Getting there & around

Getting there

By air. Campeche’s airport (CPE), officially Aeropuerto Internacional Alberto Acuña Ongay, is small with limited domestic service, mostly to and from Mexico City. Flights are infrequent, so unless the schedule happens to line up, most travelers arrive overland. If you do fly in, the airport is a short cab ride from the centro, roughly 10–15 minutes and a few dollars (approximate).

By bus. This is how most people come, and it is comfortable. ADO runs first-class buses linking Campeche with Mérida (roughly 2.5–3.5 hours depending on the route), Villahermosa (about 6 hours), Palenque, Cancún and beyond. The buses are air-conditioned, assigned-seat and reliable; the cheaper ADO variants and second-class lines cost less and stop more. A one-way from Mérida runs roughly 250–450 MXN (approximate) depending on class and how far ahead you book. Buses arrive at the ADO terminal just outside the walls — a short, cheap taxi into the centro.

By car. Driving from Mérida takes around 2.5 hours on the fast, flat toll highway (Vía Corta); the free road (Vía Larga) threads through colonial towns like Bécal and Hecelchakán and takes noticeably longer but is more interesting. Roads in the state are generally in decent shape. A car is genuinely useful only if you plan the inland ruins runs to Edzná or Calakmul — for the city itself it is a liability you will pay to park.

Getting around

The historic center is small and flat, so you will walk almost everywhere, and that is the pleasure of it. Parque Principal to the Puerta de Tierra is a few minutes on foot, and the malecón edges the same compact core. For anything beyond the walls:

• Taxis. Cheap and plentiful. Meters are not the norm, so agree the fare before you get in. Short hops across town are only a few dollars (approximate). This is your default for the forts, the bus terminal and the far ends of the malecón.
• Colectivos and local buses. City buses and shared vans run to the outer neighborhoods and toward nearby coastal towns for a handful of pesos, but you rarely need them as a visitor staying central.
• The tourist tram. Leaves from Parque Principal for a slow loop of the centro and past the forts. Fine for orientation and beating the midday heat; not real transport.
• Walking up to the forts. Fuerte de San Miguel and Fuerte de San José el Alto sit on hills at opposite edges of town. Both are a stiff, sweaty climb in the heat. The move is to cab up and walk down.

Honest comfort notes

You do not need a car inside Campeche itself — save it, or a tour, for day trips. The main highways in the state are flat and easy, so motion sickness is not really a factor here the way it is on mountain roads elsewhere. The one genuine caution is the long access road into the Calakmul reserve, which is narrow, slow and full of wildlife — avoid driving it after dark. For the inland ruins and coastal detours, see the day trips page.