Guatemala Guide
Getting around
With no passenger trains and few people able to afford a car, virtually everyone travels by "chicken bus" in Guatemala. These buses may be decrepit, uncomfortable, fume-filled and overcrowded, but they give you a unique opportunity to mix with ordinary Guatemalans. If you opt for sanitized tourist shuttles, you'll be missing out on one of the country's most essential experiences. More comfortable buses – some of them quite fast and luxurious – ply the main highways, but once you leave the central routes and head off on the byways, there's usually no alternative to a bumpy ride inside a chicken bus or a pick-up truck.
The country's road system has been substantially upgraded in the last few years, though it still suffers in comparison with neighbouring Mexico. Dirt roads are the norm in some rural areas, where the going can be painfully pedestrian. Fortunately, whatever the pace of your journey, you'll always have the spectacular Guatemalan countryside to wonder at.