It feels as though everyday is a Sunday afternoon in San Cristobal de las Casa. No one is in a rush to get anywhere. People are relaxing on patios or window shopping along the pedestrian malls. Between this relaxed atmosphere and the beautiful colonial centre, San Cristobal de las Cases may just be our favourite spot in Mexico.
It’s easy to spend an afternoon wandering through the large historic centre, and admiring the 16th and 17th century heritage homes painted in a myriad of colours. Most are one or two story buildings with wrought iron balconies as well as painted window and door frames. Old style lights add the finishing touches to the cute homes.
The number of pedestrian streets with views of the surrounding hills add even more likeability to the scene and make San Cristobal de las Casas one of Mexico’s prettiest towns. And at 2,100m (6900 ft) elevation, the cooler temperatures make it even more pleasant. This is one Pueblo Magico that truly deserves that designation.
People have compared it to Antigua in Guatemala and it does have a lot in common with that charming town. You can read about Antigua here.
Apart from spending your days wandering along the colourful streets, there are a few spots not to be missed.
Vicente Espinoza Park
One of those is Vicente Espinoza Park also called Zócalo (Main Square). Park benches set under palm and shade palm trees make it a popular place for people to get out of the sun. It is bordered by two-story heritage buildings whose street level colonnades are used by local shops to spread out their wares.
Cathedral of St. Christopher the Martyr
Beside Zócalo is the large Cathedral of St. Christopher the Martyr. Its bright yellow and peach exterior contrasts to the rather characterless square in front. Plaza de la Paz (Peace Square) is a large cement square with low roofed buildings, most are now occupied by banks. The amount of banks means there are several armed guards on the edge of the square so it doesn’t feel as peaceful as its name would imply.
Arch of Carmen
Hidalgo Calle is pedestrian street that leads to the Arch of Carmen (Arco del Carmen). The tall, pink bell tower has an archway underneath that was once the main entrance to the city. At the side of the arch is a door that used to lead to a convent. Old cloisters from the convent have been converted into offices, but the the old convent church, Iglesia del Carmen, is still standing.
There are a few nice restaurants on Hidalgo Calle, not far from the arch.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church
Perched on the top of a hill at the end of one of the pedestrian streets is Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. If you climb the stairs toward the church doors you are treated to nice views of the town and its hilly landscape.
As we walked along Calle Tonalá, on the edge of Old Town, not far from Our Lady of Guadalupe, we found some interesting street art that alludes to a local problem. Tap water in the city is said to be among the most contaminated in the country. One of the reasons for this is blamed on the amount of water that the local Coca-Cola plant uses. Instead of boycotting the drink though, locals drink it. In fact, they drink a lot of it. The city is the largest consumer of Coke in the country. When we were there we did see a lot of people with a coke in their hand.
Santo Domingo Church
On the other side of Old Town is the very ornate Santo Domingo Church. Surrounded by a busy market, we could barely see the ornate façade of the old building above the market stalls. Given its surroundings we didn’t expect to find such a golden interior. In this church instead of a golden altar at the front, one entire side wall is composed of glittering gold.
Note – There is a mesh covering over the front of the church which makes it appear a little fuzzy.
Tips for Visiting San Cristobal de las Cases
• The water in the city is said to be some of the most contaminated in the country. It is advised to not even brush your teeth with the tap water. Most hotels will have coolers with safe drinking water available.
• At 2,100 m (6,900 ft) expect cooler temperatures, even cold in the winter months. At night it will be even colder. At the end of May daytime temperatures were in the low 30°s C but at night, it cooled to the mid teens.
• Safety – In the 1990s the Zapatistas, a socialist militant group, were quite aggressive and led to a lot of violence in the state of Chiapas. In fact, at one time it was considered to be one of the most dangerous states in the country. This led to poverty, and kept it in a continual loop of increasing violence and poverty. There are supposed to be murals left over from the Zapatistas, but we couldn’t find them. Recently a large police presence has led to San Cristobal de las Casas being one of the country’s safest cities for visitors. The rest of the state hasn’t recovered to the same extent though. Even with the increased safety, take regular precautions such as not walking at night, not carrying a lot of money, or wearing expensive jewelry.
There is still a lot of unrest in the state of Chiapas. When we were there the teachers were protesting, blocking a lot of highways. We saw one blockade in the city of Tuxtla where two semitrailers were parked across the main highway into town. The blockades resulted in a shortage of petroleum so at one point our van driver had to stop at a pullout to buy gas from a make-shift station. Two men had barrels of gas (petrol) and were selling it for over $200 MXN per gallon (the pump price was around $90).
How to get to San Cristobal de las Casas
The nearest airport is in Tuxtla, 75 km away, but most people arrive by road. If you drive your own car between Palenque and San Cristobal, there are many locally run tolls on the highway. These are operated by local people who are protesting the government. They are apparently safe, but you do need to pay these multiple tolls. It is recommended to avoid this route at night. Another way to travel is by bus. ADO buses travel between San Cristobal de las Casas and Oaxaca, Palenque and many other cities.
Where to stay and eat in San Cristobal de las Casas
There are many choices of excellent hotels and restaurants in San Cristobal de las Casas. Prices are also much more reasonable in this quaint town than other popular spots in Mexico. Find a hotel with in walking distance of Zócalo or the Arch of Carmen as this is where most of the pretty streets and restaurants are located. If you have a car, make sure your accommodation has parking as there is not a lot of street parking in the city.
The main pedestrian streets Real de Guadalupe and Miguel Hidalgo, is where you’ll find most restaurants, bakeries and pubs whose patios spill out on to the walkway. There are so many choice, even the pickiest eater will find a great meal.
Sumidero Canyon
A popular day trip from San Cristobal de las Casas is Sumidero Canyon. Formed 35 million years ago, Sumidero Canyon was created by the Grijalva River forcing its way between the tall granite and karst walls.
We took a boat trip up the Grijalva River to see this natural site for ourselves. One section of the Canyon is quite narrow and the towering 1,000 m (3,300 ft) high walls make it feel very closed-in. Its appearance has been compared it to fjords in Norway, but that’s being a little too generous.
We passed a dry waterfall which may not sound interesting, but because it was dry we could see the fantastic tufas that have formed on the wall. Its triangular shape has led to it being called a ‘Christmas tree’. The tufa features are formed when rain water brings minerals down the the surface of the karst wall, leaving behind different shapes.
The canyon is only at 600 m of elevation. In May, it was in the 40°s C and very humid. We didn’t have a clear view of the cliffs because of the moisture in the air. This moisture though means that the dense rainforest that covers the cliffs is very healthy. The vegetation is very diverse from willows and ferns to pine trees. There’s a wide variety of animals too include crocodiles, of which we saw many, and spider monkeys, who were shyer.
Chiapa de Corzo
The city of Chiapa de Corzo offers another view of Grijalva River. Most tours of Sumidero Canyon stop here and give you an hour to explore the Pueblo Magico town, but there’s not much to see. This is an example of a Pueblo Magico with no magic.
How to visit Sumidero Canyon
There are many tour agencies in San Cristobal de las Casas and all seem to offer the same tour at the same price. The tour includes a boat ride, 5 viewpoints and the town of Chiapa de Corzo. Note that on Tuesdays the viewpoints are closed for cleaning, which was unfortunately the only day we had to do the tour. We researched going to the canyon on our own, but it is a lot more difficult and unless you have your own car it is more expensive and time consuming. It’s likely not worth the effort. As it was, since we couldn’t see the viewpoints, it was not as nice as we had hoped.
This article is now featured on GPSmyCity. To download this article for offline reading or create a self-guided walking tour to visit the attractions highlighted in this article, go to Walking Tours and Articles in San Cristobal de las Casas.
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Coming Next – Day Trips From Palenque – Mayan Pyramids and Agua Azul
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