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Crossing border from Mexico to Guatemala

Posted onDecember 19, 2016September 19, 2017 15 Comments
Home  >  Blog • Guatemala • Mexico  >  Crossing border from Mexico to Guatemala

After Mexico, our second stop on a trip around the world was Guatemala. There are 3 ways that travelers take to cross from Mexico to Guatemala on land. Two of them are near Pacific and the last one is from Palenque through Guatemalan jungle to Flores. Here are the options:

  • Busiest border near the coast – from Ciudad Hidalgo in Mexico to Tecun Uman in Guatemala
  • Easiest option from San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico is crossing to La Mesilla in Guatemala
  • Jungle option through Frontera Corozal (where even Google Maps don’t show the road)– from Palenque in Mexico to Flores in Guatemala

I’ve heard many complaints about the first two options – crossings being sketchy and officials asking to pay for an exit stamp even though it was included in the airline ticket.

Crossing border from Mexico to Guatemala

Of course, we chose the jungle option.

We were visiting San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico and wanted to see Mayan ruins in Palenque and also Tikal in Guatemala. And we figured the easiest way to travel through Guatemala is from north to south.


Read more: Photo essay – Streets of San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico


From San Cristobal, we went on a Palenque tour. It consists of visiting the ruins and also a couple of waterfalls in which you can swim – Agua Azul and Misol-Ha. After visiting ruins in Palenque, we went to town and paid for a transfer across the border the next day.

Crossing border from Mexico to Guatemala
Agua Azul

There are many tourist agencies in town and all of them can arrange the transport the next day for the same price. Price in September 2016 was 400 pesos (20 USD) per person. I consider the price very cheap since the whole process of crossing the border felt more like a nice trip instead of a long and grueling journey.

The jungle vibes started in Palenque already. We were staying near the ruins and could hear howler monkeys talking/screaming.

Exiting Mexico

At 6 am the next day, the van picked us up in front of our hotel. We had one stop for breakfast on the way. Then driver stopped at the immigration office so we can get an exit stamp out of Mexico. There is also an exit fee which you would need to pay, usually around 20 USD. Since we flew to Mexico, the exit fee was already included in the airline tickets. We showed the copies of the tickets and got an exit stamp.

Now the funniest part.

Crossing border from Mexico to Guatemala
between Mexico and Guatemala

When we arrived at the river, our driver loaded our backpacks on a boat. What a great surprise! Mexico and Guatemala are divided by river in this part. And after a 5 minutes ride, we were on the Guatemalan side.

Guatemalan side

Crossing border from Mexico to Guatemala

Crossing border from Mexico to Guatemala

Other travelers were already in a tourist office waiting for our ride to Flores. We waited for an hour or so, bought some snacks and snapped a lot of pictures of howler monkeys screaming above us.

When the van arrived, we all were disappointed that we have to leave. Watching howler monkeys was a lot of fun.

Crossing border from Mexico to Guatemala

Crossing border from Mexico to Guatemala

30 minutes ride later, we stopped at an immigration office for our entry stamp to Guatemala. Entry fee costs 40 quetzales (5 USD) per person and the stamp is valid for 90 days for 4 countries – Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Crossing border from Mexico to Guatemala

Drive from the border is through the jungle on a dirt road. We only saw few farmers. After 3 hours of bumpy ride, we arrived in Flores in Guatemala.

Crossing border from Mexico to Guatemala

Tips for crossing border from Mexico to Guatemala

  • Exchange Guatemalan currency in Mexico – we exchanged our Mexican pesos and US dollars in San Cristobal and got a much better exchange rate than the bank rate.
  • Mexican roads are well maintained but drivers and countless speed bumps can make the ride uncomfortable – I love using Sea-band wristbands against motion sickness, they work wonders
  • Bring plenty of water – Mexican van had an air conditioning but Guatemalan heat without AC is hard to process if you are dehydrated. After you cross the river, you can buy water, snacks and lunch on the Guatemalan side
  • Paying 20 USD to have crossing border from San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico to Flores in Guatemala arranged is a very fair price as it was stress-free and enjoyable

Read more:

Boat crossing from La Union, El Salvador to Potosi, Nicaragua

Tips for visiting Teotihuacan in Mexico

What to expect and what to do in Mexico City

Learning to surf in Puerto Escondido, Mexico

Day trips from Valladolid – ruins, cenotes and wildlife

Visit Angel Falls, Venezuela – the tallest waterfall in the world


Where else is such a fun border crossing as is from Mexico to Guatemala? Let us know your experience.


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Crossing border from Mexico to Guatemala
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Previous Article Streets of San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico
Next Article Month 4 recap of our RTW trip

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15 Comments

  1. Amina McFarlane Reply
    July 30, 2017 at 10:09 am

    Hey, I am just reading your blog very helpful and will be travelling from Mexico to Guatemala in a couple of weeks. I love the idea of the jungle tour, what tour did you in San Cris to get you into Guatemala with such ease?

    • Maya Reply
      August 3, 2017 at 8:55 pm

      Hey Amina, thanks for reading. I’m not sure which tour you’re referring to. We went to Palenque ruins from San Cristobal, stayed a night and bought the border crossing in the centre of Palenque. Let me know if this doesn’t answer your question.

    • Thea Reply
      April 24, 2018 at 9:42 am

      Hi, my passport was stolen while driving through Mexico.Will I be able to cross all the borders with my bith cirtificate to get to Costa Rica? I don’t have time to wait for another passport.Thanks

      • Maya
        April 26, 2018 at 1:56 pm

        Hi Thea, unfortunately birth certificate won’t get you anywhere. You will need a passport. I suggest you call your embassy and they might be able to issue a temporary passport which doesn’t take a long time.

  2. Anonymous Reply
    December 21, 2017 at 5:40 pm

    Thanks for posting about the trip from Palenque to Flores. I will be doing it in a few days and didn’t know how it worked, exactly.

    • Maya Reply
      December 23, 2017 at 8:42 pm

      Great, I’m glad it helped.

  3. Diane Reply
    January 31, 2018 at 3:22 am

    Hi love you site .
    I’m driving from Ottawa ont to Honduras .
    I’m terrified of driving through Mexico
    Don’t know which highways to take
    I would have to sleep 2 nights in Mexico somewhere
    Till I can get safely to Guatemala
    Do you have any ideas
    Thank you

    • Maya Reply
      February 27, 2018 at 6:23 pm

      Hi Diane, unfortunately we have no experience with driving through those countries but you can find some useful information in facebook group PanAmerican Travelers Association. Happy travels!

    • Denis Reply
      May 14, 2018 at 9:21 am

      Hola Diane

      I drove from vancouver to xalapa un vera cruz. It was my first time driving unaccompanied and it was fine mexican drivers are very courteous once you get used to their laid bk attitude to overtaking. Only thing i would say is make sure youve done yourpaperwork (2 or 300 USD importante tax for car and yoyr own visa toó) and dont carry anytjing ilegal as theors plenty of militar y checks. Also when passing a police check (different from militar y) avoid eye contact to avoid getting stopped and if you do get stopped just show you paperwork and dont speak spanish just smile and shrug as theyll often be asking you for a bribe. Dont worry about these encounters though everything is done in good humour and the language barrier really stumps the cops. As for places to stop i mean México is massive but most médium towns will have several basic hotels. People are cery friendly and helpful especially if you hace a bit of spanish to help with communication enjoy!

      • Maya
        May 27, 2018 at 7:52 pm

        Thanks for sharing Denis.

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  7. Pingback: Boat crossing from La Union, El Salvador to Potosi, Nicaragua
  8. Pingback: Border crossings – Jungle border between Guatemala and Mexico | What to do in life

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