San Cristóbal de las Casas
Mexico
A highland colonial town at 2,200 metres, cold at night and full of Tzotzil markets, with the strangest church in Mexico half an hour away
Photo by Alexis Quiroz on Unsplash
Photos by Alexis Quiroz, J̶o̶h̶n̶n̶y̶ Sántiz and J̶o̶h̶n̶n̶y̶ Sántiz on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Mexico
November to April (the rain comes every afternoon from late spring to autumn; the nights are cold in every month)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 200mm in Jun
Where it is
16.74°N, 92.64°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Spend a morning at Santo Domingo’s market
- Go to Chamula with a guide, and put the camera away
- Take the boat through Sumidero canyon
- Drink the coffee where it is grown
- Walk up to the Guadalupe church at sunset
San Cristóbal de las Casas travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Mexico
Very cheapPesos, and cash matters more inland than on the coast — the markets, the comedores and the village workshops take nothing else, and those are the reasons to come. Casas de cambio in the centre beat the banks and the airport.
ATMs & cards
Santander, BBVA and Banorte inside a branch, on or near the zócalo. Decline the conversion. Draw before heading into the villages, where there may be one machine and it may be empty.
Avoid these
- the standalone machines off the plaza, which charge and push the conversion
Use these instead
- Santander
- BBVA
- Banorte
Inside a branch on or near the zócalo. Decline the conversion, and draw before heading into the villages, where the one machine may be empty.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Mexico
SafeComfortable in town and walked at night. San Juan Chamula is a different matter of respect rather than danger: photographing people or the inside of the church is forbidden and taken seriously, and a camera has been taken from more than one visitor. The altitude makes the nights cold and the first day slow.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (5 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- a camera in San Juan Chamula — photography is forbidden and enforced by the community
- the first night at 2,200 m — cold, and the altitude slows people down
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Mexico visa rules
No visa neededup to 180 days
The officer writes the days granted on your entry record, and it is often far fewer than 180. Check what you were given before leaving the airport.
Other passports
Visa required in advance
Holders of a valid US, Canadian, UK, Japanese or Schengen visa can usually enter Mexico without a Mexican one.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Mexico
Good and affordableRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Rabies for rural or long stays
Getting treated
Private hospitals in Mexico City, Cancún and the resort areas are good and cost a fraction of US prices; public ones are variable. Resort clinics are notorious for aggressive billing, so call your insurer before agreeing to treatment where you can.
Do not drink the tap water. Dengue is present on both coasts. Altitude in Mexico City (2,240m) affects some people for the first day or two.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodHighland Chiapas: sopa de pan, tamales de bola, and coffee grown a few valleys away that is some of the best in Mexico. The market for the produce, the comedores off the Real de Guadalupe for the rest, and the mercado de dulces for sweets.
Nightlife
A backpacker and mezcal town: bars with live music along Real de Guadalupe, and everything shut by two.
- Real de Guadalupe — the bars and the music
- the Andador Eclesiástico — quieter terraces
Closing: Around 02:00.
Getting around
Limited- UberWorks here
- DiDiWorks here
- CabifyWorks here
DiDi usually the cheapest
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper than a street taxi, and safer — not hailing one off the street is the standing advice in the big cities.
At the resort airports the taxi unions keep the apps off the kerb; the pick-up is a walk away, or a transfer booked in advance.
Time zone and your working day
America/Mexico City — 2 hours behind you
6 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 11:00–17:00 your time, 09:00–15:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 11:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 11:00–19:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Mexico
Why these are Mexico's numbers and not San Cristóbal de las Casas's
Home broadband — Good. Comfortable for two people working, streaming in the evening, large downloads. Broadband here runs at about the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fair. Maps, calls and streaming; tethering a laptop works for an hour, not a day. Mobile runs at 43% of the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for San Cristóbal de las Casas, so these are medians for all of Mexico. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Mexico, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Spanish (Latin American)
- HelloHolaOH-la
- PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
- Thank youGraciasGRA-syas
- Yes / NoSí / Nosee / no
4 more phrases
- Excuse meDisculpedees-KOOL-peh
- How much is it?¿Cuánto cuesta?KWAN-to KWES-ta
- The bill, pleaseLa cuenta, por favorla KWEN-ta
- Cheers!¡Salud!sa-LOOD
The c and z are said as an s here, not the Spanish "th" — gracias is GRA-syas.
Religion
Catholic
Around 78% Catholic, blended with pre-Hispanic tradition in ways that are most visible at Día de Muertos. The Virgin of Guadalupe is a national symbol as much as a religious one.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Greet everyone on entering a small shop or waiting room — buenos días to the room
- Tip 10-15% at restaurants, and a few pesos for baggers and attendants
- Accept food when offered; refusing outright can feel like rejection
- Use usted with older people and anyone in authority
Don't
- Do not call yourself American as though Mexicans are not — say estadounidense
- Do not drink the tap water, and be wary of ice outside established places
- Do not make cartel jokes; for many people it is not abstract
- Do not be brusque — a request without a greeting first lands badly
Where to stay in San Cristóbal de las Casas
No Holistay rentals in San Cristóbal de las Casas yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is San Cristóbal de las Casas on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Tuxtla Gutiérrez TGZ
1h 15mfrom the airport· 75 km as the crow flies
1h 15 by road or the shared shuttle.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
