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Guatemala Travel Tips: Notes from the Road

In recognition that it can now take me months to write about a country after I visit, I'm going to start a new series called “Notes from the Road.”

The series' goal will be to close the gap between brief, real-time social media updates and the more detailed content that usually appears on Go Backpacking.

The information will be a combination of tips from friends and readers, travelers I've met along the way, and my online research.

These posts will be more informal to get the information out as quickly as possible, though I'll still aim to make them easy on the eyes.

Kicking off the new series are my Guatemala travel tips. Let's get started.

Antigua
Antigua

Guatemala City

My flight arrived in Guatemala City, the largest Central American capital city, but I immediately left for Antigua. There's not much to see there.

In the airport arrivals area, you can easily catch a 45-minute minivan shuttle to Antigua. The cost is $10 per person.

To see what's available for ground transport, you can also check out routes on Bookaway.

If you need to spend a night in Guatemala City, such as an early flight to catch, or are in transit, a friend recommended Quetzalroo Hostel.

Antigua

Antigua attracts all kinds of tourists, from backpackers to luxury travelers.

Organized trips can be arranged anywhere in Guatemala (including Flores/Tikal) and to Copan in Honduras and the beaches of El Salvador. Probably Belize and Mexico too.

Where to Sleep

El Hostal – Very popular with backpackers, so book ahead. WiFi.

Hacia el Sur – Across the street from El Hostal, occupying the lower floor of the building with Sky Cafe.

I spent three nights in a three-bed dorm and another three nights in a private room with a bath. The private room was a good deal for about $18/night. WiFi.

Where to Eat and Drink

Hector's Bistro – Very small, so you're better off trying to go for lunch instead of dinner. Ranks high on Tripadvisor. WiFi.

Sobremesa – Try the artisanal ice cream flavors, like bacon chocolate and peanut butter coffee.

They have a separate ice cream shop around the corner from the restaurant if you don't want a full meal. WiFi.

Cafe Sky is known for its rooftop bar happy hour, but its food and WiFi are also good. I ate here several times since it was above my hostel and a good value. Foreign-owned.

The Refugee Coffee Bar – Small, expat-owned cafe. WiFi.

Things to Do in Town

Must-see buildings/locations include the Main Plaza, Cathedral de Santiago, La Merced (church), Arco de Santa Catalina, Convento Santa Clara (worth the price of admission), Casa Santo Domingo (hotel/restaurant/museum).

Great city for photo walks in the early morning and at sunset.

Watch the sunset from Sky Cafe's rooftop bar.

The chocolate tour at ChocoMuseo is well worth the $22.

Visit Cerro Santo Domingo for views of the city and volcanoes (catch the free shuttle from Hotel Santo Domingo).

There's also a restaurant up there (go early to get a table for breakfast) and many fantastic outdoor sculptures.

Take salsa or bachata lessons. There are several dance studios located around the historic center.

Learn Spanish at Maximo Nivel.

See also: Top 10 Things to Do in Guatemala

Beautifully framed volcano and lake view from La Iguana Perdida
Beautifully framed volcano and lake view from La Iguana Perdida

Lake Atitlan

Once called the “most beautiful lake in the world” by some dude, it's worth a visit, if only for a night or two.

It's a two-and-a-half-hour private shuttle (minivan) ride from Antigua, so it could even be done as a long day trip if you're pressed for time.

There are 14 towns around the lake, with the largest being Panajanchel (or “Pana” for short).

This is where you'll find the most diversity concerning restaurants, including a Japanese place, a Mayan-Vietnamese fusion place, and several good coffee shops.

The backpacker favorite is San Pedro de Laguna, which takes four hours to reach from Antigua, the last sixty to ninety minutes being on steep dirt roads leading down to the lakeside.

The view from San Pedro is boring because the volcanoes are behind you.

I preferred the view from Panajachel, which allows you to see all three peaks across the lake. Sunsets are also prettier in Pana.

I went from Antigua to San Pedro for a night, then took the boat thirty minutes across the lake to Pana for another two nights, where I hung out with Leif from The Runaway Guide.

Where to Sleep

San Pedro

Zoola Hostel

It has a nice little pool and bar at the lake's edge.

It's known as a party hostel, but most rooms are far enough from the bar that noise shouldn't be an issue.

I couldn't find a way to book online in advance and lucked out by getting the last private room for the night I arrived.

Panajachel

Apartamentos Don Moises

There's not much to choose from in Pana, so I took a room where Leif was staying, a ten-minute tuk-tuk ride out-of-town.

It was a proper lodge, with much better views of the volcanoes, lake, and sunset than you can get in town.

Some units have kitchens. I paid $25 per night. WiFi, but the signal was weak when I was there.

Santa Cruz

La Iguana Perdida

I visited this hostel on a day trip from Pana with Leif and his friend.

I'd have liked to spend a night here if I had more time. The views are stunning, and it's super laid back.

This is more my style than San Pedro these days. No WiFi.

Where to Eat and Drink

San Pedro

The Buddha's rooftop is chill, plus plenty of Asian-style food.

Nick's place by the boat offers excellent views, especially in the mornings.

Buy a loaf of homemade chocolate banana bread from the local women in the streets–delicious and cheap!

Shanti Shanti offers lovely views of the lake and cheap specials.

Panajachel

Pana Rock is the local rock bar, and it's rumored to have the best pizza in town, but the oven wasn't working when we went there.

The burgers were OK. Live music, nightly, fun atmosphere.

Cafe Kitsch is a German bakery on the main street. Lots of chocolates and pastries.

Cafe Loco, also on the main street, is owned by two Korean guys. It's small but with a good vibe and locally grown coffee.

Santa Cruz

Cafe Sabor Crucero is a student-run cafe offering excellent food, service, views, and value. WiFi too!

I recommend people visit and support them wherever they stay on Lake Atitlan.

Things to Do

  • Relax. Get in touch with your inner hippie
  • Yoga
  • Watch the sunsets
  • Rent a kayak
  • Day trip to the various villages around the lake
  • Hike the San Pedro volcano
Seeing Semuc Champey is one of my top Guatemala travel tips
Semuc Champey

Lanquin (and Semuc Champey)

I took a private shuttle from Antigua to Lanquin, the closest town to Semuc Champey. The road is paved the whole way.

I think it took about five hours. There's not much to look at in Lanquin, and most people eat meals at their accommodation.

Where to Sleep

El Portal

A few meters from the park entrance. It requires taking an hour's ride off-road after the shuttle lets you off in Lanquin, but this would've been my preference.

You're right on the river, and you can get to the pools immediately after the park opens (when you can hopefully have them to yourself for a little bit)—no WiFi or Claro signal.

Zephyr Lodge

Party hostel. You either love it or hate it.

Situated in a valley in town, it has nice views, but they blast rock and alternative music all day and night, so it's not that relaxing around the common/dining/bar area.

A guy was stung by a scorpion while lying in bed the night before I arrived.

Worse for me was hearing rats running through the rafters at night in the dorm room. I had trouble sleeping as a result.

Good food. Minimal WiFi (no more than five people at a time), but the signal for Claro 3G is solid. $7.50/night for a dorm bed.

Things to Do

Semuc Champey

Beautiful. There's no need to hire a guide. You can walk up to the viewpoint on your own.

It's a marked trail, and it takes 25 minutes to get up and the same to get back down. 

Try and get to the pools as early as possible to avoid a crowd. I went on a Sunday, and there were a lot of Guatemalan families there too.

The families stick around the shallower pools, so you can always go to the deeper ones instead. I skipped the rock slides.

Caving

A lot of people do a candlelit cave experience as part of a full-day tour to Semuc Champey.

One Israeli I met who did this said he was so tired from the caving and subsequent cliff jumps and a rope swing that he didn't have much energy to enjoy the natural pools. 

To me, this is backward. I say, skip the cave. Another cave option is the bat cave, which is visited at sunset, so you can watch them all fly out (watch out for guaro).

Whitewater Rafting

There are Class III and IV rapids. People who went from Zephyr said it was fun, and the steep sections were brief.

Tubing

Drink beer while floating down the river.

Go off the beaten path in Livingston on Guatemala's Caribbean coast.
Livingston

Livingston

It was a long travel day from Lanquin to Livingston. First, I took a private shuttle ($19) arranged through Zephyr Lodge to the town of Rio Dulce.

The first two and a half hours were off-road and very bumpy. Once we hit the pavement, it was smooth sailing.

Then, I took a boat ride ($16) from Rio Dulce to Livingston.

It was windy, so I got soaked on the boat ride down the river. Thankfully none of my belongings got wet.

Be prepared in case it's windy or raining. The boats don't have side flaps that can be rolled down from the roof, so it's easy for the water to splash in if the water is rough.

The scenery along the ride was nice, but nothing spectacular — lots of birds.

I was so tired by the time I arrived I checked myself into Hotel Villa Caribe, one of the best hotels in town. It was low season, so it was about half the price.

Where to Sleep

Casa de la Iguana – Super budget hostel. This is the place they recommended to me at Zephyr. I stopped by, but it was not at all appealing. I had some bungalows (and dorms, I think) around a grassy area, but it looked swampy and ghetto.

Hotel Casa Rosada – This is the mid-range place I would've stayed had I not splurged. Bungalows are $20/night, and this applies to solo travelers too.

Hotel Villa Caribe – I paid $65/night, which included a breakfast buffet with a view of the river. All the rooms have river/sea views. The pool was gigantic, and the landscaping was pretty. Fast WiFi, especially in the restaurant. Worth the money if you want to splurge.

Where to Eat and Drink

MC Tropic – I had both my dinners here. Try the Garifuna soup, a local specialty.

Casa Nostra – Excellent thin-crust pizza. I had the shrimp pizza with tomatoes, onions, and peppers, and it was decadent.

Things to Do

  • Hang out — this is the Caribbean, after all
  • There are some beaches and day tours, but nothing appealed to me.

Related: Top 10 Destinations in Latin America

Maya steleas at Quirigua in Guatemala
Maya steleas at Quirigua

Quirigua (and onward to Copan, Honduras)

Quirigua is home to the Maya world's largest stone stelae, which is 10 meters tall and weighs over 60 tons. 

The park requires no more than 30 to 60 minutes to see.

It's a minor site, and I'd only recommend Quirigua to archaeological geeks and UNESCO World Heritage Site nerds.

It's Guatemala's lesser-known UNESCO site, after the more popular Antigua and Tikal.

From Livingston, you travel via all forms of land transport in Guatemala.

Start with a 6:30 AM sunrise boat trip to Puerto Barrios before catching a bus south to Quirigua.

Tell the driver where you're going. He'll then leave you at the right spot on the highway near Quirigua.

You then need to hail a tuk-tuk and take it about 10 minutes to the park entrance.

After you walk the site, you need to catch a colectivo leaving the banana plantation adjacent to the park to get back on your way.

That drops you off at the main bus stop along the highway in the nearby town of Los Amates. From there, catch a bus heading to the city of Chiquimula.

In Chiquimula, transfer to a colectivo heading for the border (“La Frontera”). The border crossing was easy.

Just stop at the office on the Guatemala side for your exit stamp, and then walk across and get stamped in Honduras' Immigration office.

There's a fee of a few dollars charged for entering Honduras.

Once you get your entry stamp, walk another 50 meters up the road and wait for a colectivo to Copan Ruinas.

It's only 10 kilometers away.

If it's getting late in the day, it's probably best to spend the night in Chiquimula before getting an early start the next day. The border closes at 6 PM.

Planning a trip? Go Backpacking recommends:

Heather

Monday 9th of May 2016

I really liked Antigua, I found it easy to avoid the touristy places and hang out with locals, if that's your thing. I also found it very relaxing. I was there for 5 weeks and traveling on a budget. I would love to go back! Met some fantastic friends there.

Campbell

Monday 1st of February 2016

Hi Dave, nice post, My girlfriend and I traveled in Guatemala a bit more recently (April) 2015, we spent $13.13 each per day and our average budget each was as follows: Total: GTQ 1619/$210 in 16 days Accommodation: GTQ 59/$7.60 per day Transport: GTQ 24/$3.12 per day Food: GTQ 27.50/$3.58 per day We are still in Latin America, now in Chile, Guatemala was our cheapest country in Central America and second in Latin America (Venezuela topped the list). Our favorite place in Guatemala was Semuc Champey, this was my favorite site in Central America (excluding dive sites). I did not really like Lake Atitlan, not San Pedro or San Marco Laguna. We did one hike up Mount Tajamulco, at 4220m this volcano is the highest point in Central America, cost GTQ 300/$39 for 2 days. You can see what we did, where we stayed and what we payed on our blog Stingy Nomads at http://stingynomads.com/guatemala/ Safe Travels

Guatemala Hostels

Wednesday 12th of August 2015

Nice overviews! Utopia Eco Lodge is a great place in Lanquín, too. The ambiance is a nice meeting point between the loud & crazy Zephyr and the family vacation style El Portal.

Carl Joe Wright

Thursday 30th of January 2014

Dave you done great! Its helpful for travelers. Keep it up..

Marta Chan

Wednesday 22nd of January 2014

Antigua was disspointing for me but I'd easily stay one or two months in Atittlan Lake.

Happy trips!!

Dave

Thursday 23rd of January 2014

I figured everyone would like Antigua, but there's no denying it's touristy. That's why I mentioned the city attracts all levels of travelers, from budget to luxury. Still, I felt as though I was getting good value for my money, at least in the restaurants.

Comments are closed.