quite as simple as turning up to a city’s bus station and jumping on a bus. Instead, it is more likely that you will need to have planned or researched beforehand to know which bus company you want to go with, and where their bus terminals can be found. There is very little information online to help with this, and as such, most tourists travel around Guatemala using private or shared shuttle transfers. GuateGo is a website where you can search shuttles, public transport, and private transfers. There are still many companies that are not on GuateGo, so I recommend shopping around if you’re looking for a good price, but it’s a good start.

Travelling round Guatemala using shuttle transfers

By far the easiest and more convenient way to travel around. The use of transport shuttles is well established in Guatemalan tourism, and I found people were often surprised when I declined shuttle transportation. All accommodation in Guatemala will have a shuttle company contact which you can book transport through. Alternatively, there are loads of websites online if you want to search for a better price or time. Even restaurants, cafes or shops in particularly touristy areas (such as Lake Atitlan) will advertise transport services. So finding a shuttle won’t be hard to do.

Shuttles are acceptably priced, especially when you convert to your home currency. Compared to what you can pay to take a public bus, shuttles are priced a lot more, but sometimes when you take into account transfers, logistics and timings, shuttles work out to be quite cost-effective.

Typically, you will be travelling in a car or minivan if you book a shuttle. They don’t often have much space for luggage so you will be sat with your luggage around / on you. In this way, shuttles can actually be quite uncomfortable as they are often packed to capacity, to make it more efficient for the travel company, with not much space for luggage, and don’t necessarily have comfortable seats / air conditioning / legroom.

These shuttles are technically more direct, as they pick you up and drop you off door-to-door. But from my experience, they are often not much faster than public buses as they have to make so many stops at everyone’s different accommodations, and will often also incorporate delivering packages and other errands into their journeys too.

Travelling round Guatemala using public transport

Using public transport, not including chicken buses, requires a bit more research. Official online information isn’t great, and so you often have to rely on word of mouth through reviews and online blogs. If in doubt, ask your accommodation - and be mindful that they may want to sell you their transportation services, I had one hostel that wouldn’t give me information on public transport and recommended I book their tour instead.

Within towns and cities, collectivos and rickshaws are the most common way to get around, although most places are pretty walkable. Within Guatemala City there are city buses and underground trains you can take, and Uber is very affordable too, which is what I ended up using. Of course, you can always hail a taxi.

Collectivos are small minivans/minibuses that travel between towns. You can use them to travel within towns too. Because collectivos are owned by individuals as their own business, they will drive around main areas looking for passengers to fill up their seats before heading off to their next destination. You will often see them driving through towns calling out their destinations. If you are in need of a ride somewhere, feel free to hail one down and tell them your destination, they will be able to tell you if they are headed there or not. Alternatively, try to find where the main areas where the collectivos stop to pick-up passengers, as this is the closest you’ll get to a ‘bus terminal’. There will usually be someone based there, coordinating collectivos and recruiting passengers, who you can ask for information if you don’t know which collectivo to get. On my map above, I’ve pinpointed some of the main collectivo ‘bus stops’ for different towns I visited to help you.

To make larger trips between cities, there are some public bus companies that run routes, mainly between Guatemala City and other destinations. Unfortunately, there are not many public bus routes between the other tourist destinations, which is why many rely on shuttles. These larger public buses are like coaches, with under cabin luggage storage, comfortable and reclining seats, in coach entertainment (sometimes with free WiFi), and a toilet on board. From my experience, all these coach companies were really comfortable and all their facilities were functioning. On both occasions where I took coach transport it was quicker / as quick as the shuttle travel times. The added benefit here being that they were cheaper and more comfortable because they are made for long-distance journeys. On the right I’ve listed the public transport bus/coach companies I am aware of.

Travelling round Guatemala using chicken buses

Many people online don’t recommend chicken buses, saying that they are dangerous and uncomfortable - I’d beg to question how many of these blogs are speaking from first-hand experience... I cannot speak for the chicken buses in Guatemala as I did not take them here, but from my previous experience in other Central American countries, chicken buses were totally fine and quite a fun experience. They won’t have air conditioning, instead you rely on open windows. Bags are either strapped to the roof of the bus, or sat on your lap (this is the same for some private and shared shuttles as above). Buses can be crowded and a little chaotic with people coming and going (same as a collectivo) so keep your valuables close and accounted for. I wouldn’t necessarily deter anyone from taking a chicken bus, I think they are good fun. But given how little information is online about chicken bus transport, it may be easier to plan transport using shuttles of public buses.