What’s up guys? It’s Zac and Ine from World Wild Hearts.
We’re here in San Cristobal de las Casas
It’s a really cool mountain town here in Chiapas.
So we’re going to explore the town,
see all the awesome architecture,
and just the best things to do in the area.
So enjoy the video.
At number 5, we recommend taking a free
walking tour of the city itself.
Starting at Plaza de la Paz in front of the Cathedral,
a tour guide will take you to some of the most
notable colonial buildings, churches, and viewpoints.
San Cristobal has so much rich history and culture,
ranging from the founding of the city in the early
1500’s to the Spanish influence in architecture
and the Zapatista movement in the mid-1990’s.
This was hands down one of the best free
walking tours we’ve done throughout all of our travels.
When we visited, the tour ran once in the morning
and once in the evening, but make sure to check
online for departure times when planning your own trip.
Coming in at the 4th best thing to do in San Cristobal
de las Casas, we recommend hiking to the
El Mirador viewpoint at Cerro Don Lauro.
This is a true hidden gem activity so you won’t find
many others hiking this trail.
To get to the hike’s starting point, you can take a local
taxi from San Cristobal’s city center.
The taxi ride is only about 15 minutes and
will drop you off at the end of the road “Prolongacion Insurgentes”.
From there, you can walk up the short path
for about 5 minutes until you see the hiking entrance sign.
Then, just follow the arrows from there up the hill.
The hike is gorgeous and leads to the best panoramic
views over the city that you will find.
It’s not too difficult and is good for most hiking abilities.
If coming from San Cristobal, give yourself about
4-5 hours to taxi there, hike, and then get back to the city center.
So we made it to the top of Cerro Don Lauro
and the view here is pretty amazing.
Like, you have a view of San Cristobal but also of
like the mountains behind us.
It was actually pretty quick to get here.
So just like pretty steep but yeah, not so far.
And yeah look at the view here.
So this is San Cristobal.
It’s actually quite a big city when you look at it
From this angle.
For number 3, we recommend visiting the local markets.
San Cristobal de las Casas has a rich culture
with so many interesting types of food, clothing,
and jewelry from the Chiapas region of Mexico.
You will see these markets throughout the free
walking tour, so we recommend doing the
tour first and then scouting out which of the
markets are your favorite.
Our top pick for souvenirs and jewelry was the
artisan market called Mercado de la Caridad y Santo Domingo.
This market is located right in front of the
Iglesia de Santo Domingo de Guzmán.
And our favorite market for fresh food was
the municipal market. Located just behind the artisan market,
you will find the freshest fruits and vegetables here.
You just squeeze…
And juice comes out.
You can find a delicious snack on the street
which is called grasshoppers.
The runner up activity is visiting the nearby
Iglesia de San Juan Chamula. This church holds
a unique blend of Mayan and Catholic traditions
and is something everyone should experience.
From the outside, the church looks like any
other church, but on the inside, locals kneel on pine
needles instead of pews. Then, candles are lit
on the ground while the different colored wax
blends together. While the locals pray in their
native tongue, they also sip carbonated soda
and sometimes even sacrifice chickens.
Pictures are not allowed inside, but trust us,
this is one of the best things to do in
San Cristobal de las Casas.
For the best experience, make sure to
get a guide at the church entrance as they will explain
the rituals and religion more in-depth.
And the best thing to do in San Cristobal
is taking a day trip to Sumidero Canyon.
It takes a little over an hour to get to the boat
launch at Chiapa de Corzo and you can find
local tours offered from San Cristobal which
include transportation to and from the canyon
as well as a tour on the boat itself.
Formed about 40 million years ago, the Sumidero Canyon
has giant walls, some reaching 1000 meters tall.
On the boat tour, you will see many animals
immersed in the dense jungle within the canyon itself
as well as interesting rock features that are out-of-this-world.
If you have your own car rental, you can also visit
the viewpoints above the canyon.
The views are absolutely breathtaking and you’ll soon
realise how immense the cliffs are.
Other places you can visit near San Cristobal
include El Chiflon, Palenque Ruins, Agua Azul
and Misol-Ha. While you can do these as a day trip,
we recommend visiting them as part of a longer
road trip since the majority of your time is spent in
the car if you do them in one day and then return to San Cristobal.
We did a road trip for about 12 days around Chiapas
and had an amazing time visiting these sites
at our own pace. We put the video link in the
description below here if you want to watch that for more tips.
Thank you guys for watching our video about
the best things to do in San Cristobal de las Casas
here in Chiapas. We hope you really enjoyed this video.
and don’t forget to subscribe below because we have
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See you on the next one.