Mexico · Estado de Chiapas
Where to Stay in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Estado de Chiapas
San Cristóbal de las Casas is a colonial highland town in the mountains of Chiapas, in the Maya heart of southern Mexico.
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Where to stay in San Cristóbal de las Casas
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
Where you stay in San Cristóbal turns on the old centre. The cobbled streets around the cathedral and Santo Domingo keep the churches, the museums, and the markets within a walk, and staying in the centre suits anyone here for the colonial town. The lanes glow at night.
Rooms sit in old courtyard houses nearby. Out toward the edges and the pine hills, the town spreads into quieter streets. A room away from the centre trades the busy lanes for space, gardens, and an easy road to the Maya villages.
The pine ridges rise past the edge. If you want the churches and the markets, stay in the centre; if you want the quiet, take a room outside. Whichever you pick, Santo Domingo and the cobbled centre stay within easy reach.
About San Cristóbal de las Casas
What is San Cristóbal de las Casas known for?
San Cristóbal is a colonial town high in the Chiapas mountains. Cobbled streets of low painted houses climb between old churches and markets in the cool mountain air, and the Maya people of the highland villages fill its squares with weaving and colour. Amber and jade are sold in its lanes.
Churches and markets mark the town.
What are the main landmarks in San Cristóbal de las Casas?
The church of Santo Domingo is the pride of San Cristóbal. Its rose-coloured baroque front, carved like lace, rises over a busy craft market, the emblem of the town, in the old centre. Museums fill the colonial houses.
The old convent holds the Museo de los Altos de Chiapas, while the amber and jade museums and the Casa Na Bolom keep the story of the Maya highlands.
What is the history of San Cristóbal de las Casas?
San Cristóbal was founded by the Spanish in the highlands. Conquerors laid out the town in 1528 in a cool mountain valley of the Maya country, and it became the Spanish capital of Chiapas, a city of churches and colonial mansions built on Maya land. A famous bishop defended the people.
Bartolomé de las Casas, who fought for the rights of the native peoples, gave the city his name, and its cathedral and convents rose over the centuries. The Maya highlands kept their old ways. In the villages around the town the Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya held to their languages, their dress, and their customs, and they came down to the city to trade in its great markets.
In time travellers found the town. Its painted streets, mountain air, and Maya markets drew visitors from around the world, and San Cristóbal became a favourite of the highlands. The old churches still crown the hills.
San Cristóbal guards its colonial streets in the Chiapas mountains.
Where is San Cristóbal de las Casas?
San Cristóbal lies in a high valley of the Chiapas highlands. The town sits over two thousand metres up in a green mountain basin of pine forest and mist, ringed by the peaks of southern Mexico, far above the tropical lowlands. Pine ridges rise around the valley.
The cool highlands roll away to the hills.
What is the climate of San Cristóbal de las Casas?
San Cristóbal has a cool highland climate. The great altitude keeps the town mild by day and cold at night all year, far cooler than the tropics below, and the summer brings afternoon rains with mist in the pines. Fog fills the valley on cool mornings.
The mountain air stays fresh and crisp.
How do you get to San Cristóbal de las Casas?
San Cristóbal lies in the highlands of eastern Chiapas. A mountain highway climbs to it from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the lowland capital, and roads run on to the Maya ruins and the Guatemalan border. Buses reach the highland villages around.
Most arrive by road up the mountains.
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Updated August 2026