Quetzaltenango (Xela) is the head town of Quetzaltenango department, in western Guatemala. This page covers the scheduled buses from Guatemala City.
Price Comparison
| Company / Service | Duration | Frequency | Q price | USD | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cristobal Colon (Pullman) | Not published | Tue/Thu/Sat 8:00 AM direct | Q65 | $8.52 | Operator of the 7a Avenida 19-44 Zona 1 terminal; fare per guatemala.com, 6 Mar 2026 |
| Transportes Alamo | Not published | 6:15, 8:15 (Mon-Sat), 10:30, 12:30, 15:00, 16:00, 17:30 | Q104.99 | $13.76 | Fare and times from its own booking form, read 8 and 10 Oct 2026 |
| Xelabus | Not published | Mon-Sat 5:45, 8:30, 11:00, 14:30, 16:15 | Q100 | $13.11 | Per guatemala.com, 6 Mar 2026 |
| Linea Dorada (Xela branch) | — | Not published | No published fare | — | No Linea Dorada fare or schedule could be verified in 2026: lineadorada.com.gt now returns an online-casino page, and Prensa Libre reported (29 Nov 2019) that Cristobal Colon bought its Zona 1 station |
| Chicken bus (extra-urban bus) | Not published | Not published | No published fare | — | We found no operator or authority that publishes a chicken-bus fare or timetable on this route |
The Cristobal Colon and Xelabus fares are guatemala.com’s 6 March 2026 figures — Cristobal Colon publishes no static fare table of its own. The Alamo fare is from its own booking form (“Boleto por persona Q.104.99”), read 8 and 10 October 2026; guatemala.com had given Alamo a Q90-Q120 range depending on the bus. USD conversions use Banguat’s reference rate for 12 September 2026, Q7.62817 per dollar, rounded to Q7.63. Verify at the counter before booking.
Bus Options
Cristobal Colon (the operator at the 7a Avenida terminal)
Autobuses Cristobal Colon, a Mobility ADO brand, publishes the 7a Avenida terminal as its own and sells Guatemala City to Quetzaltenango through its online booking system.
Guatemala City terminal: 7ma. Avenida 19-44, Zona 1 — the operator labels it “Centro Civico”. Phone: +502 2415 8989 (the number it publishes for all four of its Guatemala City terminals). Xela terminal: 5ta. Calle 12-44, Zona 3, Quetzaltenango. Phone: +502 7767 5198.
Schedule: the operator publishes no timetable for this route on its own site. guatemala.com, updated 6 March 2026, lists the Cristobal Colon service from 7a Avenida 19-44 as direct at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Price: Q65 per person direct, per guatemala.com (6 March 2026), which adds that tickets are sold at its offices and, if seats remain, up to 15 minutes before departure. Cristobal Colon publishes no fare table, and its booking engine would not return a price to us without a login on 12 September 2026.
What happened to Transportes Galgos
On 12 September 2026 we could not verify that Transportes Galgos still runs this route. Seven candidate domains (transgalgosinter.com, galgos.com.gt, transgalgos.com.gt and others) all fail to resolve, its Facebook page is behind a login wall, and no fare, schedule or phone number for the company is published anywhere we could reach. A guatemala.com round-up of Guatemala City to Xela operators updated 6 March 2026 does not mention Galgos at all, and gives the 7a Avenida 19-44 address to Cristobal Colon. Rome2Rio labels the corridor operator “Cristobal Colon Autobuses (Linea Dorada y Trans Galgos Inter)”, but that is an aggregator label — neither Mobility ADO’s own group portal nor either dated press article names Galgos. We do not know whether Galgos was absorbed, ceased trading, or simply went offline. The fares, departure times and phone numbers this page used to carry for it had no external source, so we have removed them. More on Transportes Galgos; Fuente del Norte’s Xela service is on Fuente del Norte.
Transportes Alamo
Alamo sells the route on its own site. Its Guatemala to Quetzaltenango booking form (read 8 and 10 October 2026) lists these departures: 6:15 AM, 8:15 AM Monday to Saturday, 10:30 AM, 12:30 PM, 15:00, 16:00 and 17:30.
Price: Q104.99 per person on its booking form (8 and 10 October 2026). Schedule page (read 10 October 2026): Monday to Sunday 6:15, 8:00, 10:30, 12:30, 13:45, 15:00, 16:00 and 17:30, plus 18:00 on Fridays and Sundays only. The two pages on the same site do not match, so confirm the departure when you buy. Guatemala City agency: 12 Avenida A, 0-65, zona 7. Xela agency: 6ta Calle, 12-14, zona 3. Tel PBX (502) 7884-0505. Buses: its services page lists pullman-type buses with air conditioning and reclining seats.
Xelabus
guatemala.com (6 March 2026) lists Xelabus at Q100 per person, leaving the capital Monday to Saturday at 5:45 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.; on Sundays the first bus is at 7:00 a.m. Offices at Calzada Roosevelt 12-76, Zona 7, Centro Comercial Rus Mall, local C1-114. The same round-up lists Starbus at about Q100, from Calzada Raul Aguilar Batres 7-55, Zona 12, leaving at 7:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Chicken Bus (Budget)
Chicken buses are the other option, but we found no operator or authority that publishes a fare, timetable or boarding point for the Guatemala City to Xela run.
Route Details
None of the operators we checked (Cristobal Colon, Transportes Alamo, and the guatemala.com round-up of 6 March 2026) publishes the road taken, intermediate stops or partial times.
Where to Catch the Bus
- 7a Avenida terminal (Cristobal Colon): 7ma. Avenida 19-44, Zona 1 — the operator labels it “Centro Civico”. Phone +502 2415 8989.
- Alamo agency: 12 Avenida A, 0-65, zona 7 (Alamo’s agencies page, read 10 October 2026).
- Xelabus: Calzada Roosevelt 12-76, Zona 7, Centro Comercial Rus Mall (guatemala.com, 6 March 2026).
- Xela arrival: Cristobal Colon’s Quetzaltenango terminal is 5ta. Calle 12-44, Zona 3 (phone +502 7767 5198); Alamo’s agency is at 6ta Calle, 12-14, zona 3.
Best Time to Travel
- Road conditions: before you set out, check closures and detours on our Guatemala traffic page.
- Holidays: book ahead around Holy Week, Christmas and 15 September.
Tips
- Buy ahead. Cristobal Colon and Alamo sell the route online on their own sites; guatemala.com says Cristobal Colon sells at its office up to 15 minutes before departure if seats remain.
- Uber in Xela: Quetzaltenango is on Uber’s published city list for Guatemala (read 2 September 2026; see our Uber guide). inDrive’s help page (read 24 September 2026) says to type the address or city in the app: if the location does not appear, it does not operate there.
- Spanish schools: Casa Xelaju (casaxelaju.com) is one of Xela’s Spanish schools.
- Connect from Antigua: see the Antigua to Quetzaltenango shuttles.
- Cost-of-living context: See the Guatemala City cost of living guide before deciding which highland city fits your budget.
- Browse other routes: Compare all Guatemala transport options for itinerary planning.
Sources: Transportes Alamo (booking form, 8 and 10 October 2026; schedule, agencies and services pages, 10 October 2026); guatemala.com, bus prices to Quetzaltenango (updated 6 March 2026); Cristobal Colon / Mobility ADO site (12 September 2026). Exchange rate: the USD conversions on this page use Banguat’s 12 September 2026 reference rate, Q7.62817 (rounded to Q7.63) (exchange rate). Verify current fares before booking.
Going further west? Los Halcones runs the capital to Huehuetenango: Guatemala City to Huehuetenango. From Xela you can also walk to Lake Atitlán in three days: Xela to Lake Atitlán trek.
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