San Cristóbal de las Casas is a charming colonial city nestled high in the mountains of southern Mexico. Between its low-rise buildings, you’ll find beautiful cobbled streets, boutique shops, and A LOT of amazing bars, restaurants and cafes tucked away in hidden courtyards.
It’s also well known amongst travellers for its refreshing, cool climate – especially if you’re coming from the humid jungle of Palenque not far away. Bring plenty of layers for the colder mornings and evenings!
The area is also deeply rooted in Maya tradition, with the indigenous communities of Chiapas state still playing a significant role in preserving the region’s rich culture, which you can see in local markets, festivals, and handicrafts around town.
TIP: When you first arrive in San Cristóbal de las Casas, we’d 100% recommend the free walking tour to get your bearings. You’ll also receive such an interesting insight into the culture in San Cristóbal.
You don’t need to reserve a spot; just turn up at 10am (English & Spanish) or 4pm (English only) at the wooden cross outside the cathedral in the Plaza de la Paz.
How to get to San Cristóbal de las Casas
Most people we met were travelling to San Cristóbal from Oaxaca, Palenque or across the border from Guatemala. It’s a small city without an airport, so the easiest way to get here is via bus.
As it’s in the south of Mexico, ADO is the main bus company operating here. You can book all your Mexico bus tickets through BusBud.com, which we found super intuitive and easy to use. However, they do add on a few extra £’s as a booking fee that isn’t applied when booking directly on ADO’s official site.
Sadly, there’s no English option at the time of writing on ADO’s site, so we preferred the comfort of booking in English (and not accidentally booking something wrong!) on BusBud over saving a few £’s.
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5 Best Cafes in Cristóbal de las Casas
Now onto the good stuff. We visited A LOT of cafes during our time in San Cristóbal, so these recommendations are real, not paid for, and 100% approved by us!
Here’s our list of the 5 best cafes in San Cristóbal de las Casas:
Café Ka
⭐️ Our rating: 9/10 (only because they don’t serve any food)
Perfect for delicious coffee with a passionate owner
This small, unassuming coffee shop is a San Cristóbal gem! The owner is super passionate and willing to share his knowledge on the entire coffee-making process, and what makes (in his opinion) the best coffee.
The shop has been in the family for a while and they roast the beans themselves just a short distance away. The owner mentioned they started roasting the beans in-house, but their neighbours complained of the smell… honestly, who doesn’t like the smell of coffee?!
There’s only one small table to sit down, and they don’t serve food, so we’d recommend heading there to chat with the owner about what coffee he recommends (ask if you can have a tasting!), before picking one to takeaway. With your coffee in hand, grab a pastry from Panadería Artesanal Roots and find a nice place to sit and enjoy!
Even Connor, who doesn’t drink coffee at all, tried the coffee and really enjoyed it! If that’s not a great endorsement, we don’t know what is!
📍 Location
🕘 Opening: 8am – 8pm daily
Astro Cafe
⭐️ Our rating: 10/10
One of the best cafes in San Cristóbal de las Casas
We walked past the door of this cafe when exploring one day, and literally had to do a double-take to see what was going on inside. Walking through the doors, past a tattoo studio and a small bookshop, you find yourself in a gorgeous little courtyard area belonging to Astro Cafe – the best cafe in San Cristóbal de las Casas!!
They have a wide range of seating, both indoors and outdoors, with comfy cushioned ‘floor’ seats plus plenty of regular tables. There’s also plugs everywhere if you wanted to work here for the day like we did.
It’s not just the amazing vibes that made us come back two days in a row, but also the most delicious food – specifically, the mushroom sandwich! 🤤 The sandwich was an absolute knock-out and was served with vegetable crisps and yummy crispy chilli oil (YUMMMM!!!). It was part of the breakfast deal which offers your choice of sandwich and a juice. They also have other deals for coffee and pastries.
The staff here are super kind, and as if all of that wasn’t enough of a reason to call this our favourite, there’s also the most adorable cat who basks in the sun here and loves the attention from all customers! 10/10, you have to visit!
📍 Location
🕘 Opening: 9:30am – 5:30pm (closed on Sundays)
Casa Honora
⭐️ Our rating: 8/10
Perfect for working in all day
Casa Honora is a spacious cafe-restaurant, with lots of natural light and a relaxed atmosphere – perfect for a lovely visit.
As you walk in you are greeted by a small shop selling local items, which acts as a little gateway into the cafe itself. The staff at Casa Honora are super lovely and attentive too, taking the time to chat to us and explain what drinks they had available that day. They didn’t have iced coffee on the menu, but they made one for Hannah, which was a super nice touch!
This place also has a lovely garden at the back if you want to relax in the sun, or if you have kids – a great place for them to run around!
We ordered coffees, and being a little peckish we ordered their guacamole and hummus plate, served with bread, which was DELICIOUS!
Casa Honora is also a great spot for working – we saw plenty of others with laptops open, enjoying the spacious, naturally lit space. We didn’t work here ourselves, but it seemed like a great spot to do so!
📍 Location
🕘 Opening: 8:30am – 10pm
Ki-Muul
⭐️ Our rating: 7.5/10
Great spacious spot with good coffee and a relaxed atmosphere
Ki-Muul is a short walk away from the main walking street in central San Cristóbal de las Casas. As far as we’re aware, it’s part of a small chain, but they clearly take pride in their coffee.
The star of the show here is the aesthetic decoration. There’s greenery everywhere, with all sorts of coffee-themed designs painted onto the walls. They even have indoor ‘swing seats’ inside the cafe, especially good to take that all-important insta photo, plus and a lovely courtyard at the back too.
We were welcomed by friendly staff, who guided us to try a delicious coffee and frappe, which were great and also at a good price point. They didn’t have any pastries on show but had a full breakfast menu to choose from. We didn’t try any food during our visit, but reviews on the food made here seem really complimentary.
They have free wifi on QR codes on the table, which is perfect if you’re looking for a place where you can connect without having to ask for a password!
It was empty when we went, which is a shame because it definitely lacked a bit of an atmosphere – a little background music would go a long way!
If you’re heading to Templo de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, then definitely duck into Ku-Muul on your way up (and back down…)!
📍 Location
🕘 Opening: 8am – 10pm
Kukulpan
⭐️ Our rating: 9/10
Great food & local coffee and lovely outdoor seating on a busy corner to watch the world go by
One of our favs! Kukulpan is such a lovely cafe, in one of the best areas in town. It’s situated right on the corner where 4 streets intersect, facing down one of the main streets heading back to the main walking street, which itself is filled with lots of other cafes to enjoy!
Kukulpan has outside seating so you can sit, look at the murals and watch the world go by.
Their coffee is REALLY good and their food is delicious. We had americanos and their special bagel of the day (which was hummus topped with fried eggs and a side of green salsa) which was SOOO good – and only 65 pesos (less than £3), which we thought was a bargain! We also had pancakes which were great!
The staff are super kind here and there is also free wifi. Make sure to try one of their ‘agua fresca’s, which change each day. Ours was the hibiscus juice, which we thought was delicious and refreshing – the clue was in the name all along!
📍 Location
🕘 Opening: 8am – 8pm
Hopefully our list of the best cafes in San Cristóbal de las Casas is helpful to you! There’s so, so many to choose from in this charming little city, and we thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of visiting as many as we could!
Let us know if you made it to any of these via our instagram @lawsoftravel_!
Also, if you’re headed to this charming city, make sure you check out all our other San Cristóbal guides, including the 5 best bars in San Cristóbal and 5 best restaurants in San Cristóbal!
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