By Bus, Mexico City

The city government had this brilliant idea of building this weird thing called Metrobus..... it's a long bus in fact, and it originally covered a fixed straight route along our longest avenue, Insurgentes, which goes across the entire city from the very north to the very south tip. There are many stops along the avenue and the stations ressemble somewhat a small metro station. Nowadays a 2nd line has been opened, which runs along several avenues (Benjamin Franklin, Xola/Eje 4) connecting the city from east to west and has the same operation system as the 1st line.

In order to use this bus you must buy an electronic card (looks like a credit card, see my previous tip about the metro card and it looks just the same) which costs $8 MXN (less than $1 USD) and then add/charge the amount of money you want in it depending on how many trips you're going to make. Each 1 way trip costs $5.00 MXN (2009) regardless of the distance you'll be traveling. There are machines located at the entrance of each station where you can both purchase and/or recharge cards.

This bus runs at street level on the central lanes of Insurgentes, Xola and other avenues, stops only on each assigned station and must respect traffic lights as regular vehicles do. Doors open and close automatically and at the same time. The special lane where it runs was specifically designed for the Metrobus and no other vehicle is authorized to use it. When the Metrobus was introduced they banned the regular buses which would stop every 5 meters on the right-most lane of the street, causing chaos and traffic jams. Supposedly the traffic on this avenue is more efficient now (yeah right), and since each station is located at a corner you can easily cross the first 3 lanes - when the traffic light allows you to, of course - and get to the middle of the avenue where the Metrobus station is located. There are pedestrian traffic lights now in every corner (I know this is normal in many countries but not here!).

You can find more information and see a map with all of the Metrobus stations at the website provided below (in Spanish only). Also, keep in mind that most part of the day and especially in central areas/stations these buses get EXCESSIVELY crowded (the Metrobus transports over 300,000 people everyday) and it's almost impossible to board them. Sometimes you have to wait for 4-5 buses to pass by before you can hop into one. It really is a hassle to use these buses so if you can avoid it, all the better. Use them only if it's really necessary and there aren't other means of transportation available.

If you're coming from another town in Mexico maybe the bus is your best alternative, because it's cheaper than renting a car and paying the high toll fees they charge in some of our highways/roads (some of which are in not-so-good conditions), not to mention the fuel, all of which makes travelling by car somewhat expensive. Also, even though we already have several budget airlines operating and offering cheap flights within the country, sometimes the distances aren't that big so flying isn't worthwhile and the bus is much cheaper.

The bus service in Mexico is highly reliable and takes you mostly anywhere, it's not expensive and it's fairly safe. We have 4 bus terminals in the north (Central Camionera del Norte), south (Central Camionera del Sur), east (TAPO) and west (Observatorio) of the city. All of them are next to a metro station, so they are very easily accesible if you want to catch a bus from Mexico City to another town in Mexico (including the Teotihuacan Pyramids).

If you're coming into Mexico City and you don't want to ride the metro after arriving at any of these bus stations, take safe/authorized taxis and avoid hailing one at the street: these latter may be dangerous as there are many people in these terminals - especially tourists - so it's more probable that thieves search for victims around here.

I didn't take this tour but it sounded great.

Its a first class bus for tourists that stops at many of the major tourist sites in Mexico & Guatemala. There is also one stop in Belize City (Belize) and Copan Ruins (Honduras).

Offers daily departures, a flexible schedule that you can create a totally personalized itinerary. You are also allowed to make unlimited changes to your schedule. There is a free on-line guide and free activities

I've been to most of the areas covered and the regular (Mexican buses) do offer coverage Mexico. there are also great options in Guatemala (tourist and local buses are easy) and Copan.

However, this is a nice option if you want an easier trip with drop offs and pick ups at your hostel and additional tourist type information. Its also a good way to meet other travels.

Prices are of course higher than the local (Mexican bus) will be.

Taking the bus around is cheap and safe, sometimes it can be very crowded but its a fun experience in itself. Depending on the bus, it will cost anywhere from 2 - 3.50 pesos per ride (20-30 cents USD) so its not much. Try to understand where you want to go and explain it to the driver if you want to make sure you're getting on the right bus, the system can be complicated. Usually I always talked to the driver, or asked other locals in advance the name of the bus I wanted and what direction it was going in.

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I had arrived from Acapulco at the south bus station but was departing to Guadalajara from the north bus station. I understand that there are two other bus stations in Mexico City, so if traveling by bus you need to have some idea of which destinations are served by each bus station. For this longest segment on my trip, from Mexico City to Guadalajara, I decided to travel using Futura. From what I had heard, they had a good reputation and they didn't disappoint on this seven hour, 470 pesos trip. There were only four passengers on the bus so I'm not sure how they made any money from our trip.

There is a bus station conveniently located at the Mexico City airport. After clearing customs (international arrivals are in Section E of the airport), find your way to the second floor. Look for the food area; just past there you will find ticket counters for several bus companies that will take you to Queretaro, Puebla, etc.

It makes it very convenient to fly into Mexico City and take comfortable buses to other places some one hour to five hours away via bus.

You'll see these microbuses, also known as peseros, around town and they are often more frequent than the regular buses. After visiting the National Anthropology Museum one morning, I decided to walk all the way down Reforma back to my hotel near the Zocalo. However, after about a half hour, I realized this was a REALLY long walk, so I decided to jump on one of the microbuses that was passing by. The drivers will slow down if you make eye contact with them. It was 4.50 pesos and you can just look for the destination (usually more than one listed) in the front window. Some locals warned me that the drivers are crazy, but I didn't have any problem on my ride.

City buses, like the Metro, are just two pesos for a ride, but they are a little more confusing, so if you don't know the routes, it can be a challenge. However, one commonly used route is along Reforma all the way from the Indios Verdes Metro/Bus Station in the north down to the University in the South (Universidad Metro stop) and running in the opposite direction too. You can ask someone for the correct bus number for your destination, but you can also check the front window of the bus where the destination will be displayed.