Talk to me about Guatemala

[wanderlustfoodie]

We went to Tikal as a daytrip from Belize and loved it. Would love to return and spend time at Lake Atitlan.

[emilyinchile]

Antigua, Tikal and Atitlan would be my must-sees. I've only been once to Guatemala City and Antigua, but my mom lived there for a few years, and those are the places my parents always talk/ed about. There was a thread on MM about Guate a week or two ago that will probably have some good info if you can find it.

[Deleted]

We spent 10 days in Guatemala over the holidays and LOVED it! The weather was gorgeous, and the country is amazingly beautiful. Everything was very inexpensive, we met lots of nice people, overall just a great time.

We did 2 nights in Tikal, 4 nights in Lake Atitlan (we stayed in Panajachel, the largest town on the lake), and 3 nights in Antigua. I thought it was a great itinerary, I don't think I'd really do anything different. We used the Lonely Planet guide.

Here are some highlights, and if you decide where to go I can give you more specific recommendations like restaurants and activities. In Tikal, we stayed in the national park at Jaguar Inn. There is hiking, Mayan ruins, and ziplining. In Pana, we stayed at Posado de los Volcanes right in town and were really happy. It's a touristy lake area with lots of outdoorsy/scenic stuff to do. In Antigua, we stayed on the outskirts of town (I would recommend staying closer to the main plaza). Antigua is a beautiful Spanish colonial town with history, architecture, cooking classes, and GREAT restaurants.

[Deleted]

Jan 22, 2014 17:06:55 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Jan 22, 2014 15:58:45 GMT -5 @travelbug1210 said:

We spent 10 days in Guatemala over the holidays and LOVED it! The weather was gorgeous, and the country is amazingly beautiful. Everything was very inexpensive, we met lots of nice people, overall just a great time.

We did 2 nights in Tikal, 4 nights in Lake Atitlan (we stayed in Panajachel, the largest town on the lake), and 3 nights in Antigua. I thought it was a great itinerary, I don't think I'd really do anything different. We used the Lonely Planet guide.

Here are some highlights, and if you decide where to go I can give you more specific recommendations like restaurants and activities. In Tikal, we stayed in the national park at Jaguar Inn. There is hiking, Mayan ruins, and ziplining. In Pana, we stayed at Posado de los Volcanes right in town and were really happy. It's a touristy lake area with lots of outdoorsy/scenic stuff to do. In Antigua, we stayed on the outskirts of town (I would recommend staying closer to the main plaza). Antigua is a beautiful Spanish colonial town with history, architecture, cooking classes, and GREAT restaurants.

What itinerary would you recommend if we only had, say, three full and two half days there?  Do we really need to stay longer to do it right?

I would do max two locations, Antigua and Lake Atitlan (Panajachel is the most accessible lake town).  Unfortunately I think you will feel too rushed, it may not seem worth it.  The thing I found with Guatemala is that it took a long time to get from one point to another.  I just looked up the distance between Antigua and Panajachel, and some websites say it's only 90 minutes, and it definitely took longer than that. In some places the roads are not great. I'd factor in half day of travel between the two, by the time you check in/out etc. If you can do 2 nights Antigua, then 2 nights Atitlan, I think that would be worth it, understanding you'll just get a taste of the country.  Tikal was great, but that is in the northern region of the country and you have to take a separate flight to get there so with your time frame I think you need to save that for another trip.

Fly into Guatemala City and go straight to Antigua for two nights.  In Antigua, I'd do a walking tour of the city (Lonely Planet has a good self-guided one that took us about half a day with a stop for lunch), cooking class (we loved the one we did at Frijol Feliz), and on the second day maybe a bike tour/ride through the town and surrounding countryside.  We had nice dinners at Meson Panza Verde and Casa Escobar.  Find a shuttle/book a car to Panajachel (again, I really recommend Posado de los Volcanes).  The town itself is just a tourist lake town, the lake itself is the draw.  I recommend a boat tour around the lake (there are tours stopping at the various little towns around the lake) and if you're very active, a volcano hike (it was strenuous, the views are so amazing). Our favorite storefront cafe for dinner was Cafe Llama del Fuego right on Calle Santander, the main drag.

[sunshinedaydreams]

We did an overnight to Tikal from Belize this past fall and it was amazing! If you do Tikal, you HAVE to do the sunset tour with Roxy. I found this rec on TA, and she was amazing. She's an archaeologist at Tikal and is so, so knowledgeable and a great guide.

We stayed at Las Lagunas Hotel and it was one of our favorite places we've ever stayed.  They have their own private reserve and do ATV tours and you can go out and feed howler monkeys.  It's on a lake, and each cabin has their own private porch view onto the lake.  It's a brand new, pretty swanky place.

[jaime183]

with that much time I think you would only want to do Antigua.
We went to Lake Atitlan for a weekend and also to Antigua for a weekend. We were studying a few hours away though.
In summer of 2011 Tikal was having safety issues so we couldn't go

[SJ]

We went to Guatemala (and Belize) on our HM and loved it! I will have to double check our itinerary but I don't think we spent more than 3 nights in Antigua and then 2 nights near Tikal.

We didn't go up to Lake Atitlan but we were just thinking about how we'd like to return and explore more.

Where is your friend living? Would you stay with her or In a hotel? We loved the place we stayed- Meson Panza Verde in Antigua.

Central America is fairly easy/cheap to get to, and I think worth it for a long weekend. No significant time changes, etc. to deal with.

If you email me, I will dig up more details when I can!

[Deleted]

I guess you could do Tikal in a day. It's a long day - you fly into Flores, which is about an hour away from Tikal park. We took a 6:30am flight from Guatemala City to Flores and then a van to Tikal, I think we got to Tikal around 9-10am when it was all said and done. You can do a tour of the park, then catch the last flight out. It'd be a long day but would be a fun day. We did something similar to see Abu Simbel in Egypt and felt it was worthwhile for a must-see.

I would stay in Antigua and do a day trip to Lake Atitlan rather than an overnight. Again, it would be a long day, but you could hire a driver to take you to and from Lake Atitlan, and do a lake cruise, then back to Antigua.

Do you have direct flights? We had a layover in Mexico City and it was a disaster each time (which I heard from other travelers is typical for that airport). If you have direct flights the travel will be easy, no jet lag. I suggest having reliable transportation lined up (or if your friend is picking you up). Basically when we got off the plane, we went through immigration and then you have to go outside to the arrivals section and you can't reenter the airport.

I'd go for it! It was beautiful, fun, and super cheap.

[Deleted]

Jan 25, 2014 0:08:52 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Thank you, everyone, for all the great suggestions!

To answer some of your questions, @travelbug1210, we don't have any flights booked yet but there don't seem to be any direct options from Boston. We could be stopping in any of ATL, DFW, MIA, IAH... I will avoid Mexico City, as another GBCNer just told me horror stories about traveling through there too. My friend also said she could get us shuttle tickets from the airport to Guatemala City for $15. It sounds like you think her suggested itinerary is do-able, if aggressive, though which is great. Normally we like to travel in a more leisurely style, but this is totally a last-minute idea and I don't mind packing it in a bit.

Yea, I get it! Sometimes it's worth it to pack stuff in for a fun whirlwind trip.  I think you'll be glad you did it.  Have fun and report back!

[sergey]

We're heading there for 10 days or so in March. So far we have a few nights booked at both Antigua and Lake Atitlan and I'm trying to decide how/if to get to Tikal. For those of you have been, how did you get to Tikal from the airport and what hotel did you stay in there? We're thinking one night and I've found some package deals but I'm not completely sold.

[SJ]

Jan 28, 2014 14:41:40 GMT -5 sergey said:

We're heading there for 10 days or so in March. So far we have a few nights booked at both Antigua and Lake Atitlan and I'm trying to decide how/if to get to Tikal. For those of you have been, how did you get to Tikal from the airport and what hotel did you stay in there? We're thinking one night and I've found some package deals but I'm not completely sold.

We stayed at La Lancha resort (one of Francis Ford coppola's properties) near Tikal. We LOVED La Lancha. I refused to pay their transfer and tour fees so I had a cab driver pick is up from LL and take us to Tikal. I think we were there 2 nights and spent 1 long day at Tikal.

[Deleted]

Jan 28, 2014 14:41:40 GMT -5 sergey said:

We're heading there for 10 days or so in March. So far we have a few nights booked at both Antigua and Lake Atitlan and I'm trying to decide how/if to get to Tikal. For those of you have been, how did you get to Tikal from the airport and what hotel did you stay in there? We're thinking one night and I've found some package deals but I'm not completely sold.

We stayed at Hotel Jaguar Inn in Tikal.  Through the hotel, we booked an airport pick up/drop off.  It worked really well, .  Overall the hotel was fine - definitely not luxurious and the electricity and hot water was in and out, but from what I understand that applies to the park, not specific to that hotel.  I think one night would be good, we really liked the zipline tour (also booked through the hotel, right in the park) which we did on the afternoon of our arrival, and the sunrise "hike" in the ruins.

[sergey]

Jan 28, 2014 17:21:21 GMT -5 @travelbug1210 said:

Jan 28, 2014 14:41:40 GMT -5 sergey said:

We're heading there for 10 days or so in March. So far we have a few nights booked at both Antigua and Lake Atitlan and I'm trying to decide how/if to get to Tikal. For those of you have been, how did you get to Tikal from the airport and what hotel did you stay in there? We're thinking one night and I've found some package deals but I'm not completely sold.

We stayed at Hotel Jaguar Inn in Tikal.  Through the hotel, we booked an airport pick up/drop off.  It worked really well, .  Overall the hotel was fine - definitely not luxurious and the electricity and hot water was in and out, but from what I understand that applies to the park, not specific to that hotel.  I think one night would be good, we really liked the zipline tour (also booked through the hotel, right in the park) which we did on the afternoon of our arrival, and the sunrise "hike" in the ruins.

Hey, just wanted to say thanks for the suggestion. I just booked it!