We are planning to visit Guatemala in the near future on a guided tour, which starts and ends in Guatemala City and will include about 2 days at each of the main sights - Antigua, Tikal and Lago Atitlan. We’d like to spend a little more time after the tour - either more time in some of the places on the tour or other places around the country that aren’t on the tour.
If you’ve been there, we’d appreciate any suggestions.
It’s been too long ago (1976) for me to make recommendations for today. I can only say that I found the people to be friendly and the food delicious. They also made beautiful crafts and jade jewelry, as I recall. Colibri may have more current information.
jtur88 seems to have hit all the exotic locations.
This was still true ten years ago when I visited. Both Antigua and Lago Atitlán are beautiful, although the lake has seen some pretty severe algal blooms since I visited. I didn’t get to Tikal, but the ruins at Copán (just across the border in Honduras) were fascinating, and Tikal is a much larger complex.
If you’re looking for other possible stops (and remember, this is 10 years out of date so check with somebody more current before planning anything), I really enjoyed a couple of days on the Pacific coast in Monterrico. There are beaches and hotels at whatever price point you’re looking for, of course, but you can also take a boat through mangrove swamps and (if you time it right) see sea turtle hatches on the beaches.
Another fun stop was Pacaya volcano, which is an easy day trip from either Antigua or Guatemala City.
I didn’t get to the see any sites, I wish I had, it’s gorgeous. We adopted our daughter from there, it was sort of a whirlwind trip. We went to the hotel in Guatemala City, arrived at the consulate the next day, back to the hotel and flew home. I agree with Chef Guy, the people are very friendly and I really enjoyed the food. The driving in the city was a bit crazy.
I do recall the first night with our daughter, she was not quite a year old when we adopted her and she had been with a foster mother all that time. As you can imagine, she was scared and unable to communicate to us, who are you strange people? Anyway, she cried and cried for quite sometime. We actually had people knock on our door and ask do you need help with the baby? They were so incredibly kind and concerned. They really cared and wanted to help. I said to my husband later, I cannot imagine hotel guests being so kind and accommodating here in the US with a baby screaming and crying for what seemed nonstop. Btw, she’s now 15 and she’s grown to love us, at least she doesn’t cry at the sight of us anymore. 
PM Colibri. He’s lived in Panama for years and years, so I’m sure he’s been there.
My wife and I were in Guatemala in 2012 to work at a children’s home for a week. It is a beautiful – but terribly impoverished – country. Although the people are very friendly, there is an extremely dangerous underclass. Our flights into and out of Guatemala City were carefully timed so that the bus from the children’s home (driven by Guatemalans, but with the American “host” aboard) would be able to leave Guatemala City and arrive back home 90 minutes away before nightfall.
When in Antigua, we were warned explicitly not to get separated, and were given a relatively small set of marketplaces to navigate. To deviate from the established boundaries was to invite the risk of kidnapping.
Sadly, the fact is that most Caucasians are considered to be extremely wealthy, and are therefore possibly ripe targets for kidnapping.
I met several Americans studying in Guatemala, and this included two sisters about 19 and 20 years old. They both spoke fluent Spanish and exhibited that bold confidence that foreigners who are truly living in a country adopt really quickly. Looking like a wide-eyed tourist amazed at the sights will mark you as a possibly easy target for pickpockets.
The children’s school we were at was a walled compound at the top of a small hill, and was about 10 acres or so in size. At night, we were warned not to leave our cabins, as there were a couple of very large, ferocious, guard dogs loose and on duty. Every night, we could hear gunfire from assault rifles of the AK-47 variety in the colonias around the school’s compound.
Be prepared for scenes of abject poverty the like of which you have probably never experienced. When you pass a garbage dump for a city or a neighborhood, you will see children as young as 4 or 5 scavenging among the trash heaps, looking for anything that can be recycled, reused, fixed-and-sold, or eaten.
The country’s sewer infrastructure does not allow for the flushing of anything except for human waste. You will be told to place your used toilet paper into the trash receptacle which is next to the toilet. This is true even in some of the nicer hotels.
The bags from the trash receptacles with the remnants of human waste make their way to the trash dumps. Yes, those bags are then looked into by the scavengers.
As with all impoverished places, even a little money from you will go a long way, but don’t just throw your money around. If you can, work with a reputable organization to provide something specific; you cannot solve all of the problems for all of the people, but you very definitely can do something significant in the lives of a few. I don’t mean for this to sound cruel; it is just the plain facts of economics.
Our tiny group of 5 people contributed several hundred US dollars to purchase desks for a small school. I don’t remember the exact numbers, but I think the desks were about $10-$15 each. I think we bought something like 40 desks for the older kids. The looks of pure joy on the children’s faces as we unwrapped the desks and placed them into rows still moves my heart. Up to that point, even the older kids were seated at little tables like the kind you find in a preschool.
Allow yourself to look past the beauty of the countryside and past the deep poverty. Look into the eyes and souls of those you meet. Greet them with a smile and friendly, “Buenas dias!” Just being friendly will touch them deeply and will have an even more profound effect on you.
Enjoy your trip. The memories will last a lifetime!
Did a day trip from Belize to Tikal in 2011(?). Great site if you like ruins. Was odd to see police having to double up on 125cc dirt bikes. the one on the back often with a submachine gun.
Sounds like things have changed for the worse in the intervening 40 years. It was always a poor country, but the danger to foreigners in Guatemala City was negligible then. We were on a relief team after the '76 earthquake and worked in both the city and on the outskirts without issues. The traffic was horrific and I’m sure it’s still harrowing to drive there. Basically, whoever had the bigger vehicle had the right of way. We hung out on Sunday (our day off) at Lake Amatitlan just outside the city, drinking Cabro, eating shrimp and listening to the mariachis. Good times.
Was there for about two weeks in 2010. Mostly in a small pueblo with the family.
We did go to Lago Atitlan. I had read all about it. And all the sources said it was the most beautiful lake in the world. I had to see it. Well, apparently it was the most beautiful before I got there. There are many communities around the lake. And lack of treatment plants ( I suspect) has changed the lake. I wanted to do an all day hike around the lake. To visit the villages. But, I was advised not to go alone. Because of robbers on the trail.
Antigua is beautiful. Despite its name, it is a new city. The original one was swallowed up by the nearby volcano.
Used a lot of public transportation. They buy used school buses from the USA and convert them to public transportation. They are beautifully painted. And very uncomfortable. The drivers, and helpers are paid by the trip. And drive very fast. It is quite the experience.
I never felt real safe there. Compared to Mexico.
Take binoculars. There are a lot of beautiful birds and volcanoes to view.
Glad you are going. Great coffee. Beautiful people and great food.
And even the pit, today.
Things have definitely changed for the worse. Even my Guatemalan clients don’t want to go to Guatemala if they can help it. My office has gotten asylum for people based largely on the inability of the government to protect its own people from crime. If you want some more cheerfulness, check this out.
Too funny. I didn’t realize the extent of his exaggerations.
I was there years ago, visiting places both on and off the beaten path. I had a wonderful time. The people were wonderful, the country beautiful and the coffee excellent.
At that time the security situation was very, very troubling, with violent assaults, sometimes specifically aimed at foreigners, reported regularly. I felt at the time like the risk was manageable with common-sense safety measures and avoiding areas of known risk. Even then, I was well aware that the risk was there and security was a constant consideration.
I understand the situation has declined dramatically since then. If I were to go today I’d read the security sections of some reliable travel guides aimed at independent travelers (Lonely Planet and the like), seek out additional information on the ground about any recent incidents or considerations, and take advantage of the Tourist Police escorts.
I went to Guatemala in the 90’s. Lake Atitlan was not as adventurous or exciting as Tikal. The drive times can be long between them.
Like most vacations, don’t get too ambitious and plan too much to do.
No suggestions for you; I’ve only ever been to Guatemala about 20 minutes, and I was undocumented. We walked right across the border from Mexico near the Lagunas de Montebello. I was disappointed that they would only give me MXN as change, as the real souvenir should have been quetzales.
Have fun!
That just makes me sad. Crime may have been tamped down when I was there because of the earthquake, as there were armed soldiers on most street corners to prevent looting, but I didn’t get a sense of danger at all.
The only thing I ever did in Guatemala City during several trips there was to get on a bus out of the city.
Antigua – a very nice place to spend a week or a month. It is world famous for its language schools. For $200 to 300 (US) a week you can study Spanish one-on-one with a professional tutor, in many cases actually living with the family of the tutor, if you choose – you learn really fast in the total immersion environment. Walk the beautiful cobblestone streets smelling of flowers and wood smoke, converse with students from all over the world in your newly learned Spanish in the cafes, climb the volcano with the other students on Sunday afternoon.
Panajachel – on Lake Atitlan, very scenic, very tourist oriented, many day trips to local villages.
Chichicastenango – great on market days, Thursday and Sunday, not so much the rest of the week.
Totally agree with all who have said the people are very friendly.
I lived there for seven months, in Antigua. It was a long time ago, and I think it has changed drastically in 30 years, but it is a beautiful country, with plenty of good sightseeing around the Antigua-Atitlan area. That area is probably still pretty safe, as long as you are with a group or sticking to the well-traveled touristy areas.
If you have the time and inclination, a week in Antigua spending 2-4 hours a day studying Spanish will make you feel pretty comfortable with the language and confident that you can travel in a Hispanic country. The language school will board you with a local family, and the cost of the week would be less than spending a week practically anywhere else in the world.