Chicken Bus Guatemala City – Panajachel

By Connected Horizons

Amazingly enough in a huge metropolis like Guatemala City there seems to be a lack of information on how to get a bus from Zona 1 to Lake Atitlan (aka Panajachel). Whereas anybody could get plenty of directions, times and such for an infinite number of tour companies that organise shuttles/minivan (not quite a budget transportation) in-between the two locations, finding chicken buses companies is a challenge.

Upon asking locals, we never really got a precise answer back on where to find a “direct” bus but were often told that there were some buses going “that way”. Would you believe that ? In such a huge city bustling with life everyday there’s not a single tiny bus (that might require more than one stop) or shuttles doing Guate-Pana?

Luckily, after a full day of unfruitful random asking we got lucky. A woman selling fruit & veggies at the Mercado Central told us that there was indeed a direct bus leaving from Zona 1 and going to Pana called Rebuli. The only problem with that is she had a vague idea of where the terminal was… what to do ?

Once again, Google was probably the biggest gift of all! In fact, after a bit of researching online for “Rebuli” we managed to find a relatively specific address for their terminal on a weird website (http://www.guatepymes.com/m_detalle.php?id=337755) which scale down the research to only one place: 21 Calle Zona 1. When checking for bus stations on the 21 Calle on Google Maps, we found that there’s literally only one bus terminal, labelled as “Transportes Marquensita”, which was found at the corner between 21 Calle and 1A Avenida. We decided to give it a shot!

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Rebuli Bus Terminal

The day we had to leave for Pana, we hopped down at the metro-bus stop called “Terminal” (green line) and decided to walk to that address hoping for someone to give us more precise directions. With the sun killing ourselves under the weight of our backpacks, the walk was not easy and things started to get a bit too overwhelming for both but we didn’t loose our hope, not today.


Rebuli Bus Terminal


Shop in front of Rebuli Bus Terminal

At 9.am exactly at the address “corner 21 Calle & 1A Avenida”, we were in front of the Rebuli bus terminal loading our backpacks on the so-long awaited green and beige chicken bus of the Rebuli company. We couldn’t believe it! Seconds ago we were hoping for a miracle and just a couple of meters forward there it was, the most relieving sight in our trip!

Nobody might know about it but we can confirm it is there!!! The buses leave at every half hour, once every hour from 8am until 5pm with a break for lunch (8.30am, 9.30am, 10.30am, 11.30am, 1.30pm, 2.30pm, 3.30pm, 4.30pm) and take roughly 3h 45min. After the terminal, the bus ALWAYS makes another stop within the city limits which is at the bus terminal station (Estacion de Buses de Occidente) where all the chicken bus going/coming to the west stop. This stop is a strip of road which is found on the 41 Calle Zona 8, all along from the corner of the 5A Avenida to the 8A Avenida.

It’s true, it wasn’t easy to reach but all in all it was a great adventure !!!


PLANNING A TRIP TO GUATEMALA? CHECK MORE GUIDES BELOW!


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19 thoughts on “Chicken Bus Guatemala City – Panajachel

  • Daniel Oosthuizen January 21, 2020 at 6:35 pm Reply

    Thanks so much for the post. I was not so lucky. The front gate was closed so I asked locals where to get the bus and got sent on a wild goose chase of about 2.5km. Finally I returned and saw a little buzzer and intercom next to the black gate. A gentleman let me in and asked me to wait 45mins. So just a tip, the google maps coordinates are currect for Rebuli, but if you get to the address, the big black gate, press the intercom button and wait….

    • Connected Horizons January 24, 2020 at 11:36 am Reply

      Hey Daniel! Sorry to hear that but yeah, when buses are not around they just close the black gate. The locals probably tried to send you to the other stop the bus makes on calle 41 zona 8 which is pretty much a road-terminal. Glad you managed to catch the bus in the end! I’ll add your tip to the article shortly 🙂 Thanks for your tip!

  • Cecilia August 18, 2019 at 2:13 am Reply

    Any chance you know if this bus route is the same on the weekends vs weekday? I’ll be getting in on Saturday and need to find a way over to Pana as soon as I am out of the airport at 2pm.

    • Connected Horizons August 19, 2019 at 3:41 pm Reply

      Hi Cecilia! On our experience I would tell you that unless its Sunday, Mon thorugh Sat buses should run as usual! Nevertheless, I’m not sure if you can get there before the last bus leaves considering it would be a saturday afternoon and you gotta take into consideration traffic/misinformation/being late etc… Have you considered spending a night in the city?

  • reses May 12, 2019 at 7:26 pm Reply

    Thank you so much for this info! Just to clarify, Zona 8 is a safer spot to catch the Rebuli bus vs Zona 1 ? or plan b is a taxi straight to 21 Calle & 1a.

    • Connected Horizons May 12, 2019 at 9:53 pm Reply

      Yes, Zona 8 is much more crowded and considered an “unofficial” terminal for buses, therefore much safer. We walked to Zona 1 from the last bus stop and had no issues at all but can be tricky especially if you’re not fluent in spanish. In Zona 8 is pretty straightforward to get the bus!

  • Debs February 25, 2019 at 12:18 am Reply

    Thankyou so much so help, I have been researching the best way to get to Pana for 2 days before my dtr and I join the rest of our group back in Antigua for our mission trip. Can you give exact directions to the stop from the airport. We arrive this Friday at 12:35. Do I need to take a taxi there? I am a little nervous about traveling to this type of place without my husband and with my 15 yo dtr. Do you feel it is safe? I really didn’t want to spend 815Q there and then again on Sunday to the mission compound.

    • Connected Horizons February 25, 2019 at 1:16 pm Reply

      Hi Debs! As explained in the post you can catch the bus from two different spots, at the corner 21 Calle & 1A Avenida or on the 41 Calle (Zona 8) on over three blocks from 5A Avenida to the 8A Avenida. In terms of feeling safe, it really depends on what you’re used to and if you’ve travelled central america before to be honest. We found it quite alright in terms of safety, especially if you get dropped down at the second location I mentioned as it’s a known spot by everyone. Just make sure to tell the driver that you want to take the “Rebuli bus to Panajachel” so that if it’s not there yet you can wait in the taxi.

      And yes, taking a taxi there is a good option cause taking city buses (apart the new ones that operate in the center) can be a bit sketchy. Hoped it helped debs!

  • Ashley February 13, 2019 at 6:06 pm Reply

    Thanks so much for this very helpful post! We’ll be arriving at the GUA airport tomorrow morning and want to take the direct chicken bus to Panajachel. All this information makes it a lot easier to plan!

    I keep reading that there are very few direct buses- in your experience- were all the buses leaving from the Rebuli station direct to Panajachel or were only a few direct? We would try to make it to the 9:30 or 10:30 am bus- are those direct?

    Also, do you remember how long the ride took? I read your tripadvisor post and someone commented and said it took them 3 hours a few years ago. Is that true or is it closer to 4 hours?

    Thanks!

    • Connected Horizons February 14, 2019 at 1:06 pm Reply

      Hi Ashley! Glad you found the post useful! Great to hear you’re gonna be visiting Guatemala tomorrow!

      In our experience, it’s hard to say there are “direct” or not buses. From what we’ve seen at the time, more or less all buses with Rebuli tend to stop much less than other buses yet they can’t really be considered a “direct bus”.

      At the time we took the bus, the morning buses seemed to be the faster ones (could have been 3hrs) and the afternoon ones (doing some more stops along the way) were the slightly slower ones (4hrs more or less). I think you really need to get lucky to get a fast or slow ones cause drivers are not really following a super-strict schedule (no wonder!).

      Hope it helps 🙂

  • gui November 25, 2018 at 3:25 am Reply

    Hello, how much cost the bus ride?
    Thanks

    • Connected Horizons November 26, 2018 at 7:48 pm Reply

      Hi Gui! Thanks for stopping by! At the time, the official bus fare was 20 Queztales but due to the bus being pretty empty, we managed to bargain it down to 15 Quetzales!

      • Amy January 15, 2019 at 4:05 pm Reply

        How did you travel to Flores? Did you take overnight bus?

        • Connected Horizons January 15, 2019 at 8:45 pm Reply

          Hi Amy! We didn’t travel from G. City to Flores directly, first we took a bus to Coban and then got a 12-seater (touristy but not too much) minivan to Flores. That said, there surely must be a bus connecting the capital to Flores.

  • Maria November 1, 2018 at 8:52 am Reply

    Happy I found this post after lots of searches on google! We are only doing day trip and will also live in zone 1. Can I assume the busses also go back late afternoon? Thanks for your explanations and will follow them. Can’t wait to experience it. Thanks Maria

    • Connected Horizons November 2, 2018 at 2:02 pm Reply

      Hi there Maria! As far as we know, at the time we took the bus there we were told there were a couple of Rebuli buses doing the route back in the afternoon but if I remember right, no later than 3-4pm. Truth to be told, the best way to know that is ask directly the bus driver when you’ll hop on!

      The journey is great, let us know how it goes!

  • Aixa October 27, 2018 at 1:02 pm Reply

    That sounds like it was a fun adventure.

  • Nancy Patrick January 29, 2018 at 3:58 am Reply

    Thank you very much for the information on how to find the Rebuli station! I thought I had it correct from other websites and travel forums, but I was about a block off. We arrive in Guatemala City in just over a month, me and hubby and 2 kids, with limited Spanish- want a cheaper way to get to Pana our first morning after we arrive at night. Very relived you’ve confirmed the right location for us! Thanks so much!

    • Connected Horizons January 29, 2018 at 6:36 pm Reply

      Glad you found the post helpful Nancy! I know the feeling of hitting websites, forums and such and everybody is saying different locations. While in G. City it was hard finding it but in the end locals were extremely helpful!!!

      Good luck with your travels and let us know if you need more infos about Guatemala!

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