After coming home from our Cancun trip, I realized that I wasn’t really built for hot weather. After studying the world map on Google (with temperatures displayed on every major city), I noticed that there’s a little town called Antigua Guatemala in the country of Guatemala (not to be confused with the island of Antigua) that is quite temperate and only 3.5 hours away by air (and another hour by car from Guatemala City). The temperature literally hovered between 68 and 80 F every single day, while nearby towns are at times over 100F. Initially I thought this had to be a mistake, but apparently the town’s weather is protected by its many volcanoes and the high altitude keeps things rather cool. Awesome. Guatemala City (the capital of Guatemala) has a high crime rate, but Antigua Guatemala (literally means Old Guatemala, as it used to be the capital of Guatemala) has a rather low crime rate and people work hard to protect their tourism industry.
ARRIVAL
We flew Delta and arrived in Guatemala City around noon. Although there are some interesting sites in Guatemala City, we decided against spending much time there due to the crime rate there. We had booked a transfer with Guatego prior to departure and was given some directions by email to wait at the coffee shop outside. Guatego seems to be the official tourism website of Guatemala. There were cheaper transfer options from Viator but we wanted to go with the “safe route”. The Guatemala airport is not crowded. Everything seems rather organized and going through custom was simple in our experience. Once you go through custom, you are almost immediately outside. I had anticipated seeing lots of tour groups, but not the case here. We located the coffeeshop that the transfer email mentioned but was unsure who to look for. Eventually I asked a stranger for help. He made a few phone calls and told me the van was on his way, and shared with me the English speaking phone number of Guatego should I have more issues. Then his friend asked if I’d like to give him a tip. I gave him a few American coins because that’s all I had, and they seemed so happy. Our van came right after that and everything was well.
Traffic in Guatemala is VERY bad. It took us almost 2 hours to get to Antigua Guatemala. Without traffic it would have been like, 30 to 40 minutes. There are lots of people selling all kinds of random stuff IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY, like, literally standing between busy traffic lanes. All kinds of snacks, water, toys, roses, balloons, etc, can be bought as you are driving into town. There are also a lot of buses in Guatemala. The buses are super colorful and has these porthole windows on them – reminds me of Disney buses. I think they are school buses…
OUR HOTEL – LAS CRUCES BOUTIQUE HOTEL
For our trip, we decided to stay at the new luxury boutique hotel, LAS CRUCES. The hotel is beautiful and rich in history. It has these big heavy gates that felt like you are staying in a fortress. It seems most nice hotels are like this intown – as the economic discrepancy is large around here and the superrich do not like to flaunt their wealth. Once inside, you’ll be greeted by handmade cocktails and authentic pieces of original artwork and historical antiques. There are many ruins located on the hotel property, leftover from historical earthquakes in the area.
For our first two nights, we stayed in the Master Suite. Our Master Suite has two floors. First floor with a spacious living room, TV, a window and a bathroom. Up the stairs is the bedroom with a beautiful king size bed, bathroom, and an even larger TV. The décor and bedding were absolutely luxurious.
For our final night, we upgraded to the Master Suite with Jacuzzi room – the best room in the house!
The hotel also offers breakfast, and the breakfast is delicious! It was something we looked forward to everyday.
DAY 1 – GUIDED WALKING TOUR OF ANTIGUA GUATEMALA
The walking tour is a half day tour, which covers several important sites inside Antigua. We were able to do this on the day we arrived, which really gave us a good idea of the basic history and culture of the area. Your guide will drive you around from site to site and most likely give you more information than you ever wanted to know.
CERRO DE LA CRUZ
First stop, Cerro De La Cruz, which literally means Hill of the Cross. It’s situated on a small hill so it gives you a perfect vantage point to view the city of Antigua. You can literally see all of the churches, buildings, streets and avenues, from the stone cross. The beautiful Aqua Volcano is in the background as well.
IGLESIA DE LA MERCED
Next stop, is Iglesia de la Merced (Convent of the Mercedarians). The church has been well kept and was consecrated in 1736 but like the rest of the city suffered damage during the 1751 and 1773 earthquakes respectively, and was abandoned by order of the Captain General at the time. Nowadays, it’s open to public, however, on the day we went, the church was closed for a private wedding. We snuck in and took a couple of pictures.
SANTA CATALINA ARCH
Next we came to the Santa Catalina Arch. This arch was built in 1694. The story we were told was that there were two convents in the area, The Convent of the Virgin, and The Convent of the Catalina, one on each side of the street. The nuns inside the convents had vowed to live in seclusion, but they had to teach schools at each other’s convents. Since they couldn’t just walk outside their front door to the other convent, someone came up with the idea of a footbridge, so the arch was constructed with a hidden passage inside. How cool is that!
HOTEL CASA SANTO DOMINGO
Hotel Casa Santo Domingo is the only Five-star hotel in Antigua. It is beautiful and huge, with multiple museums inside. There are also countless fountains, ruins, statues, crypts and gardens. The brick archways, the Mayan heads (found during excavation), the glass floors… There’s so much to see and do here that it’s almost overwhelming.
LA CASA DEL RON
After all the religious talk, I was ready to try the best rum in the country. The rum here is not cheap, but the cocktail list is impressive. We each got a cocktail and they did not disappoint. It was great to finally sit down and rest our legs a bit while enjoying a refreshing and delicious drink.
CASA DEL JADE
Last stop, Casa Del Jade, a local boutique jade jewelry store with exhibits and history about how jade was discovered in Guatemala. You can also watch the artist make jewelry onsite. Like the Chinese Zodiac, they have something similar with the Mayan history that uses your birthday and finds your Guardian Animal, your Energy Places, and your Energy Colors. Then you can buy jewelry in your own signs, of course!
Day 2 – Hiking the Pacaya Volcano
There are 3 climbable volcanoes in the Antigua area, the Acatenango, the Aqua, and the Pacaya. The Pacaya is by far the easiest. But don’t let that fool you! Our driver (provided by the tour company) picked us up from our hotel, then off we went. The driver dropped us off at the base of the volcano, where we met up with our tour guide. The tour guide explained to us that we can either hike, or go for a horseback ride, either up or down or both ways. There was some pressure on taking a horse as he tried to tell us that it would help the local economy, but overall it wasn’t too bad. We decided to try hiking first, but after making about 0.5 a mile, we decided the horses might be worth it. (The locals had taken two horses on the trail with us when we started, even though we had turned down their offers at the beginning.) The hike really was hard – the ground is soft with uneven volcanic rocks and dust, so it’s kind of like hiking in semi-hard sand. Each step took considerable effort, or at least so I thought. We negotiated and agreed on 200 quetzals for 2 horses, the rest of the way up. This was so worth it.
The final quarter of a mile had to be hiked by foot because the ground was too dangerous for the horses to go. This was good since it gave us more flexibility to stop and enjoy the scenery. There’s a little pizza stand at this point, with a local selling lava rock cooked pizza! Then a little past that, our tour guide took out a bag of marshmallows and some sticks and toasted marshmallow on hot volcanic rocks for us! They were the best marshmallows I’ve EVER had! They are lightly toasted and soft to the core.
Next, our tour guide found us a nice little spot to sit and enjoy our picnic lunch – lunch combos from Subway!
After lunch, we leisurely walked down the mountain and enjoyed some cold beer at one of the stands before heading back to the hotel.
DAY 3 – LAKE ATITLAN TOUR
Lake Atitlan is the deepest lake in central America. Because of this, the lake is beautiful and many explorers and writers have been inspired by it. Around the lake, there are multiple villages that have been there since the Mayan days.
FIRST STOP – CHICHOY AQUA ESCONDIDA
This restaurant looked absolutely amazing, with park-like setting and a hotel on site. We already had breakfast at the hotel so we only got some coffee here, and walked around the beautiful surrounding area. There’s a suspension bridge and landscaped gardens, with tables right next to it. This would be a super romantic destination.
NEXT STOP: LAKE ATITLAN
Next, we were taken on a private boat tour to truly enjoy the lake in all its glory.
The boat ride was so peaceful and serene, as our tour guide told us many legends around the lake.
PANAJACHEL
The boat dropped us off at Panajachel, one of the villages surrounding the lake. There are tours that would take you to up to 3 villages but our tour only takes us to this one. The village still lives in traditional Mayan culture, where daughters learn how to weave from an early age. We watched the local villagers demonstrate the painstaking steps they must take to turn cotton into colorful pieces of clothing. We were told that if a girl doesn’t know how to weave, then she would not be able to find someone to marry. We were invited to try our hands at weaving, and learned for ourselves that it was even harder than it looks!
The village has many shops and markets, clearly familiar with foreign tourists. Unlike most developing countries that I’ve been to though, the Guatemalan people are very mild mannered and quiet. They don’t keep bothering you to buy their stuff. If you say no just once, they will stop asking. Occasionally you may see the sadness on their faces but they typically won’t ask again.
Coffee is a major export here, and we stopped at a local coffee shop in town called Cafe San Juan. Not only was the coffee good, you can have some local zacapa rum with it too!
The locals love color, as evidenced by their beautiful artwork and building walls. Every weekend, they also hang their street lights in different colorful objects. When we were there, it was the hats.
After doing some shopping in the village, we were taken back on the little boat to go back to our car. On our way back, we were given the menus for Las Espadas restaurant, located right next to the lake, so we can enjoy a romantic meal. The restaurant was a little pricy, but the food was VERY good and they timed everything perfectly. The location of the restaurant is perfection.
FINAL STOP – MUSEUM OF LAKE ATITLAN
After we finished our meal, we were taken to the Museum of Lake Atitlan, located right next to the restaurant. Inside, you will find many pre-Columbian archeology of Lake Atitlan. The museum is small but clean and interesting. It was a nice way to round out our visit.
FOOD DURING OUR STAY
We had a very enjoyable gastronomic journey this entire time. Here are some highlights:
Bistrot Cinq is a French influenced restaurant ran by local Guatemalans. We ordered their Surf and Turf dish with Filet Mignon and it tasted as good as it looked.
A local vegan restaurant that creates AMAZING healthy veggie bowls that’s just out of this world! I typically HATE vegan food but this was simply amazing.
RETURN
If you have Priority Pass like us, make sure you stop by the Ron Zacapa lounge at the airport! Each of us was able to get two free drinks and a menu item. I got the beef carpaccio which was delicious!!
This rounded out our short stay in Guatemala. The weather was perfect everyday, and we loved all of the sightseeing and wonderful people we met. The only thing I would say that was negative was that the driving there was quite scary. Everything else was just perfect.