How to get from Antigua to Panajachel by Public Bus

Hiii! It’s me again, telling you how to get from Antigua to Panajachel by public bus (chicken bus) and avoid taking a shuttle that could end up costing you more than double. Plus, it’s not that long a stretch — if the connections line up well, it shouldn’t take you more than 3 hours.

Ever since I’ve been in Guatemala I’ve done all my legs by public transport, and so far I haven’t had any issues knocks on every piece of wood there is. Obviously you have to make at least one connection, and it’ll probably take you more time, but you’ll spend less and get the local experience.

From what I was told, there’s a direct bus from Chimaltenango to Panajachel, but nobody could tell me the schedule.

Anyway, here’s how I did it.

From Antigua to Panajachel by public bus, the first leg you need to take is:

Antigua to Chimaltenango – 10Q

You catch this bus at Antigua’s bus station, which is behind the Mercado Central, as you can see in the little photo there.

This bus runs starting at 6am, roughly every 20 minutes. I caught it at 7. I went early because I wanted to make the most of the day at the lake — like I said at the start, if everything goes smoothly, the trip shouldn’t take you more than 3 hours.

Chimaltenango to Los Encuentros – 50Q (not sure if it’s because they clocked me as a tourist or if the price went up — I’d been told it was 40Q, but there was no arguing with the bus driver).

This leg is the longest one. It took me about an hour and a half. I got on when the bus was already almost full, so I ended up traveling with my backpacks still on, and I think it was one of the most uncomfortable rides, but the people were super friendly regardless. If you’re not in a rush, you can wait for the next bus and travel seated.

Los Encuentros to Sololá – 3.5Q

This is the most relaxed leg. The bus usually goes out pretty empty since it picks up people along the way. Even so, when we got to Sololá there were still seats available.

Sololá to Panajachel – 5Q

That’s it! You’ve made it to Pana. I started my trip at 7am, and by 9:30 I was already in Panajachel catching the boat to Santa Cruz, my destination for the day. From Panajachel you can catch a boat to any of the little towns around Lake Atitlán.

Any questions, just ask away, I’ll help however I can 🙂

Titín!