shelleyk

Has anyone had experience with the ADO executive bus from Oaxaca to Mexico City? DH is tall, and does not like bus rides on winding roads. Also, he is wondering if they make any stops to stretch your legs or get a snack, since it is a 6 hour 45 minute ride.

We were planning to take the bus rather than fly in order to see the scenery. However, I just received an email from Interjet and the plane fare is the about the same price as the executive bus, and the plane ride takes an hour and 15 minutes. Although I would love to see the scenery during the bus ride, I am wondering if it is worth it considering the length of the ride.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

baldone

Unfortunately, the really scenic part is the curvy part. Figure only about 40 minutes of really winding roads. The snack as I recall was maybe a cheese sandwich on white bimbo. And no stops. But, it's been a while that I've taken that bus, and at that, from Puebla, not all the way to CDMX.

bushwoman2002

I am claustrophobic so I too am going to have to take the bus from Mexico City to Oaxaca. Does Ado have good service?

baldone

The ADO Platino has 25 seats, while GL has 40, so Platino is roomier with 1 row of single seats and the other 2 seats.

Fra_Diavolo

I rode the bus from MC to Oaxaca, and back (with a stop in Puebla). That was on the UNO buses, which don't seem to be running these days. I thought it was very scenic, from the forests you pass through leaving MC to the desert outside Oaxaca. Most spectacular were the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl and (extinct) Pico de Orizaba rising snow-capped and glorious.

Christina

I took that bus a couple years ago, actually to Puebla not Mexico City. It was a great trip, very comfrotable bus. I used to live in California, and the scenery in the mountains reminded me of that. Towards the end, it is just pretty flat, of course.

I really like buses in Mexico, they are very comfortable, and I detest airports and flying (I'm not afraid, I just hate the whole ordeal and wasted time), so it was an easy decision for me. I also wanted to see the scenery.

Some parts on the mountains were winding, though, so not sure if you can deal with that or not. You should pack your own snacks, they would be better anyway, you don't need to stop for that. The bus to Puebla is only about 4:30 hrs, not 6:45, so that isn't so long by comparison. It's just like a long flight, only you have more leg room than on airplanes. The ADO GL service is very good.

If that would fit into your itinerary, that is an option (going to Puebla first for a day or two, then on to Mexico City) for a shorter trip. That 1:15 flight time, of course, means about 2.5 hrs in advance (traffic can be very bad in Oaxaca, you have to leave enough time to get there to be sure, even if you get there only 1.5 hrs in advance, that's what I would do), and then at the airport in Mexico City, you'll waste more time if you check bags, of course. And then it depends, you'll have to get from either bus station or airport to your hotel, so that part could be the same. But altogether, I'm guessing that flight is going to take up about 4.5 hrs, and that's if it is on time. I took a flight from MEX to Oaxaca and it was about 2 hrs late in taking off, for example. But you won't be sitting on a bus for as many hours, that's true.

shelleyk

Thank you all for your replies. After much consideration, we decided to fly.

We spent several days in Puebla last year and loved the city, but decided not to stop there this year, so there was no breaking up the long bus trip to Mexico City. Our flight leaves at 2:30PM and gets in at 3:45PM, so even accounting for time spent in the airport on both ends, it probably makes for a shorter day than going by bus.

This transfer is toward the end of our one month trip to Mexico, covering Tulum, Vallodillid, Merida, Oaxaca and Mexico City, so we thought flying might make for a more restful day. We shall see.

Again, thank you to all who responded.