Chiapas Travel: 7 Day Road Trip

Chiapas, Mexico is one of the southernmost states in Mexico and is full of natural beauty, Mayan culture and plenty of adventure activities. After 5 months driving down the Pacific coast of Mexico it was exciting to leave the hot, beautiful beaches for the cooler, jungle environment of Chiapas. The culture, food and nature in Chiapas were very different from what we experienced in other parts of Mexico. The region is teeming with incredible waterfalls, Mayan ruins, colonial towns, alpine lakes and more! Most travelers base themselves in San Cristobal de las Casas and make various day trips to the regions’ highlights. We were fortunate to have our camper van, so we decided to plan a 7 ish day roadtrip loop around Chiapas in order to hit all the main attractions and off the beaten path destinations. Keep reading for a complete 7 day Chiapas Mexico Road Trip Itinerary.

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Agua Azul Waterfall

Chiapas Mexico Road Trip Overview:

Ideally you will want to set aside 7-10 days to complete this road trip. It can be done in a campervan or normal rental car. There are accommodation options at each stop if you do not have the ability to sleep in your vehicle. We started our road trip from San Cristobal after exploring the town for a few days. Make sure to allocate at least 3 days in this beautiful colonial city. I’ll go into detail below, but here are the main stops of the 7 day Chiapas Mexico Road Trip:

Day 1: San Cristobal de las Casas –> Agua Azul Waterfall & Camping

Day 2: Agua Azul –> Misol-Ha Waterfall –> Palenque

Day 3: Palenque Ruins –> Roberto Barrios Waterfall –> Los Capulines Campsite

**Option to visit Archaeological Site of Yaxchilán via Frontera Corozal

Day 4: Los Capulines –> Las Nubes Waterfall (big drive day)

Day 5: Las Nubes Waterfall –> Lago Tziscao

Day 6: Lago Tzicao + other Montebello Lakes

Day 7: Lago Tzicao –> Cascada El Chiflón

** Option to stay in Comitan & Visit Cenote Chucumaltik **

Cinco Lagos Lookout

Chiapas Mexico Road Trip Key Tips:

Expect the drive to take 1-2 hours longer than Google Maps estimates
Prepare for many many speed bumps (especially the first drive)
Obey local speed limits and signs (the Mexico government does not really control this area)
Only travel during the daytime
Be kind and courteous if you are stopped at a local “Road Toll”
Check the Facebook Page for roadblocks and Chiapas updates
Download offline maps
Refer to the iOverlander updates and pins
Get ready to witness some Epic beauty!

Is Chiapas, Mexico Safe?

We completed our road trip in August 2023 and we had no issues. There was a heightened risk of road blocks but we fortunately did not encounter any (usually just an inconvenience). The political/social/economic state of Chiapas can change rapidly so definitely do a bit of research before embarking on the journey. The best advice we received was to understand that the local communities govern these areas so you need to travel with respect and caution to their local laws. This mainly refers to speed limits on the roads and possible road tolls. We encountered only 1 rope toll where a group of 10-15 men were stopping passing traffic and requested 50 pesos. We kindly paid this and they were friendly. As mentioned things can change quickly in Mexico so I recommend joining the Bloqueos Carreteros Chiapas group to get updates on roadblocks and overall safety of the route.

El Chiflon Waterfall 7 Day Chiapas Mexico Road Trip

El Chiflón Waterfalls

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Day 1: San Cristobal de las Casas –> Agua Azul Waterfalls (158 km ~ 5-6 hrs)

We started our day after breakfast and saying goodbye to the friends we made in San Cristobal de Las Casas. I definitely recommend Puerta Vieja Hostel in San Cristobal – the free breakfast, free dinner and nightly drink specials create and awesome social vibe. I really loved exploring this colonial town. Jack and I never get on the road very early and I think we underestimated the length of the day 1 drive (we started around 1030 AM).

This is a very beautiful drive but it is slow going due to the 200 speed bumps that you will encounter. In addition the first part of the drive until Ocosingo was steep downhill. Our brakes were boiling by the end. Most of the road passes through rural communities and the winding hills with incredible views. We stopped at Restaurant Paisano for a simple but good lunch and arrived at Agua Azul Waterfalls around 4 pm.

When we arrived at the Agua Azul camping it wasn’t totally clear where to park up, but we followed the map to the pinpoint from iOverlander and there was some space here to park. We asked about payment but no one ever came to request it. We had a nice view of the waterfall pools and immediately we got out to explore.

Agua Azul is massive and the trail along the waterfalls keeps going. This is definitely a touristy spot and there are vendors lining the path, I didn’t feel like this took away from the beauty of the falls. There are a few spots where it is safe to swim and there are plenty of lookouts to get epic pictures of the falls.

Misol-Ha Waterfall

Day 2: Agua Azul –> Misol- Ha –> Palenque (63 km, 1.5 hrs)

Pro Tip: Wake up early to enjoy the Agua Azul Waterfall before the tourists arrive around 9 am!

It was about 1 hour drive from Agua Azul to Misol-Ha. The Misol-Ha waterfall is cool because you can walk behind the waterfall and also swim in the water. It is also a popular tourist spot so expect some crowds. I really liked this waterfall, but unfortunately I was bit by a red ant and immediately got a crazy allergic reaction. I still got to check out the falls and jump in the water, but then we had to speed out of there to get some anti-histimine in Palenque. This incident de-railed our plans a little bit as we were considering to visit the Palenque Ruins that afternoon (instead we checked into a nice hotel to rest from the reaction). Our original plan was to camp at Camping Michol close to the Palenque Ruins.

Palenque Ruins

Day 3: Palenque Ruins –> Roberto Barrios –> Los Capulines (71 km ~ 1.5 hours)

After a night of rest the hives from the allergic reaction disappeared and I was ready to get back on the adventure. We headed to the Palenque Ruins around 10 am. It was hot when we arrived, but there were not very many people. After paying the national park entrance and the archaeological site fee we drove the rest of the way up the hill and parked near the entrance. It took us about 2 hours to explore the ruins. I enjoyed being able to go inside one of the temples and climb to the top of a few others. It is so green and lush and the grounds are really beautiful.

After the ruins we stopped for lunch in Palenque at Cafe Jade (definitely recommend!), before heading off to Roberto Barrios Waterfalls. This was the perfect spot to cool off in the afternoon. There are a series of waterfalls and rock pools to swim in. Little trails wind between all the pools and there are even some cliff jumping spots. It is easy to spend a few hours exploring the falls. It is also way less touristy than the other waterfalls. We stayed into the afternoon and made sure to leave enough time to get to our campsite at Los Capulines

** had we visited Palenque the day before we would have probably gone from Roberto Barrios to Frontera Corozal.

Roberto Barrios Waterfall

Day 4: Los Capulines –> Las Nubes (324 km, ~6-7 hours)

Prior to my allergic reaction to the ants, we planned to stay a night in Frontera Corozal in order to take the boat to the Yaxchilán Ruins. The idea of being in the middle of the jungle (with lots of ants) made me a bit too anxious so we unfortunately decided to skip this stop. I think it would be a really incredible experience if you are interested!

This was a longgggg day of driving. It felt like we were on the road all day. The landscape went from jungle to farmland and then got mountainous at the end. Not much else noteworthy, it was just one of those days. We camped along the river in the town of Zacualtipan. It was free, but very basic. If you need a cabin there is a lodge in the town of Las Nubes on the other side of the river. We arrived around sunset so we relaxed in the van and enjoyed the fireflys!

Las Nubes Waterfall

Day 5: Las Nubes –> Lago Tziscao (70 km, 2.5 hours)

We woke up in the morning and continued down the dirt path to the bridge leading across the Las Nubes rapids. During the rainy season the water was flowing very strong and in was impressive to watch from the foot bridge. On the other side of the river there is a short hike that takes you to a great viewpoint overlooking the valley below and showcasing some more of the rapids. It took us about 30 minutes to hike. Afterwards, we enjoyed a great breakfast at Restaurant La Golondrina.

When we got back to the car we continued on to Lago Tziscao. Here we arrived at one of the best campsites of our whole trip! We stayed at Ecolodge & Villas Tziscao and we were parked right next to the turquoise lake. It felt like luxury to have hot showers and a restaurant onsite. The lake is perfect for swimming and paddle boarding.

Lago Tziscao

Day 6: Enjoy Lago Tziscao and the other Montebello Lakes

Sadly, I woke up pretty sick with the flu and I felt too weak to do much other than nap in the van and go for a quick swim in the lake. I wanted to do a bunch of activities in this area like the Cinco Lagos Hike and exploring more of the lakes in the area. Instead, we just chilled and enjoyed the views.

Lago Tziscao

Day 7: Lago Tziscao –> El Chiflon Waterfalls

I definitely recommend spending 2-3 nights at Lago Tziscao if you have the time. On the morning that we packed up and left, we stopped at the Cinco Lagos Viewpoint first. I had just enough energy to make it up the 50 steps. I’m thankful I did because the views are stunning! The hike would have been so epic if we could have done it. Realistically, we drove from Lago Tziscao to El Comitán. This is a small town with a really nice central park. We did not see any tourists while we were here. We decided to stay in a hotel for a few nights while I continued to recover and we prepared for our border crossing to Guatemala.

Had I not been sick, we would have driven straight to El Chiflon and camped there ( I would recommend this). We ended up taking a collective to El Chiflon the next day. I am so glad I mustered up enough energy to visit these waterfalls because I think they were the best of the 7 day Chiapas Mexico Road Trip.

El Chiflon Waterfall

Extra Days for the Chiapas Mexico Road Trip:

If you have extra time or you like to pack in a lot to your days, I also had Cenote Chucumaltik on my list which is just outside of of Comitán as well.

Overall Review of the 7 day Chiapas Mexico Road Trip

If you have read this far, then you can understand why this road trip had its ups and downs due to my health. I wish I could have been at 100% because there were so many epic stops on this road trip. I loved all the waterfalls, lakes and ruins that we got to see. It was exciting to explore some of the off the beaten path destinations in Chiapas. If you are looking for a good adventure I definitely recommend the trip!