1

Playa Blanca, outside of Livingston, is better than any of the beaches I have seen in mainland Belize, and better than the ones on the cayes, too (except for those on a couple of the super-exclusive privately-owned all-inclusive resort type cayes). Also detouring from Tikal to Belize and back again is going to chew up a couple of days in travel time.

Copan-Livingston-Tikal or Tikal-Livingston-Copan work about about the same, I think. Except that landing in GC you can get a flight to Flores/Tikal from the same airport, overland it from there, then get a direct shuttle back to GC from Copan.

So I guess all other things being equal, Tikal-Livingston-Copan would be slightly more convenient.

2

It seems a little odd to me that you want to visit Guatemala and aren't mentioning the highlands, the absolute highlight for me. With ~2 weeks what I'd do is pick between Copán and Tikal and leave out Livingston. That leaves plenty of time for Antigua, Lake Atitlán, one of the ruin sites, and a nice blue water stay. Heading from the highlands to Tikal and into Belize is pretty tough to beat, imo. Have a great trip, whatever you decide!

3

14 days that should be enough to see most of the area. Must Do:'s

1. Antigua
2. Panajchel and the Chichicastenago market
3. Rio Dulce river trip to Livingstone
3. Caye Caulker-reef trip/fishing, spear fishing, lazy lizard, Carribean vibes.
4. Jaguar Paw zip line and the most gorgeous cave tubing in the world. then Xunantunich
5. Flores/Tikal
6. Doubt you'll have time to stop for a nt in Lanquin.

You can do two nites in Antigua and one or two in Panajchel, make sure to check out a couple of th eother villages around the lake. A helpful hint is this...you never have to spend one nite in Guatemala City. Antigua is so close by and there are always early early morning collectivos going to GC for the 30 min ride. Take the bus from Antigua-GC-RioDulce. Spend the nite there and in the morning take the ride through the gorgeous river and mighty gorges. Spend the nite in Livingstone and soak up the Guatemalean Rasta vibes even though most of them are from Belize it seems. Catch a panga to PG (Punta Gorda) make sure to stamp out of Guate before boarding. From PG you can recoop and self cater for the nt. (Wilsons Rooms has a great setup, a full apartment w full private bath,with cable, ac (needed), computer and internet and a kitchen is only $25/nt. 4 hours to Belmopan and from there it is only an hour or two to BC where you can catche the boat to gorgeous Caye Caulker (CC). Upon return you will need to set up something at Jaguar Paw so that they will pick you up at the street (unless you work out a rental car one way which can be done) from there you can either stay in San Ignacio or hit the ruins and then the border at Melchor Menos. The crossing is remarkably painless for Central America and now thanks to the relatively new road you can be to The junction for Tikal Cruce...in just a couple hours. If you can find something nice close by I would take it. Amigos hostel is decent in Flores and it is fun but tends to be for the hardy partying group (my style :P but not my ladies) You leave Amigos at 5 or so and get to the gates of Tikal at sunrise which is better than when I got there 12 in the afternoon where it was 105 and 105% humididty. Tikal is not to miss...if pressed for time there is an overnite bus that goes to GC or Antigua. This is easily doable in 14 days, but you will be on the go-which is the only way I like to travel ;) Have fun and pm me if you have any questions.

Best, Jac

Ive done it both ways...but if you were going to see Rio Dulce and Livingstone which is a cool experience it would be a long dead head all the way back to GC
From here you can take the hour or so panga to Punta Gorda where you can overnite if there are no more buses going to Belize City

4

Hi
I`m really gratefull for 2 great post full of info.
i know hopefulist that is seem odd that we did not think about highlands it`s seems even odd to us because we like hiking and treeking . we are always doing a few days of it on our trips but this time my gf wants take thing easier although after your post i`m trying convince her that lake will be good option. she could relax there and i will be able to climb san pedro.
hopefulist do you know if there is any nice ,quite place just by the lake with some beach? we are not into night life.
thanks JACKYL 01 for great info. we still thinking about copan as we are interested in archeogical sites but i was hoping that we could get directly from there to tikal. so far i cannot find any of this kind connection.
in that case i do not know if it`s worth to go there from GC and there come back to GC and go to tikal.
something to think about.
thanks

5

Lake Atitlan is one the nicest areas you will ever set your eyes....forget about white sand beaches, Guatemala is all about culture and nature....

6

There are links to 2 nice hotels on the water in San Pedro La Laguna, though neither has a beach:
Hotel Amanecer Sakcari
Hotel Mikaso

Consider a hike up Indian Nose if you go to the lake; here's a link to my blog post about the hike. Happy trails!

7

Hi
I`ve just checked both hotels, hopefulist and they look very nice. thanks for that.
However i was thinking about staying maybe in San Marcos La Laguna as from what i`ve read it seems to be very quiet village.
my only concern is if i can find a local guied there with whom i`ll be able to climb atitlan volcano.
i do not want to do it with tour company as we are not tour people and i prefer when our money is going directly to locals.
do you think it will be possible to organize something like this?
thanks

8

Each town has a different feel and San Marcos has its fans; it's a little new agey for me. I don't know anything about hiring guides there. From San Pedro the popular peak hikes are the San Pedro volcano and Indian Nose and as far as I know all the guides are locals.

9

San Marcos is kind of a hippy yoga spiritual stoned kind of place, not in a bad way, its a very nice and quaint village with a mix of eateries and lodging. I am sure you could arrange a hike from there, if not in San Pedro.

10

Hi
Thanks again
to be honest i`m not sure if hippy yoga place is kind of our thing but we will see.
we are just looking for quiet place and i`m not sure if san pedro is not too busy, plenty of tourists

11

You can get from Copan to Tikal...You will be taking a tourist shuttle and not a regular bus.
You would be going to Flores where you would be staying more than likely and from there you
can arrange the short trip to Tikal.
If you PM me I can get you an operators info if you are still interested.

Good Luck!

12

It's peaceful for sure, a few footpaths link everything, there is no road going thru the village, just a path fom main road to the boat docks about 500 meters...winding around lodging, cafes and various shops and travel agencies kind of thing...you want quiet, we stayed in Jiablito....above town s a small volcano lodge with lvley gardens and a killer cafe, hammocks and birds are about all th activity...hehe