Bus travel from Texas to San Miguel de Allende

[dsr1]

Hello all, My husband and I (ages 65 and 63) are planning a week in San Miguel de Allende the first week in July. We have gone there several times, often flying but have driven several times too. We live in Texas about 500 miles from Laredo so when driving that's where we cross. This year we are dismayed to find airfare more expensive than it has ever been. We have been frightened by reports of violence, not just in border cities, but in other places in the interior. It has occured to us that a trip by bus might be just the ticket (pun intended). We have heard that there is a late afternoon bus from the border that arrives in SMA about 14 hours later just as the sun comes up. I have checked Greyhound/Americanos schedule and found a bus leaving from Laredo, Texas. I have no idea whether or not this bus is comfortable. Can anyone tell me if the seats recline. I fear that if we can't get some sleep, the first day of our vacation will be ruined. Can we travel on a better class of bus if we leave our car in Laredo, cross the bridge on foot, cab to the NL bus station and go from there? I think this might ensure that we travel on a little better bus. However,...this leaves a couple of questions. Where would be a safe place to leave our car parked in Laredo? Which would be the best bus line to take out of NL? (Comfortable and most direct)? Is there anyway to determine the schedules of such bus line and perhaps even buy tickets online and in advance?
My husband and I think we're adventurous people but we have never ridden a bus since elementary school days. My brother (flying in from Houston to meet us) says "if you want an adventure, drive your car." If you think an adventurous person wouldn't be so anal, here's the problem. It will take us 8 to 10 hrs just to get from home to Laredo. I think we'll have little time to spare to hunt for car lots, catch cabs on the street, and select a bus.
All problems compounded by the fact that hola and adios is about the extent of our ability to communicate. Muchas gracias, Dinah (forgot we know those too)

[conklinwh]

Dinah, there are folks monitoring this site that have all sort of bus links and expect that they will pass bus info on to you. I do know that there are 1st class buses from places such as San Antonio to San Miguel but I have never used them.Buses to and throughout Mexico seem to be very popular with tourists.
I like to drive for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I like to be able to wander around the San Miguel area and don't like to be forced to take tours. With only a week this may not be your interest and you do need find parking. If you do drive, we have friends from Paris, Texas that drive to a hotel/restaurant complex just inside the NL-Monterrey toll road. They swear that very clean, safe and reasonable. We have eaten there but never stayed in the hotel. It is then an easy drive to San Miguel.
I'm not concerned with safety in Mexico other than the border cities. In fact, I think that there is more violence in the US than we see in the bajio. What I would not do is spend much time in NL(in fact we use Columbia crossing to avoid NL) or Matamoros for that matter. The last thing that I would do is wander NL looking for a bus station. In fact if I were taking a bus, it would probably be from San Antonio versus Laredo.
Good luck!

[Guest]

Conklinwh, Thanks for your advice. Actually we drove to SMA last August and for the first time we got our car permit in Dallas at the Mexican consulate. This reduced a lot of the time and stress at aduana since we only needed to get our personal permits there. We are thinking that if we already have our car permit we can get our permits and still have time to get on down the road perhaps as far as a

[dsr1]

Sorry Conklinwh, I'm obviously new to this forum and haven't mastered how to communicate.

I know exactly where the hotel is that you referred to. We're also thinking that we might make it as far as a Holiday Inn Express we've heard of in Saltillo. On our previous driving trips we've been so wiped out by the whole standing in line for a car permit...will they turn us back or let us through..thing that we've driven no further than about 5 miles to a Hilton Garden Inn there in NL. It's a very nice hotel but in an area where we're not willing to get out at night to go to a restaurant. The bus fare is sooo tempting. It's about $500 less per person than flying plus only a 20 peso cab ride from the bus station vs about $150 US for round trip ground transport to and from Leon to SMA. Thanks again, Dinah

[astevens]

Dinah,

First class buses are comfortable, the seats recline -- many people sleep on them. You will need to bring your own blanket and pillow. They have bathrooms. Executive class is even better, with somewhat larger seats and usually fewer stops. They show movies, which can be loud, although on my last couple of trips, they handed out headsets and turned off the speakers. I'd take earplugs just in case.

See Larpman's website for more information: http://www.larpman.com/transportpages/b ... buswi.html

I've never bought tickets online. I usually try to buy them the day before at the bus station, but in many instances, I've just shown up an hour or so before scheduled departure and have always managed to get a seat.

...but, since you only have a week, I'm not sure I'd be quite that cavalier. I would plan to travel from Nuevo Laredo rather than Saltillo or Monterrey. There are far more scheduled buses from there.

I would also consider taking the bus to Queretaro, which will also give you a lot more choices. From there, it's a short 1 hour ride to SMA. I've done it several times and even if you don't get on a first class bus, it's an easy trip. In the worst case, a taxi from Queretaro to SMA is a lot cheaper than one from Leon. Turistar, Transportes del Norte, Estrella Blanca, Omnibuses de Mexico and Estrella Blanca all have routes between Nuevo Laredo and Queretaro. The trip is about 10 hours, maybe a bit more, depending on stops.

Estrella Blanca has their schedules on their web site: http://www.estrellablanca.com.mx/

It's in Spanish, but pretty easy to follow. Select your "origen" and "destino" and click "buscar" (search). This will show you departure times, "hora salida". Click "ver" to see details. "Clave" is the route number "Hora Llegada" is arrival time and "Hora Salida" is the departure time, shown for each stop on the route.

Al

[conklinwh]

Dinah, expect that Al gave you what you want re:buses. I do have a couple more thoughts.
-1st since you said you are 500 miles from the border and if you want to take the bus from NL, I would probably see if could make a deal with one of the hotels near the highway in Laredo to stay there my 1st and maybe last night if can leave car as I probably wouldn't leave for week in NL. Other choice could be long term parking at airport.
-2nd, is good that you can do car pass in Dallas. We live in Raleigh NC and they have discontinued the practice. You can also do on line via Banjercito but my MAC won't work as requires Internet Explorer as browser. BTW, expect you know that car pass 180 days so need redo from last August. Also that need Mexican insurance.
-Reason that I suggested the tollway hotel as don't need to get off bypass system. I'm sure Saltillo better than Monterrey but I made mistake of staying at a Holiday Inn express in Monterrey one trip and getting back on the toll system with all the morning traffic probably cost me 1-2 hours.
Good luck with your trip! If you do drive and after 1 July, come to Pozos one day. All of the restaurants/hotels know where we are.

[larpman]

Al Stevens already gave you the link to my website. Thanks, Al.

ETN buses are extremely comfortable and roomy. There are 24 seats in a bus that would normally have 40 or more. The seats recline very far and there are leg rests. The seats have earphones so there is no need to listen to the movie if you don't wish to. You can listen to one of the music channels if you wish. There are two restrooms.

Go to http://www.etn.com.mx/sitio_ingles/ and click on the button "360 View" near the center. Wait, then drag the photo around to see views of the bus.

From Nuevo Laredo, ETN has an executive class bus that leaves at 18:15 (6:15 pm) and travels to Querétaro arriving at 6:00 am.

ETN doesn't have a bus to San Miguel until 9:45 am. There are second class buses from Flecha Amarilla and Herradura de Plata. Each of those companies have a bus leaving every 40 minutes, there is one approximately every 20 minutes.

The bus station is shaped like a U.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=20.577445,-100.359115&spn=0.004128,0.007145&t=k&z=18

ETN arrives at the top left. Flecha Amarilla and Herradura de Plata are at the bottom of the U.

[conklinwh]

I think what you and Al have done really points to bus Nuevo Laredo to Queretaro and then on to San Miguel. Not sure bus timing but only about 45 min by car Quetaro to San Miguel.
Think discussion is now where would they park, US or Mexico side, for a week and how to get from there to the bus station.

[Adan Lerma]

hi, would anyone have any suggestions re bus travel from austin?

hate to take a car to the border

thanks!

[littlehorse]

Greyhound has now teamed with meican bus lines. Recently, a friend of mine took bus from San Antonio to Neuvo Laredo where she then went on to San Miguel on Mexican bus. I think the same is available from Austin. So far it has been the only sure way I could find to get accurate information on Mexican bus schedules.

[larpman]

For many years Greyhound has been running bus to Laredo where you can catch buses into Mexico. Actually crossing the border and departing from Nuevo Laredo is a little cheaper.

There are bus companies traveling from central Texas into Mexico.

I've heard of a company name Pegaso which goes from Austin to San Miguel.

[linda in nm]

I have travelled all over Mexico by bus. I usually cross the border at El Paso/Juarez so I cannot speak to routes to San Miguel from TX BUT I would definitely NOT take a second-class bus except for a very short journey during daylight. The reason for taking first-class buses is that they travel the toll roads and they stop ONLY at scheduled bus stations. Second-class buses will stop for someone on the side of the road and you may be taking on a bandito. First-class buses are much safer. They have TWO drivers on them. One is usually asleep under the bus and the other drives and they switch off. The price differential is small between first and second so I'd rather be safe than sorry.

[CubanCheGuevara]

The only "bandidos" I've ever seen are on the American side. Usually sitting in the seat right next to you. Keep in mind that the poorest of the poor ride the bus in the USA. All manner of boorishness, smells and theft are the American bus experience, including common break-downs. In South America, the middle classes ride these modern, 1rst class buses. The second class buses are full of poor Mexicans. WHY WOULD A BANDIT ROB THEM? Americans are the most amazingly ignorant people on the planet. They elect a man like Bush twice...and they worry about Mexican bandits?

[troy]

if americans are the most ignorant people on the planet, why do you subject yourself to living here or even communicating with us

[Cheyenne]

I completely understand your viewpoint on Americans not speaking (and often not even attempting to speak) other languages. So I want to offer just one exception to that viewpoint. Some of us are dyslexic and often have trouble processing verbal messages even from our own native languages. So please try to be sympathic to those who want to learn but find it a real nightmare. I'm one of those.
Having said that, the Mexicans I've know (along with the Africans) are very happy when you at try to speak as much as you can, carry a dictionary, etc. So I do the best I can and keep trying to learn.
PEACE.

ON ANOTHER SUBJECT, ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR A COMFY BUS TO SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE FROM JUAREZ? The last time I took an express bus on this journey, it was quite uncomfortable. Thanks.