Bus from Mexico City

We are thinking of taking a different approach on our Zihua trip next year and flying into Mexico City to take in some of sites and history,checking out Teotihuacan. Then heading to Morelia then to Patzcuaro then heading to Zihua for our annual winter relaxation.
Has anyone done this trip before? We have never took the bus in Mexico and are looking for any advice anyone can offer. Or recommendations anyone has for these other cities.
Thanks

That is a great idea! We did something similar in 2005. We stayed in a very reasonable hotel 2 blocks from the zocalo on Avenida del Brasil, 3 minutes from the cathedral. We took a TURBUS tour for one day in order to get a bit more familiar with the city and after that we used the METRO which is extremely efficient, inexpensive (buy several boletos at the same time)convenient, easy to navigate and we felt very safe using it during daylight hours.Do not miss the Museo de Antropologia as it is considered one of the best in the world and I do agree after spending 2 days exploring it. If you have a chance to see the Ballet Folkorico at the Palacio de Bellas Artes besides the Alamada park. Castillo Chapultepec , museums, Xochimilco , San Angel, Coyoacan ,all those sites easily reached by Metro and local trains.As you can see Mexico City is a wonderful place to explore.
We took a bus to the village of San Juan de Teotihuacan and it is worth to spend the night there in order to arrive early at the site Teotihuacan and avoiding the huge surge of people arriving by the daily tours offered from Mexico City. After visiting years ago the pyramids at Giza ,Teotihuacan was still able to take my breath away........... it is magical!
We went to Guanajuato from there but visited Morelia , Patzcuaro and Uruapan on a different trip where we travelled on either Primera Plus and Parkuni buses that were very comfortable .
There was a discussion on this board of a nice play to stay in Morelia and a deluxe bus service Zihuatanejo-Morelia.
Have a great trip and dont forget to get yourself a good guidebook such as Lonely Planet as it is full of good info.

In 2007 we bussed overnight from Zihua to DF. As an experience it was thoroughly satisfactory. We did a first class overnight on Estrella de Oro, I believe it was. It convinced us that this was the most economical and stress free way to travel any distance in Mexico. Be sure to book first class. It is not expensive and the seats and leg room are roomier than airline first class. We were given a basic sandwich and water, so you should bring food along if you want more than that. The air conditioning kept the cabin a little chilly for me. I wished I had had a Pendleton. The cabin attendant on our bus spent six of the eight hour trip fawning over her boyfriend driver, but I still have no complaints about the trip. The movie was in English with Spanish subtitles so it offered an opportunity for those who wanted to brush up on their Spanish. We left Ixtapa about midnight and arrived in DF about 8AM on our way to Puebla.

We also bussed from Colima to PV. Same experience, thoroughly satisfactory, except the driver never exceeded the speed limit. I mention this because there were many miles of straight road stretches in the wilderness with no traffic in either direction, but he adhered to the 35 KM speed limit. Frustrating. I really wanted him to step on the gas. Be prepared for driver breaks here and there at tiendas in small towns or in the middle of nowhere, for that matter. Every one can disembark for a potty break (although there are heads on board) and buy refreshments and a snack. After a while the driver will re-board and the bus continues on. Very Mexican, very OK. You can meet other people if you want, mainly Mexicans. They won't bother you so you have to make the effort if you want to meet locals. When you get where you are going it slowly occurs to you this is a pleasant way to travel. You get there when you get there and the trip is non-stressful. Sort of like sailing. The travel is the thing; not getting there as fast as possible. It was more like part of our vacation rather than a time-out to get from A to B.

Craig

I agree. My wife and I have taken three or four very pleasant first class bus trips in Mexico. I actually prefer them to flying these days. The last was to Patzquaro and was a wonderful experience. The stations have very comfotable waiting rooms should you arrive early and as Craig mentioned the seating is comporable to first class air travel if you exclude the food service. The provided drink and sandwich were a quaint touch indeed. My only complaint was that the head was located seeming over the engine compt. and was very hot and noisy. All in all it is a most relaxing and civilized way to travel.

We have the buses (First Class only) for many years as a usual way of travel from Mexico City or Guadalajara to Morelia, and then on to Tacambaro. We always found it very safe, pleasant and relaxing. The seats are great, and the leg room is amazing. It was a nice way to wind down after running through 2 airports to get there.

My personal preference for trips are ETN and Parhikuni