BootsnAll Travel Community

Looking to depart for Guat. in 2 weeks. Can anyone verify any of the following departures I've obtained through various sources: A Pullman Bus that leaves Panajachel from the Rebuli Office for Antigua @ 10:45? Shuttle buses from Antigua to Rio Dulce and appr time of arrival, as we're attempting to catch the boat to Finca Tatin on the same day? And a shuttle or NON-CHICKEN BUS from Rio Dulce headed to Flores ??

Many thanx fellow travelers....

hi at the moment i only can tell you that the pull-man bus leave from pana. to antigua, yes around 11. but not on sundays. you will arrive 3-4 hours later in antigua. well for the rest i don t know, i ask for the shuttle services but i don t want to tell you the bus-shedule for rio dulce to tikal. i don t trust them and i don t want to tell you something, you plan your trip on the schedule i gave you and all your trip is toast. i can give you tomorrow an answer for the shuttle from antigua to rio dulce
see ya

If you know the buses and routes you want, you have all the info you will need. Anything that is told you here may or may not be correct, and if they are wrong, you are the one to pay if you don't actually verify these schedules. Schedules change.

Count on any two hour trip in Guatemala being a virtual day trip, and many buses start very early in the morning because of this fact. There are very few night buses.

When you get to the place you take the bus from, check out the schedules BEFOREHAND. Its a little bizarre in Guatemala as there are precious few central bus stations in many cities. There are some very good bus schedule books available in antiqua, or were. They were self-published and available in many hangout places.

Thanks for the feedback. I am not entirely new at figuring out available resources to get from point-A to point-B once I get there, but I feel all the better prepared with the more info I can get my hands on.

Here is some more help. You can ask your hotel people about bus schedules, and they may have one. Local people are very valuable assets. Ask people in the area. Also, expatriates are very valuable, if they choose to talk to you.

I do hope some people here that are living in Guatemala and know the schedules at this time are here to help you!

PS: There is a bus from Antiqua to Panajachel I always took. It left early in the morning, and was DIRECT, a thing you will come to value very much.

Go Lakers!!

One suggestion from Guatemala City to the Rio Dulce is to find an "Express Bus". Fuente del Norte is a bus line that runs express buses, as does Litegua.

They are both in Zone 1. They have buses leave at different times of the day.

The advantage to an express bus is that they don't stop nearly as often as the chicken buses. You can expect to pay between Q 75 and Q 150 ($10 - $20). They have restrooms on board. And sometimes they are air conditioned and serve snacks and/or beverages as well. Take tissue with you though as the paper in the restroom is probably gone. Plan on the bus from the City to the Rio being around 5 1/2 to 6 hours. (Sometimes it's only 5 hours.)

When you get to the Rio Dulce, you find a 'Launchero' (guys who run the boats along the river) to take you to Finca Tatin. From the Rio Dulce to Finca Tatin, plan on around an hour down the river.

The addresses for the two bus lines (Fuente del Norte and Litegua) in Zone 1:
Fuente del Norte
17 Calle 8-46 Zona 1

Litegua
15 Calle 10-40 Zona 1

Hope this helps,
CJS

hi it s me again but one day more late as i said

ok, you can not go from pana to antigua and get immediatly a connection to rio dulce.
why: it is better that you never arrive during the night in a place you don t know, because the streets belong to other people during the night as during the day.

so around 11 pm in pana to antigua +- 3 hrs. be there at 10.30 am
4 am 7.30 am 9 am 11 am +- 6 hrs. there is a hotel in front of the very known hostel "black cat" ask for this hostel and then look to the other side of the street.

in the internet, two houses more south from the black cat, a internet cafe has shuttles to guate city and than you change to a bus which river cat named the bus express.

for both you have to pay around 15 ans 16 us$ per person.
so you have to spend a noght in antigua. it s bullshit to arrive at 9 pm in rio dulce, you never know!!!
even if you find a travel agency ehich leaves at 9 pm to rio dulce forget that.
se ya

I agree not to take the highway at night. The info I gave is for you to design your stay and departures around.

There is a third bus line (Express bus) if you can get there by 9:30 am. It's also in Zone 1.

Linea Dorada
16 Calle 10-03 Zona 1

Also, a note to all thinking of riding a bus or driving a car at night in Guatemala along the highway....NOT ADVISED. There are many hazards to this idea.
Such as, buses, trucks, etc with no taillights and moving slowly along, not giving you a chance to slow down in time; people crossing the street in dark clothes that you may hit, and on and on. Gatovolado is right that it differs greatly between day and night traveling on the highways.

CJS

Thanks for all the advice, and sorry for the confusion you guys. I never intended to get from Pana all the way to Rio Dulce in one day. It wouldn't be a bright idea. My 2 week itinerary in Guatemala before heading to Belize looks like: Arrive Guat city and depart for Atitlan the following morning( my flight arrives at night). 4 nights at Lake Atitlan before spending 3 nights in Antigua. Lv Antigua for 3 nights at Finca Tatin. Backtrack through Rio Dulce for a couple of nights in Flores before leaving for Belize.

The entire purpose of going to Lake Atitlan from Guat city first, as opposed to Antigua, is that Rio Dulce(Rio Tatin)should be less grueling of a day trip coming out of Antigua.

Thanks for the suggestions..

There are two ways to get from Pana to antiqua. One is a series of bus transfers on local buses, much hurry and crowding. The other is the direct bus from Pana which costs a little more, but is a lot more comfortable.

As for Antiqua, please be reminded it is not as safe as Pana, especially late at night(after 11-12). As far as I know the police have not yet got the hint that stopping late night crime will improve their tourism.

Pana is wonderful. You'll have four days there, so I can give you a shortlist of things to do there besides hang out by the lake.

1. Take the public ferry from town to town. There is a tourist round-the lake ferry which is not expensive at all. The trip to Santiago is very good, and other towns are intersting.

2. Spend a day and night in San Pedro for really laid back living. Good food, cheap enough, and right on the water if you go to the Agua Azul Hostel just off the docks.

3. There are hikes up a volcano for the ambitious, from San Pedro.

4. You can stay in Camping Campana, if they still have that trailer for rent. That place, though billed as a campground, has tents for rent, sometimes more, and the most civilised bathroom in all of Pana.

5. Talk to the street vendors and vendors in the town. They are the most amazing parts of Pana, in my experience. The best cup of coffee there is in the Argentinian grill place on the main road, and they have great Parillas as well.

hi
well i don t agree for 100% with tortuaga.
i think that antigua is safe during the night. you also cn get robbed in the big apple at 4 pm. but tortuga forgot to say that there are no dead travelers shot by bandits. you have much more pick-pockets around the lake as in antigua. of cours you always have to be careful at such an houre but still antigua is one of the most safe "cities" in C.A.
i know a lot of femal bartender, from the states or europe, and they have to go home after 12 o clock and noone i know said that she feels special unsafe. there are so many drunk turists and students at night on the street and if it would be so risci i don t think there would be such a party-culture.
i don t want to criticise tortuga but i think, for staying 4 months in antigua, it is very safe for a 3 world country.
thanks