Mexico Guide
Northern Jalisco and Michoacán
Arrival
Guadalajara's airport is some 17km southeast of the city on the road to Chapala. Facilities include money exchange and car rental, and there's also the usual system of fixed-price taxis and vans to take you downtown (around M$170 for a car with up to four people – vouchers are sold inside the terminal and the ride takes 45min–1hr). A much cheaper bus service (every 15–30min 6am–9pm; M$10) heads from the junction of Enrique Diaz de León and Alenaia to the Central Vieja, from where you can hop on another bus, or walk, to the centre.
Some 10km out in the city's southeastern suburbs, Guadalajara's Central Nueva (aka Camionera Nueva), is one of Mexico's largest bus terminals, comprising seven buildings strung out in a wide arc, with its own shopping centre (Nueva Central Plaza) and hotel (see "Accommodation"). Very broadly, each building serves a different area, but since they're organized by bus company rather than route, it's not quite that simple – there are buses to Mexico City from just about every building, for example. Bus company staff are usually happy to tell you which company, and therefore which building, suits your needs. Local buses #616 and #644 ("Centro") and the slightly dearer (but faster) turquoise TUR bus stop outside each terminal; all three take you to Avenida 16 de Septiembre, within walking distance of the cathedral if not right past it. The last city buses between the terminal and the centre leave at around 10pm. A taxi downtown costs around M$80. For details of how to reach the terminal from the centre, and of long-distance buses running from it, see "Useful bus routes".
Some second-class buses from local destinations, including Tequila, Tapalpa, Ciudad Guzmán and the villages on the shores of Laguna de Chapala, as well as the airport service, use the Central Vieja (aka Camionera Vieja), the old downtown terminal, surrounded by cheap hotels and only a short bus ride (#174) up Calzada Independencia from the centre. If you're coming from somewhere only an hour or two away, it can be worth the slightly less comfortable second-class journey for the convenience of this much more central point of arrival. The two bus stations are connected by the #616 bus.
The train station, a couple of kilometres south of the centre at the bottom of Calzada Independencia is used only for the touristy Tequila Express.