Things to Do in Chiapas, Mexico: 6 Places Worth the Journey

The six things to do in Chiapas that justify the long trip south are Agua Azul, the Lagunas de Montebello, El Chiflón, the Maya city of Palenque, Sumidero Canyon and the colonial town of San Cristóbal de las Casas. Chiapas is Mexico’s southernmost state, sharing a border with Guatemala, and it holds plains, cloud forest and limestone gorges inside one state boundary. It also sits under a United States Level 3 “reconsider travel” advisory, which is a real constraint on how you move around rather than a reason to write the state off, so the safety section below is worth reading before you book.

Peso prices carry conversions at the rate of 11 September 2026, when €1 bought about 19.7 MXN and $1 about 16.9 MXN.

Top things to do in Chiapas, Mexico

The 6 things to do in Chiapas below are ordered as a route rather than a ranking, running from the waterfalls in the north to the town most people use as a base. Each one can be reached on a day trip, and four of the six are easier with a driver than with your own car.

1. Agua Azul

Agua Azul is a staircase of turquoise pools and cascades in jungle about 60 km (37.3 mi) south of Palenque, and the colour comes from the limestone. Water running over a mineral-rich bed drops calcium carbonate as it goes, which is what turns the river that particular blue and builds the travertine ledges the pools sit behind.

The site has no closing time and a small per-person fee is collected at booths on the access road. Swimming is allowed in the calm shallows, and the current in the main channels has killed people, so stay where other swimmers already are and do not cross above a drop. Colour is at its strongest between November and April, because the rainy season loads the river with sediment and turns the blue brown.

2. Lagunas de Montebello

The Lagunas de Montebello are a cluster of about 59 lakes strung along the Guatemalan border in a national park of pine forest and karst. The colours run from deep green to near-black to the turquoise that gives the first group its name, the Lagunas de Colores, and the difference comes from depth and mineral content rather than from the light.

The five larger lakes further in, the Cinco Lagos, are quieter and take longer to reach. Food stalls sell fresh Mexican dishes at several of the lakeshores, rafts and kayaks can be hired, and swimming is permitted in the lakes that allow it. The park sits directly on the border strip, which is the part of Chiapas the safety advisories are actually about, so this is the one of the six where a guided trip beats driving yourself.

3. El Chiflón Waterfalls

El Chiflón is a chain of waterfalls on the Río San Vicente with a paved riverside path running from the visitor centre to the top. The headline fall, the Velo de Novia or Bridal Veil, drops about 70 m (230 ft), and the spray reaches the viewing platform.

Entry was 80 MXN (about €4, $5, £3) per person in 2025, covering the path and the viewpoints. The three zip lines across the gorge are priced separately, from roughly 200 MXN to 300 MXN each or about 550 MXN (about €28, $32, £24) for all three. The path starts flat and steepens near the top, and in the wet season it is slick underfoot. Many operators allot only 2 hours here as part of a Montebello day, which is not enough to walk to the top and back, so treat it as its own outing if you can. If you would rather have a full day covering both, this tour of El Chiflón and Montebello runs from San Cristóbal.

4. Palenque Ruins

Palenque is the largest and most visited Maya site in Chiapas, and it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. The city was occupied from around 226 BC and reached its height under K’inich Janaab’ Pakal in the seventh century, and archaeologists estimate that most of its structures are still under the forest, unexcavated.

The Temple of the Inscriptions is the largest stepped pyramid at Palenque and holds Pakal’s tomb, found in 1952 under the floor of the summit temple. Climbing it is no longer permitted. Conservation rules closed the structure to visitors, so you look at it from the plaza, and the tomb of the Red Queen in the neighbouring Temple XIII is what you can go inside. Older guides that tell you to climb the steps at Palenque are describing a site that has not worked that way for years.

The site opens daily from 08:00, with last entry in the late afternoon, and it charges twice: once at the national park gate on the approach road and again at the archaeological zone itself. Budget for two tickets rather than one.

5. Sumidero Canyon

Sumidero Canyon is a gorge on the Grijalva river with walls rising as much as 1,000 m (3,280.8 ft) above the water, and the standard way to see it is from a boat. Tours leave from the embarcadero at Chiapa de Corzo and run upriver for about an hour to the Chicoasén dam, stopping for waterfalls, the Christmas Tree formation on the canyon wall, and wildlife.

Crocodiles and water birds are near-certain sightings on the riverbank, and spider monkeys are occasional. Most trips finish with lunch in Chiapa de Corzo, a town with a sixteenth-century brick fountain in its main square. The canyon is an easy day from San Cristóbal or Tuxtla Gutiérrez, and the tours below all include the boat and the town.

• 7-hour tour to Sumidero Canyon and Chiapa de Corzo from San Cristobal
• 7-hour tour to Sumidero Canyon and Chiapa de Corzo from Tuxtla
• Full-day tour to Sumidero National Park from Tuxtla, including a boat tour and a visit to Chiapa de Corzo
• Full-day tour to Sumidero National Park from San Cristobal, including a boat tour and a visit to Chiapa de Corzo

6. San Cristóbal de las Casas

San Cristóbal de las Casas is the town most travellers use as a base, and it sits in a valley at about 2,200 m (7,217.8 ft), which makes it cold at night. The centre is Spanish colonial, with cobbled streets, red-tiled roofs, two pedestrian avenues that cross at the cathedral, and a market that fills several blocks.

The town is also the jumping-off point for the Tzotzil Maya villages nearby. San Juan Chamula, 10 km (6.2 mi) away, has a church where Catholic saints stand over pine-needle floors, candles and Tzotzil ritual, and the community governs itself separately from the municipal system around it. Photography inside that church is forbidden and the ban is enforced with fines, so leave the camera in your bag and ask before photographing anyone anywhere in the village.

Is Chiapas safe to visit?

Chiapas carries a Level 3 “reconsider travel” advisory from the United States Department of State, which places it in the second-highest of four categories. The advisory is about criminal violence, and the concentration is along the Guatemalan border strip rather than in San Cristóbal, Palenque or Tuxtla, which is why the Montebello lakes deserve more care than the other five places on this page.

Two practical points matter more than the advisory level itself. Road blockades are routine on Highway 199 between San Cristóbal and Palenque, set up by teachers’ unions or community groups, and they can hold traffic for hours or turn it back entirely. Ask your accommodation or a local driver whether the road is open before you set off, particularly through Ocosingo. The second point is that a driver or an organised tour removes most of the decisions that go wrong here, which is why so much of Chiapas is sold as day trips rather than self-drive.

Best time to visit Chiapas

The dry season from November to April is the better window for waterfalls and lakes, because the water runs clear and the turquoise is at its strongest. The rainy season, roughly May to October, has the opposite trade: the falls at Agua Azul and El Chiflón are far more powerful and far browner, the paths are slippery, and afternoon rain is normal. If the colour in the photographs is what brought you here, come in the dry months.

Where to stay in Chiapas

San Cristóbal de las Casas is the practical base for most of Chiapas, with Palenque as a second stop if you want the ruins at opening time. The town has colonial guesthouses inside the historic centre, and Palenque has jungle cabañas along the road to the ruins, which puts you ahead of the day-trip buses. Vrbo lists whole houses and apartments across both towns, which suits a group or a longer stay better than a room does.

How to get to Chiapas, Mexico

Getting to Chiapas means one connection for almost everyone, because there is no long-haul airport in the state. The usual route is a flight into Mexico City and a domestic hop to Tuxtla Gutiérrez, which serves San Cristóbal, or to Palenque for the ruins. Flying into Villahermosa in neighbouring Tabasco and driving is the alternative, and overnight coaches run from Mexico City if you would rather not fly twice. Compare flight options and prices to southern Mexico before you fix the route, because the domestic leg often costs less than the difference between airports suggests.

WonderfulWanderings Pro Tips

The 4 tips below each change a decision rather than repeating advice you already have, and three of them are about a rule at a specific site.

1. Give El Chiflón its own half-day. The tour operators that bundle it with Montebello stop for 2 hours, which covers the lower viewpoints and not the climb to the Velo de Novia, and the top is the reason to come.
2. Do not plan on climbing anything at Palenque’s Temple of the Inscriptions. Conservation rules closed it, and the thing you can still enter is the Red Queen’s tomb in Temple XIII next door.
3. Check Highway 199 the morning you travel. Blockades between San Cristóbal and Palenque are common enough that hotels track them, and a 4-hour drive can become a day.
4. Put the camera away before you reach the church door in Chamula. Photographing the interior draws a fine in the thousands of pesos, and the rule covers rituals and religious leaders anywhere in the village.

About the author. This list of things to do in Chiapas was contributed by James Kelley of EscapingAbroad.com, who visited during the rainy season, and you can follow him on Twitter and Facebook. It is maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, and the team covers Mexico for independent travellers, including the tours, canyon boats and towns worth booking, and updates this page when prices, access rules and safety advice change.