In November 2023 my husband and I spent three days in San Cristobal de las Casas roaming the city, taking tours, eating chocolate, and enjoying this lesser known area of Mexico. San Cristobal de las Casas is the tourist destination of the Southernmost state of Mexico, Chiapas.
Introduction to San Cristobal de las Casas
The state of Chiapas is one of the more unknown and untamed places in Mexico, with several towns that have their own rules and laws separate from Mexico, an abundance of nature and a border with Guatemala. Chiapas is relatively known for it’s landscape and hiking options, but I wouldn’t say it’s popular with international tourists. We learned about San Cristóbal from some friends and decided it was a place we wanted to get to know, so we booked a long weekend there. This post will take you through what to do in a three day trip to San Cristobal de las Casas.
For more on San Cristobal de las Casas & the surrounding area, check out these posts:
- Best Restaurants in San Cristobal de las Casas
- A Guide to Visiting San Juan Chamula’s Fascinating Church
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Getting to San Cristóbal de las Casas
Day 1- Enjoy the town of San Cristóbal de las Casas
Day 2 – Take a Tour to Visit Sumidero Canyon
Day 3 – A tour of San Juan Chamula and Zinacantán
Getting to San Cristóbal de las Casas
Getting to San Cristobal de las Casas isn’t difficult. From Mexico City, it’s about a two hour flight to Tuxtla Gutiérrez airport – the main airport in Chiapas. Flights are around $80 – $100. There is no longer an airport in San Cristobal de las Casas, although it’s the most popular destination in the state. This is because the current political party in Chiapas wanted to make Tuxtla the region’s destination. Therefore, they moved the airport from San Cristobal to Tuxtla. Now, you have to take a taxi from Tuxtla Gutiérrez to San Cristobal de las Casas, about an hour and a half journey, depending on traffic. A taxi to the town will cost about $60 each way. At the airport, you will see many counters selling taxi fares to San Cristóbal. Since there is not much to see in Tuxtla, I don’t recommend stopping there.
Day 1- Enjoy the town of San Cristóbal de las Casas
For our first day in San Cristobal de las Casas, we decided to explore the town. It’s relatively small and easily walkable. It reminded me of the architecture in many smaller Mexican towns with single or two-story flat-roofed buildings and a lot of old architecture. The town is charming, and for some reason, there are a lot of antiques and book stores there, which gives the town a quiet, old-world charm that we didn’t expect.
On your first day, walk to Zona Centro and find the Catedral de San Cristóbal de las Casas. Around there you’ll find a market, and several pedestrian walking streets with bars and restaurants. On our first night, we went to Cafe Bar 500 Noches for dinner and some jazz music. This restaurant is a part of Esquina San Agustín, which we returned to several times for dinner. There are many great options in this trendy upscale food center for couples or families.
Next, I recommend a visit to the Kakaw Museum in San Cristobal. This museum was a real treat (pun intended). The entry fee is 80 pesos, or around $4.50. The tour includes a guided visit of the museum, a hot chocolate tasting, and a tasting of a variety of different chocolates from the region. The tour is in Spanish, with a few offerings per day in English. I would check their schedule if you’re looking for an English tour. This little museum was unexpectedly great. You will learn all about the different types of cacao, how it’s made, and how it has been used in rituals in the history of indigenous communities in the region. I recommend it.
Day 2 – Take a Tour to Visit Sumidero Canyon
Sumidero Canyon is one of the most popular places to see in Chiapas. This enormous canyon is within the 53,000 acre Sumidero National Park in Chiapas. The Grijalva River runs through the canyon, and the walls reach over 1,000 meters at their highest point.
Generally, all of the tours will take you on an eight hour trip to see the viewpoints above the canyon, a boat tour in the canyon, and a visit to Chiapas de Corzo before returning to San Cristobal de las Casas. Personally, I did not love our tour because we spent 5-6 of the eight hours driving, and there was little food along the way. If I were to book it again, I would simply do the boat tour of the canyon because that was the best part. To get to the canyon, you have to go through Tuxtla (where the airport is located). Therefore, one option would be to stop in Tuxtla for the day to do the canyon boat tour prior to a flight out.
Almost every tour from San Cristobal de las Casas follows the same plan. Here are some tours with good reviews. However, if you can skip straight to the boat tour of the canyon, it was definitely the best part. On the tour, you will see everything from birds, to monkeys, to crocodiles, and the views of the canyon are stunning. I really recommend the boat trip in the canyon.
- Viator – Sumidero Canyon, Chiapas de Corso, Viewpoints
- Get Your Guide – Tuxtla Gutierrez: Sumidero, Chiapa de Corzo and Miradores
Morning – Day 3 – A tour of San Juan Chamula and Zinacantán
On day three, we took a tour to visit the community of San Juan Chamula and it’s famous Iglesia de San Juan Bautista, a Mayan Catholic Church. Next, we visited the community of Zinacantán. I didn’t know much about these communities or the church prior to visiting, and it ended up being my favorite part of our trip.
The town of San Juan Chamula is an indigenous community that has it’s own laws and dialect. They follow indigenous customs and have a relatively violent history. The main part of the tour is visiting the church of San Juan Bautista. This church blends Catholicism and Mayan rituals – the only church of it’s kind. For more on San Juan Chamula specifically, visit my post, A Guide to Visiting San Juan Chamula’s Fascinating Church.
The next stop on the tour is Zinacantán, where you visit the home of a family who makes textiles and grows flowers. The main industry in Zinacantán is growing flowers, and the community shows that by creating beautiful, flower-laden textiles. The effect is a town bursting with color. This is beautiful and refreshing after the dark and cold aura of San Juan Chamula. We took this tour – Get Your Guide: From San Cristobal: San Juan Chamula and Zinacantán Tour – which I highly recommend.
Afternoon – Day 3 – Templo de Guadelupe & Tierra y Cielo
Once you’re back from the tour (which is only half a day), take a walk to visit the Templo de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. You cannot enter the church, but you can walk up the 79 stairs leading to the church to see a nice view of San Cristobal de las Casas from the top. This is a good way to spend part of your afternoon. For dinner, I highly recommend the Tierra y Cielo restaurant. While on the pricier side, this restaurant tucked into the streets of San Cristóbal is a real treat. We ordered the seasonal menu, which will provide you with an assortment of seasonal foods from the region of Chiapas. It was a great way to end our trip and an excellent restaurant.
