Villahermosa Airport Tips
Getting around and to Palenque.
The Villahermosa airport is on highway 186 13 km east of the city. When I was there in February 2004, the cabs wanted $10 for a ride into the city. However, all cabs arriving with passengers must leave without a fare, so, you can walk out of sight of the cabs and can get one of them and a ride into town could be gotten for much much less. If there are no returning cabs, it is not all that long a walk out to the highway, where you can find a cab or combi bus into town. However, if you are going to Palenque and it is not late in the day, you could just go to the highway and catch any bus east toward Palenque. These would be second class ones, because first class will not stop. You would get off at the Catazajá crossroads and take a combi bus south to Palenque town. The only problem with them is that you may have to wait until there are enough passengers.
Villahermosa is not the most pleasant city, but it is not bad and does have interesting things to see. Parque La Venta is wonderful if you are interested in the Olmec and there is a worthwhile regional museum. Nearby Comalcalco makes a pleasant day trip bus as long as you realize that the ruin doesn't open until 10 am and you don't mind a 40 or so minute walk to the site from Comalcalco town.
The following list is in case you head into Villahermosa and want to take a bus from there. A logical place to go to is the First Class bus station when you want to leave. See the schedule below (current as of 18 November 2003) to determine if this is workable and realize that the prices are in pesos. If the times are not doable, tell the cabbie to take you to the second class station and hope for the best.
See Ticketbus for current schedule