-
About Guatemala
We lived in Guatemala for 4 months during our 1 year sabbatical with the kids in 2005-2006. We based ourselves in Antigua and did some fantastic trips. We really fell in love with Guatemala and Antigua will forever hold a place in our heart. It’s one of the most picturesque towns we have ever visited.
We studied Spanish during the mornings and put the kids in a local day care during that time. We had rented a house and had a nanny and were totally loving life. The afternoons were spent in “earth school” exploring Antigua, its markets, churches, ruins and eating our way through the markets. What an education for the kids!!!
People sometimes have concerns about safety in Guatemala. I would suggest not to spend any length of time in Guatemala City (we went just to update our visas, etc.). Don’t travel at night and make sure you hire a dependable local company. To get from the airport in Guatemala City to go anywhere (we recommend to visit Antigua first), check out Adrelina Tours
-
Eat / Play / Shop
ANTIGUA
Here’s a great link to what to do and where to eat from the Guardian.
In terms of where I like to eat and shop in Antigua, here are my picks (I haven’t been to Antigua for a while but these were some of my favourites and I checked on the web to see if they were still going strong and they are):
Restaurants:
Meson Panza Verde
Vivero Cafe de la Escalonia (great smoothies in the plant nursery)
Monoloco (Mexican)
Dona Luisa Xicotencatl (best banana bread)
Como Como
Angie Angie
Rincon Tipico
Fridas (Mexican)
Welten (International)
Por Que No Cafe
There are some great bars to hear live music in the city:
Cafe No Se
Las Palmas (great jazz and good food)
Rainbow Cafe (get a schedule and find out what’s on)
In terms of shopping, here are my favourites:
Nim Po’t
Colibri (a cooperative of women weavers)
Casa des Artes (I buy all of my masks here)
Central Market (for crafts and food)
-
Itinerary
We travelled around quite a bit over the 4 months that we lived in Guatemala. Our highlights were:
Antigua :
- La Recoleccion
- Convento Santa Clara
- Convento de Las Capuchins
- Cathedral de Santiago
- La Merced Church and Fountain
- Cerro de la Cruz
- Parque Central
- Central Market
- Choco Museum
- Days trips to Chichicastenango’s Wednesday market, Finca Filedelphia’s coffee farm, Volcano Pacaya -hike to the top
- I recently read about Ninos de Guatemala which sounds like a great organization. Check them out. Impact Experiences
Tikal (best to give yourself 2-3 days here; some people do it as a day trip from Antigua)
Rio Tatin (we stayed at Finca Tatin and it was awesome; loved being by the river)
Lago Atitlan:
- visit the Solola Market on Tuesdays and Fridays
- if you have to spend the night in Panahachel – stay at Casa Palopo for a splurge
- it’s best to go from village to village around the lake; our favourites were:
- San Marco: check out The Yoga Forest and La Cambalacha
- hike from Santa Cruz to Jaibalito
- San Juan La Laguna: we never went but hear it’s like going back in time; you can take a weaving workshop; there is limited tourist infrastructure
- Santiago Atitlan: we loved it here; it’s a bigger town but full of life
- San Pedro La Laguna: waterfront is touristy but uphill main part is traditional; lots of backpackers; party scene; drumming late at night; can hike up San Pedro Volcano
We also visited Livingston (great waterfall hike; locals were Garifuna and Rastafarian and very cool to hang with) and Monterrico (to launch turtles into the ocean; they have black sand beaches); these aren’t ‘must-see’ destinations but if you have time you can’t go wrong
Some other popular places that we didn’t go but heard great things about were Semuc Champey and Coban in Honduras.
Great festivals to try to catch: Kite Festival and Day of the Dead (Nov 1), the Feast of Saint Thomas in Chichicastenango (end of December), Semana Santa (during Easter)
