San Cristóbal de las Casas and the Sumidero Canyon

Chiapas is Mexico’s southernmost state, on the border with Guatemala, of mountains, jungles and Maya peoples who maintain their own language, dress and customs. The most common entry point is Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital, in a hot valley. Beside it opens the Sumidero Canyon, a gorge with walls up to about a thousand meters above the Grijalva River, viewed from lookout points above and by boat departing from Chiapa de Corzo, a colonial town on the riverbank.

Climbing the mountains, about 60 km away, is San Cristóbal de las Casas, at roughly 2,200 meters altitude. It is a colonial town of cobbled streets, low colorful houses and churches, such as the yellow cathedral and the baroque temple of Santo Domingo, around which an indigenous handicraft market gathers. The climate is cool year‑round and nights are usually cold.

Around San Cristóbal are tsotsil and tzeltal villages, such as San Juan Chamula, whose church mixes Maya and Catholic rituals. To the southeast, Comitán de Domínguez is a quiet colonial town and the gateway to the Montebello Lakes National Park, with dozens of lakes in shades of blue and green among pine forests, already on the border with Guatemala.

This destination brings together 5 cities: Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapa de Corzo, San Cristóbal de las Casas, San Juan Chamula, Comitán de Domínguez.