San Cristobal de las Casas sits at about 2,200 metres in the highlands of Chiapas, and that altitude is the reason almost every visitor packs wrong. People come to Mexico's southernmost state expecting jungle heat, because Palenque and the Lacandon forest are a few hours away in the lowlands, and they arrive in a town where the December nights drop to 3°C and not one guesthouse has central heating.
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It is also the most indigenous place most visitors to Mexico will spend time in. San Cristobal is the market town for the Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya communities of the surrounding highlands, the women in the street selling textiles are wearing their own villages' designs rather than a costume, and the nearby village of San Juan Chamula keeps a church where Catholic saints and Maya practice occupy the same room and photography is absolutely forbidden. Getting the etiquette right matters more here than getting the packing right, and both are covered below.
What Makes San Cristobal Different to Pack For
It is cold, and the cold is indoors
The highland climate is temperate rather than tropical. Days run a pleasant 18°C to 24°C almost year round in strong sun. Nights fall to 5°C to 10°C most of the year and to 3°C or lower in December and January, and because colonial buildings here are thick masonry with tile floors and no heating, an interior at 9°C at seven in the morning is the normal experience.
This is the strongest argument for a merino wool base layer for women anywhere in Mexico. You will sleep in it, wear it under a shirt in the morning, and take it off by eleven. Blankets are provided and are usually heavy, but the room itself is not warm.
The rain is serious, not a shower
The wet season runs May to October and peaks in September, when Chiapas gets genuinely heavy afternoon and evening rain. Streets flood, the cobbles run with water, and the surrounding roads can wash out. The dry season, November to April, is the better window and is also the coldest at night.
Altitude, in its mild form
At 2,200 metres most people feel nothing worse than a little breathlessness on the hills for a day, but it is enough to make the climb to the Guadalupe and Cerro de San Cristobal churches harder than the short distance suggests, and enough that alcohol hits harder on the first night.
The sun is deceptive
Thin highland air at 16 degrees north means a high ultraviolet index on a day that feels mild. People burn here in the low twenties without noticing, walking around in the middle of the day.
Cobbles, everywhere
The historic centre is uneven stone cobble with high kerbs and narrow pavements, wet and slippery for half the year.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The San Cristobal Packing List
Footwear
Comfortable flat shoes with a grippy sole for the cobbles, which is the item you will wear every day. The stones are polished, the kerbs are high, and from May to October they are wet.
For the Sumidero canyon rim viewpoints, El Chiflon waterfalls, the Lagunas de Montebello or a walk up to the crosses above town, waterproof hiking shoes: the ground is mud and wet limestone in the rainy season and the waterfall paths are permanently damp from spray. Sandals for the warm middle of the day, and warm socks for the evenings, which matter more than you would think on a cold tile floor.
Clothing
Layers, built for a 15 degree daily swing rather than for a single temperature. A base layer, a fleece or light insulated jacket, and a shell. Long trousers, which are warmer and also more in keeping locally than shorts, which nobody here wears.
A packable rain jacket with a hood for the wet season, which is not optional between June and October. A warm hat and light gloves are genuinely useful from November to February, both outdoors at night and indoors in the morning.
Modest dress is the practical and respectful default here, and it matters specifically for the indigenous villages: covered shoulders and knees, nothing tight or revealing. San Cristobal itself is a relaxed traveller town with a strong cafe and bar culture, so nothing smart is needed, but the highland villages are conservative communities and you are a visitor in them.
For sun
A wide brim sun hat, sunglasses and high factor sunscreen. The Zocalo and the market squares are unshaded and the highland ultraviolet is strong on mild days. Lip balm for the dry season air.
Practical
Cash in pesos, and small notes. The markets, the collectivo vans out to Chamula and Zinacantan, and the village entry contributions are all cash, and card acceptance drops sharply outside the restaurants and hotels of the centre. A refillable bottle plus a way to treat water, or buy the large garrafones, because tap water is not drinkable anywhere in Chiapas.
Stomach medication and rehydration sachets, because Chiapas catches more travellers out than central Mexico does. Insect repellent for the wet season and for any lowland day trip to Palenque or the Lacandon, where it becomes essential rather than optional. A torch, since side streets are dimly lit and power cuts happen. A translation app, because English is limited outside tourist businesses and many highland people speak Tzotzil or Tzeltal as a first language with Spanish second.
Space in the luggage for textiles and amber, which are the two things worth buying here. Amber is genuinely from Chiapas, and genuinely faked, so buy at the Museo del Ambar or a certified shop rather than on the street.
What to Wear at Key Sites
The Zocalo, Real de Guadalupe and the centre
The main square with its cathedral, the pedestrianised Real de Guadalupe running east, and the Andador Eclesiastico north to Santo Domingo.
Practically: flat grippy shoes, a layer you can add at dusk when the temperature falls fast, and sun protection at midday. The centre is walkable end to end in twenty minutes and is pleasant to sit in.
Santo Domingo church and the artisans' market
An extravagant baroque facade in pink stone, with the largest textile market in the highlands spread around it and the Sna Jolobil weaving cooperative inside the former convent.
Practically: covered shoulders and knees for the church. Keep a bag zipped and in front of you in the market crush, which is the one place in town where pickpocketing is a real risk. The cooperative prices are higher than the street and the money reaches the weavers, which is the trade off.
San Juan Chamula
A Tzotzil village half an hour away with an autonomous government, its own religious practice, and a church where the floor is covered in pine needles and candles and families conduct healing ceremonies among Catholic saints.
Practically: this is the most important etiquette note in this post. Photography inside the church is absolutely forbidden, and so is photographing people without permission anywhere in the village. This is not a guideline. Cameras have been confiscated and visitors have been detained, and the prohibition is taken extremely seriously. Put your phone away before you go in and leave it away. There is a small entry fee for the church, paid at the door. Dress modestly, covering shoulders and knees. Go with a guide who has a relationship with the community rather than alone, both because the context is unintelligible without one and because it is the more respectful way in. Hats off inside. Do not step over or disturb the candle arrangements on the floor, which belong to families in the middle of a ceremony.
Zinacantan
A second Tzotzil village, known for floral embroidery and a church of its own, quieter and often visited with Chamula.
Practically: same rules. Ask before photographing. Several weaving households welcome visitors and serve tortillas and pox, the local cane spirit; accepting is polite.
Sumidero Canyon
A thousand metre gorge on the Grijalva river, entered by boat from Chiapa de Corzo about an hour away, and about a thousand metres lower and much hotter than San Cristobal.
Practically: this is the day you strip layers, because it can be 32°C at the canyon floor while San Cristobal is at 20°C. The boats are fast and open, so a windproof layer, a hat that will not blow off, sunglasses and sunscreen, and a dry bag for the camera because you will get wet. Crocodiles are on the banks and are the reason nobody swims. The rim viewpoints are a separate trip by road.
El Chiflon and Lagunas de Montebello
A chain of waterfalls and a set of coloured lakes on the Guatemalan border, usually done as a long day trip.
Practically: closed shoes with grip, because the path beside the falls is permanently wet from spray and steep in sections. A swimsuit and quick drying clothes if you plan to swim, plus a towel. A warm layer for the lakes, which sit at altitude and are cool and often misty.
Cerro de Guadalupe and Cerro de San Cristobal
Two churches on hills at either end of the centre, each reached by a long flight of steps.
Practically: the steps are the altitude test. Go in the morning or late afternoon rather than midday. Guadalupe is the safer and busier of the two; the San Cristobal steps are quieter and better done with company rather than alone.
What Not to Bring
Leave the tropical wardrobe, which is the single most common San Cristobal mistake. This is a highland town and you will be cold in it.
Leave shorts and strappy tops as your default, which suit neither the temperature nor the local norms. Leave smooth soled shoes for wet cobbles. Leave any expectation of heating. Leave a camera you intend to use freely in the indigenous villages, because the rules there are absolute. Leave a reliance on cards. Leave a September visit if you can, because that is the wettest month. And leave the assumption that Chiapas means Palenque weather, because the two are five hours and 2,000 metres apart.
Essential Resources for Women in San Cristobal de las Casas
Emergency numbers in Mexico: 911 is the national emergency number and works for police, ambulance and fire throughout the country, including in Chiapas, and operators in tourist areas can usually find English. 078 is the Angeles Verdes tourist assistance line, which is free, answers in English and is the number to use for a breakdown, a road problem or general help rather than a crime in progress.
Tourist support: San Cristobal has a municipal tourism office on the Zocalo and Chiapas operates a state tourism secretariat. There is a tourist police presence in the historic centre in daylight hours. A theft is reported at the Ministerio Publico for the denuncia your insurer will need, and it is worth asking your accommodation to send someone with you, because the process is in Spanish and slow.
US Consulate: there is no consulate in San Cristobal. The nearest United States consular presence is the consular agency in Tuxtla Gutierrez region coverage handled through the Embassy in Mexico City, at mx.usembassy.gov, roughly an hour by road to Tuxtla and then a flight. Enrol in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov before you travel.
Main hospital or clinic: Hospital de la Mujer and the Hospital Regional de Alta Especialidad Ciudad Salud network serve the region, and in San Cristobal the private Hospital Amigo and several clinics handle routine problems competently. For anything serious the referral is to Tuxtla Gutierrez, an hour away, which has the best hospitals in Chiapas, and for anything major to Mexico City. Travel insurance with medical evacuation cover is strongly advised, and private clinics want payment up front. Altitude is not a medical problem at 2,200 metres for most people.
Official health authority: the Secretaria de Salud at gob.mx/salud. Do not drink the tap water anywhere in Chiapas, including for ice and for washing salad, and be more careful with street food here than in central Mexico. San Cristobal is above the mosquito line so dengue is not a local concern, but it very much is if you descend to Palenque, Tuxtla or the coast, where dengue, chikungunya and Zika all circulate and repellent becomes a daily item. There is no yellow fever requirement for Mexico. Rabies is present and street dogs are common, so do not approach them.
US State Department travel advisory for Mexico: current advisory level and detail. The Mexico advisory is issued state by state rather than nationally, and Chiapas carries a lower level than many Mexican states, with the caveats below. Read the Chiapas section directly rather than relying on this page, because it changes.
UK FCDO travel advice for Mexico: entry requirements, safety and health guidance, including the regional sections and the guidance on road travel and roadblocks, which is the Chiapas specific part.
Official tourism authority: the national visitor site at visitmexico.com, with the Chiapas state tourism secretariat and the San Cristobal municipal office for the village visit rules, the festival calendar and road conditions.
Solo women safety assessment: San Cristobal is one of the easier places in Mexico for a woman travelling alone, and it has an established independent traveller scene that makes it easy to meet people. The historic centre is compact, busy until late, full of cafes and hostels, and walking alone in the evening on Real de Guadalupe or around the Zocalo is entirely normal. Violent crime against visitors is uncommon. What does happen is opportunistic: pickpocketing and bag slashing in the Santo Domingo market and on crowded collectivos, phone snatching, and occasional theft from dorm rooms. Carry a zipped bag in front of you and leave valuables locked up. Walking alone after dark outside the centre, and specifically on the quiet steps up to Cerro de San Cristobal, is not advisable, and taking a taxi after dark rather than walking a long distance is the local norm. Street harassment exists at a moderate level and is verbal. Use registered taxis from a stand or an app rather than hailing at night. The Chiapas specific risks are regional and political rather than personal, and they are the part worth taking seriously. Chiapas has a long history of autonomous indigenous governance and Zapatista organisation, and roadblocks, or bloqueos, are a routine form of protest here: they appear without notice on the highways to Palenque, Tuxtla and the Guatemalan border, they can hold traffic for hours or days, and the correct response is to wait or turn back rather than argue or attempt to pass. Some are staffed by communities collecting a contribution to pass. Separately, and more seriously, the border region of Chiapas toward Guatemala, including the Frontera Comalapa and Motozintla areas, has seen significant cartel conflict and displacement in recent years, and it is a different situation from San Cristobal itself. Do not travel overland to the Guatemalan border without checking the current position, avoid night driving anywhere in Chiapas, and treat the advisories as live documents. On the physical side, the cobbles cause more injuries than anything else, the wet season rain floods streets and washes out roads, the highland sun burns people on mild days, and the Sumidero boat trips are fast and exposed. Alcohol is worth a specific note: pox is strong, the highland bars are convivial, and the usual care over drinks and getting home applies.
Reading On
San Cristobal is usually reached by air to Tuxtla Gutierrez and an hour on the road up into the highlands, and it is the base for everything in Chiapas. The Mexico travel guide for women is the parent for the country and the Mexico packing list for women covers a trip across it. In the same state, the Palenque packing list for women covers the lowland ruins five hours north and shows exactly how different the climate is. Nearby, the Oaxaca packing list for women covers the other great southern craft city and the Puerto Escondido packing list for women the Oaxacan coast. For other highland colonial towns, the San Miguel de Allende packing list for women and the Guanajuato packing list for women cover the Bajio, and the Mexico City packing list for women the capital. The travel packing guide for women is the parent for all destinations. For why a thin wool layer is the answer to warm days and cold unheated nights, the best merino wool base layers for women explains the fibre, the merino wool for women who run cold covers the nights, and the Roman Trail collection is where the tops themselves live.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
