Guatemala Intercity Bus Fares

Route Highlights

Cheapest fare, longest journey, most frequent service.

Operators

Each operator covers a different region of the country.

All Routes & Fares

Click columns to sort. Filter by operator to narrow the list.

From our team: We’re Guatemala Life, a Guatemalan-owned site based here. Our scrapers pull fares daily where operators let us; the rest we verify by calling the terminals or stopping by in person. This page is rebuilt weekly.

Planning Bus Travel in Guatemala

Guatemala’s intercity bus network is the backbone of domestic travel — there’s no passenger rail, and domestic flights only cover Petén. Most locals and travelers rely on one of a handful of commercial operators depending on where they’re going.

Price Ranges by Service Tier

Bus fares in Guatemala split into three clear tiers:

• Regular intercity (Q45-130): Typical for Galgos or Fortaleza del Sur routes 2-4 hours from the capital. Air conditioning, assigned seats, one stop halfway.
• First class (Q100-250): Litegua’s Primera Plus and Primera Clase on Atlantic routes, with reclining seats and on-board bathroom.
• Luxury overnight (Q280-750): Linea Dorada “Lujo” to Petén and Rio Dulce, fully reclining seats, meal service, movies. Pullmantur’s Primera Clase for USD $58+ to San Salvador.

International routes price in USD. Pullmantur charges $34 one-way, $68 round trip for the 5-hour Guatemala ↔ San Salvador tourist-class service, up to $58 one-way for first class.

What we see in practice: Litegua’s first 5am Puerto Barrios departure tends to run fastest — it leaves the capital before rush-hour traffic builds on the Atlantic highway. Anything after 9am can add 30-60 minutes. Most travelers book the 10am-12pm slot because it “feels reasonable” and then lose an hour to stoplights in Zona 1 and Palencia.

A practical note from the terminals: kiosks sell one-way tickets cheaper than round-trip — the round-trip “discount” often isn’t. If your itinerary is flexible, buy one way and decide on the return once you’re there. You can almost always get a seat same-day outside Semana Santa and Christmas.

When to Use Buses vs Flights

For Petén (Flores/Tikal), compare closely. TAG Airlines flies Guatemala City ↔ Flores in 1 hour for Q1,200-1,800; the overnight bus via Linea Dorada costs Q350-700 and takes 9 hours. If you have flexible time, the overnight bus saves a hotel night. For tight schedules, the flight wins.

For the Atlantic coast (Puerto Barrios, Rio Dulce), the bus is your only good option — Litegua runs 10+ daily departures in each direction with tiered pricing.

For the Pacific coast (Retalhuleu, Mazatenango, Champerico), Fortaleza del Sur is the main operator, with 4-6 daily services. Public chicken buses are cheaper but not recommended for tourists with bags.

Payment and Booking

Litegua and Pullmantur both accept online credit-card bookings through their reservation systems. For other operators, pay in cash at the terminal kiosk or the operator’s downtown office. Bring quetzales in small bills; many terminals struggle with Q500 notes. Save your ticket stub — conductors check it onboard.

Terminal Locations in Guatemala City

There’s no central bus station. Each operator has its own terminal:

• Litegua: 15 Calle 10-40, Zone 1
• Pullmantur: Avenida La Reforma 1-82, Zone 10 (Holiday Inn area)
• Línea Dorada: 16 Calle 10-55, Zone 1 (near the Hotel Vista Real)
• Fortaleza del Sur: Terminal del Trébol, Zone 11
• Transportes Galgos: 7a Avenida 19-44, Zone 1

Uber is the most reliable way to reach any of them — ride-share drivers know the terminals even when addresses look ambiguous.

Safety Considerations

Stick to recognized brands. First-class and luxury services on Litegua, Linea Dorada, Pullmantur, and Galgos maintain high safety standards with assigned seating, air conditioning, security cameras, and vetted drivers. Overnight routes to Petén have improved dramatically since the mid-2010s; incidents are rare on premium services but still occasionally happen on secondary operators — stick to the named brands.

If you’re moving a lot of luggage or electronics, skip the chicken bus. The fare difference between a Q15 chicken bus and a Q100 Fortaleza del Sur service is small compared to the peace of mind.

How we verified this

Fares for Litegua and Pullmantur are scraped daily from their live reservation systems — when you see a price on this page for those operators, it was on the operator’s own site within the last 24 hours.

Three operators — Línea Dorada, Transportes Galgos, and Fortaleza del Sur — currently have offline or intermittent websites. Their fares are curated from terminal kiosks and their official Facebook pages, and we re-verify every 30 days. The comparison table flags curated vs live entries. Last full curated re-verification: April 2026.

If you’re planning a trip and the exact fare matters, terminal kiosks are still the source of truth — these operators sometimes run same-day promos that never hit the web.

Corrections & updates

Bus fares change with fuel prices and seasonality. If something on this page doesn’t match what you paid at the kiosk, email us a photo of the ticket — we’ll update within 48 hours and credit the reader.

See our gas prices page if you’re considering renting a car instead, or our flights page for domestic and international air options. For overall trip budgeting, check our cost of living guide.

Frequently Asked Questions