Top Guatemala hotels
Pacaya Volcano Antigua Guatemala
27 Reviews I found a great trip regarding a volcano hike and a thermal waters and spa bath, this was amazing and I truly recommend it for everyone!.. it was excellent. I found it on a website called...
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Antigua Ruins Antigua Guatemala
40 Reviews A collection of small museums housed in the 5-star hotel Casa Santo Domingo. The hotel, which is very upmarket, is built on and incorporates the ruins of the old Dominican church complex. Of the...
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Churches Antigua Guatemala
37 Reviews Yes, I am lazy period end of report. Use your guide book/internet if you want the facts on them. I came here to take some pics....not a very religious person except when I travel as these seem to be...
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Parque Central Antigua Guatemala
16 Reviews Central Park is a great place to get a quick feel for Antigua or if you get lost head here as it is a great reference point for to reorient yourself. Come here to relax, buy an ice cream off a local...
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Colonial Architecture Antigua Guatemala
22 Reviews This is perhaps the defining symbol of Antigua. It is a remnant of the once-enormous Convent of St. Catherine. This convent was founded in 1613 with only four nuns, but by 1693 its numbers had...
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Markets Antigua Guatemala
8 Reviews Antigua might strike you at first, as it did me, as something of a museum piece, but you only have to walk a few blocks from the centre to discover that “real” life happens here too. The market on...
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Nuestra Señora de la Merced Antigua Guatemala
10 Reviews The “Iglesia y Convento de Nuestra Señora de la Merced”, to give it its full name, is one of the loveliest in Antigua, and unlike many has been fully restored. On a sunny day its vibrant yellow paint...
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Language Schools Antigua Guatemala
12 Reviews I chose this school on the advice of a friend and it is working out very well. It is relaxed with 1-on-1 tuition and happens at tables under awnings or in the garden. The individual tuition allows one...
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Walking through the city Antigua Guatemala
12 Reviews While Parque Central is the undisputed hub of the city, Parque Union, lying a few blocks to the south-east, is also worth a visit. This is much more of a locals’ hang out than tourists’, although...
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Chichicastenango Antigua Guatemala
5 Reviews We drove 3 and a half hours from Antigua to "Chichi" on Thursday, although I heard that it is best to visit on Sundays. It seems as if time has stopped here. This village is very different than...
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Lago Atitlan Antigua Guatemala
5 Reviews WOW, I had read that Lago ("Lake" in Spanish) Atitlan is one of the most beautiful places on earth, and boy was my research correct. On Friday, our last day in Antigua, we traveled 2 and a half hours...
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Tikal Antigua Guatemala
3 Reviews Tikal is a definite must see. From Antigua or elsewhere. We took a weekend trip including flights and hotel, although you can do it by bus. Our hotel, Tikal Inn, was right next to the ruins and the...
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This is a first class museum- refurbished, modernized, expanded and deserving of serious consideration by any student of the Maya or Guatemalan ethnology.Photography (no flash) is allowed.Guatemala City has numerous museums. One of my favorites is the Popul Vuh situated in the blue blood Zona 10 on the campus of La Universidad Francisco Marroquin. If you have a tie and clean shirt or a smart dress- this is the occasion to wear it.
We had to rise very early that day, and shake off the beers from the night before. My travelling companion, who shall remain anonymous, was having some travelling stomach issues. Neither of us was at the top of our game. I flagged the bus over and we climbed in. We were quickly surrounded by blonde-haired, gangly-legged European youths, who looked far too healthy and sober to be sharing a bus with us. The journey was long, and after we left the paved road behind, it threatened to reshape my spine. Pulling up a sharp incline we reached a small village. A few stray dogs stood up to meet us. It seemed an unlikely start to the ascent of a live volcano, but after that drive no one was complaining. Our guide was a 14 year old local girl who looked like Frida Kahlo. She couldn’t speak a word of English but I didn’t blame her as I couldn’t speak a word of Spanish. This was going to be an...
La Antigua Guatemala (commonly referred to as just Antigua or La Antigua) is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala famous for its well-preserved Spanish Mudéjar-influenced[1] Baroque architecture as well as a number of spectacular ruins of colonial churches. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Antigua Guatemala serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. It also serves as the departmental capital of Sacatepéquez Department.
Panajachel is located in the Guatemalan highlands and provides incredible views to three volcanoes and the Lake Atitlan. The volcanoes, San Pedro, Toliman, and Atitlan set an incredible stage for this town. Panajachel is also the gateway to explore the three indigenous villages around Lake Atitlan. Santiago Atitlan, Santa Cararina Palopo and San Antonio Palopo, all are famous for its women weavers and their typical clothes.During the period of the Spanish conquering Guatemala, the shores of the lake were the scene of the great battle in which the Spanish and their Cakchiquel allies defeated the Tzutuhils. The Spanish set up a church and monastery in Panajachel soon afterward, and used the town as a center for converting the Indians of the region to the Catholic faith. The original façade of the church stills stands, and is one of the gems of the colonial style in Guatemala.Panajachel, or...
Tikal (or Tik¡¯al according to the more current orthography) is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Pet¨¦n Basin in what is now modern-day northern Guatemala. Situated in the department of El Pet¨¦n at 17¡ã13¡ä19¡åN 89¡ã37¡ä22¡åW / 17.22194¡ãN 89.62278¡ãW / 17.22194; -89.62278Coordinates: 17¡ã13¡ä19¡åN 89¡ã37¡ä22¡åW / 17.22194¡ãN 89.62278¡ãW / 17.22194; -89.62278, the site is part of Guatemala's Tikal National Park and in 1979 was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The closest large modern settlements are Flores and Santa Elena, approximately 64 kilometres (40 mi) by road to the southwest.[1]Tikal was one of the major cultural and population centers of the Maya civilization. Though monumental architecture at the site dates to...
Flores is a town in Petén, Guatemala. The town proper is an island on Lago Petén Itzá, connected to land by a causeway, on the other side of which lie the twin towns Santa Elena and San Benito. All three are often referred to as Flores, and are grouped in one article here accordingly
Situated in the northern part of Guatemala, the ruins of Tikal are considered by many to be the best remaining examples of Mayan architecture around. They are certainly the hottest. As we climbed onboard the battered minibus in Flores at 5am the air was thick with anticipation. Even the driver, slumped half-asleep over the wheel with headphones hanging from his ears, failed to quell the feeling of adventure. Each traveller was lost in their own thoughts and the conversation was minimal as we left the small town and headed out into morning mist. As the bus, laden with well-fed westerners and their backpacks, struggled up a hill, we entered the jungle. The anticipation was heightened by yellow warning signs at the side of the road. The first showed the shape of a rattle-snake, the second the unmistakable outline of a jaguar, while the third was surely the silhouette of a turkey? This...
Trekking through the jungle of Northern Guatemala. This was a three-day hike through the jungle ending at Tikal National Park to visit the Mayan ruins. We hired a guide to take us through. I do not recall the tour company, but some knowledge of Spanish was absolutely necessary. Our guide spoke no English; in fact, Spanish was his second language as he was Mayan. The trek took us through largely unspoiled, undeveloped jungle. The trail was not overly well worn, and we were the only hikers we saw during the trip. It really was a fantastic hike that leads you to some of the best ruins of the Mayan civilization. Take with you snacks, suero ancalmo (hydration powder), and a headlamp for crawling through the unrestored, overgrown pyramid you crawl through, and for hiking under the canopy in the early morning hours.
La Compañía de Jesús, was a school, a church and a convent. Its construction was carried out in the sixteenth century. Like most buildings in Antigua it was destroyed by the earthquake of 1773. The building was abandoned until the end of the nineteenth century, when part of it was used as the Spanish Embassy building, then as a warehouse. The church itself was not restored, however, and what remains now is a ruin in a small square, which until the 1976 earthquake served as the municipal market place.
Guatemala often seems to be a time machine to the past. There are many places that haven't changed in half a century or more. In the middle of downtown Quetzaltenango (aka Xela -"SHAY-la"-) on the main plaza kitty corner to the cathedral is the Museo de Historia Natural. It's up a flight of stairs and not well lit. Whether you are interested in natural history, archaeology, technology, textiles, medicine, whatever at all- you will find one of the oddest assemblages of artifacts anywhere. Most of the exhibits date back many decades and reflect a time and outlook that could only be sensed elsewhere, if anywhere, in the yellowing pages of old National Geographics when movies were silent.I'm told the exhibit has been modernized. My last two visits to Guatemala failed to find the museum open.
Palacio de Dona Leonor Antigua Guatemala
6 Reviews and 43 Opinions On a business trip we stayed at the Palace Hotel Dona Leonor. I really liked the decoration of the...
Jungle Lodge Parque Nacional Tikal
4 Reviews and 154 Opinions We stayed two nights here, choosing it because of its nearness to the ruins. The plan was to be able...
Barcelo Premium Guatemala City Guatemala City
1 Review and 202 Opinions Nice hotel in a comfortable safe neighborhood in Zone 9. An easy walk to the Los Procures Mall and...
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Q: My husband and I want to go to Guatemala for 5 weeks starting the last week of March 2012. We had planned to travel all over and...
A: I have two good friends that travel to Guatemala frequently. One supports an orphanage, the other does general social work with kids in the area. Both find the...
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