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Overland from Panama City to Mexico City

Posted: December 5, 2022 | Tagged: Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico

This is my story about travelling overland from Panama City to Mexico City.

Of course, I didn't do it nonstop. It's a fucking long way. 4276km, in fact. I went via Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize, all without flying - overland. No Tica Bus. No Nica Bus. No Gringo Shuttle. It took me 32 days.
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus

​Panama City to Mexico City - Intro

I spent 3 months travelling from El Salvador to Panama via Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and as soon as I arrived in Panama City, I had this crazy idea to travel back to Mexico City and Miss CMDX, overland.

​No flying. Using regular transport. None of these GringoShuttles or cross-border buses like TicaBus or NicaBus. Sure, they are convenient, but they are just not my style.

Why? I love the thrill of overland journeys; the travelling, yes, I am one of those who enjoys the journey, perhaps more than the stops along the way; and the border crossings. Not to mention the content that can be produced from such a journey.

On the way back north, I used a completely different route, so there were 6 brand-new border crossing posts right there. And a whole host of new places to see and experience.

So, I wrapped up my stay in Panama City and spent an evening making some loose plans for the return journey.

Panama

On the way to Panama City, I had stopped for the night in David. On the way back, I stopped for the night in Santiago, just for something different, before carrying on to David, where I changed buses. I got a combi-van to the border at Paso Canoas and passed quickly into Costa Rica.

Costa Rica

The Panama to Costa Rica border crossing at Paso Canoas was easy and I made great progress getting to Quepos by 3 pm.
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
​3 days later, I was on the road again, to Liberia, via Puntarenas.

It was all about covering some serious ground.

I had been away 3 months. It was time to get back to Miss CDMX.

​Another crack of dawn alarm call and a bus to Peñas Blancas, the border with Nicaragua.

Nicaragua

The border crossing was another run of the mill affair.
​
I made it to Rivas by 1 pm. I had time to take in a bit of the city.
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
The next morning, a chicken bus to Granada, a delightful city with colonial buildings at every turn.

​I walked to the port, climbed the tower of the Iglesia de la Merced, walked to the old Granada Train Station and called out the GRINGO PRICE principal at a local eatery:
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
From Granada I rode a chicken bus to Masaya (17 C$):
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Another to Tipitapa and another to Esteli which was the only town that I also stopped in on my way down. But on my way back north I stayed at the Mariella Hostel. 
Then onto Ocotal, for a last night in Nicaragua, just 25km from Las Manos, the border with Honduras.
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus

​Honduras

By 9.40 am, I was through immigration and on yet another series of buses to Danlí and then Tegucigalpa.

​The Palmira Hostel provides the traveller like me with a safe haven.
Tegucigalpa, one of the most dangerous capitals in the world:
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
And then on to San Pedro Sula, with Transportes Cristina:
And I spent the rest of the day, backpacking San Pedro Sula, one of the most dangerous cities in the world.
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
The next day I journeyed to Guatemala via the Corinto border crossing.

​Guatemala

Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
I took the boat from Puerto Barrios to Livingston, stayed a few days to catch my breath and then, up the Rio Dulce to Rio Dulce town and then to Flores and onward to the Guatemala-Belize border crossing at Melchor de Mencos.

Belize

Belize, formerly British Honduras, my 98th UN Member State and my final country in Central America. I backpacked San Ignacio, Cahal Pech Archaeological Reserve, Hopkins and Orange Walk and then made for the border crossing to Mexico at Santa Elena.
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus

Mexico

​I stayed a few days in Bacalar:
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
And then bussed it non-stop all the way to Heroica Veracruz. I backpacked this port and former railway city:
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
And a final bus to Mexico City and to be reunited with Miss CDMX.

​I had made 4276km in 32 days with 17 different stopovers through 7 countries.

Flags from Central America and Mexico:
Panama City to Mexico City By Bus
Previous Post: How to use the Trolleybus in Mexico City
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  • HOME
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  • Regions
    • AFRICA >
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