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. Its a fucking long way. 4276km, in fact. I went via Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize all without flying - overland. No TicaBus. No NicaBus. No Gringo Shuttle. It took me 32 days.

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 City to Mexico City - Panama

On the way to Panama City I had stopped for the night in David. On the way back I broke up the journey in Santiago, just for something different.

After just 1 night I continued to David where I changed buses. I got a combi van to the frontera at Paso Canoas and passed quickly into Costa Rica.

Panama City to Mexico City - 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.

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.

Panama City to Mexico City - 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.

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:

From Granada I rode a chicken bus to Masaya (17 C$):

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 - Honduras

By 9.40 am I was through immigration and on yet another series of buses to Danlí and then Tegucigalpa, the capital of one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

The Palmira Hostel provides the traveller like me with a safe haven.

I backpacked Tegucigalpa, one of the most dangerous capitals in the world:

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.

The next day I journeyed to Guatemala via the Corinto border crossing.

Panama City to Mexico City - Guatemala

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 Menchos. I stayed at the same hostel in Livingston as I had stayed in the previous year, as in Flores but in Rio Dulce I chose a different hotel.

Panama City to Mexico City - Belize

Belize, formerly British Honduras, my 105th (98th UN Member State) country 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 - Mexico

I stayed a few days in Bacalar:

And then bussed it non-stop all the way to Heroica Veracruz. I backpacked this port and former railway city:

And a final bus to Mexico City and to be reunited with Miss CDMX.

I had made 4276km in 32 days with 17 different stop-overs through 7 countries.

Flags from Central America and Mexico: