Greetings! Saludos! I am a bilingual traveler who will be landing in Guate in early December for about 10 days. My friends live in Chiquimula and have promised to show me a grand time but I'd like to have a basic idea of what I'd like to see while in the country. I am already reading up but have always had such great blessing on this site for my other trips. Ideas? I know we'll be in Antigua a day or two and I imagine we will hit Lake Atitlan although I'm reading the smaller villages are probably more to my liking than Penachajel (spelling?). I usually head the opposite direction of anything touristy. Thanks for insights and suggestions.
Julie, normally the tica_traveler and now the chapin_traveler
tica_traveler
1
giopassarelli
If you plan to stay in Chiquimula, there are two day trips there would be climbing the Ipala Volcano, have a picnic there close to the crater's lagoon and come back, it's not hard to climb and part of it can be done by car. The other would be Esquipulas, which is basically a big, big basilica with a small town around it. The interesting part is seeing and experiencing the most important pilgrimage site in Guatemala for Roman Catholics, the mélange of cultures and rituals performed there, often mixing ancient traditions with the ones imposed by the conquistadores.
3
brihavey
If you are in Antigua, you may get tired of the touristy stuff there, so go check out the Earth Lodge. It is 7km up the hill from Antigua in a tiny village called Aldea el hato. There are buses that leave the Antigua market almost everyday, but check out their website and if you want to go up, just contact the place. The owners are super nice and the atmosphere is very relaxed. I know that a lot of people hike up from antigua but there is also really untouched hiking around the lodge up in the farm fields. Plus they have amazing food there!
earthlodgeguatemala.com
Good luck!
4
giopassarelli
I agree with No. 2, If you are coming to Guate you've got to see Tikal. Antigua and Lake Atitlan are other two "musts" in Guate.
Enjoy your trip.
5
calderp
Do Atitlan for sure but don´t stay in pana, San Marcos is a good combination of local flavor and having places for travelers, also the San Marcos to Santa Cruz walk is gorgeous. If you are in Antigua, take a day trip to Volcan Pacaya, I just did hat yesterday and it was amazing, you have to put up with loads of gringos but in return there´s a spectacular volcano with flowing lava. Also, hiking San Pedro volcano on Atitlan is a great expereince but it´s a pretty intense hike. If you´ll be in the Antigua/Atitlan area, TIkal isn´t really an option unless you can shell out for a flight but you could make a 2day trip to Copan which is also an impressive set of ruins, shuttles run out of Antigua for about $10 one way.
7
latina alma
I agree that Panajachel is too touristy...mostly for the hassles from the vendors. I can't walk down the street unmolested since I am obviously gringa...and they are the most insistent and sometimes obnoxious of any vendors in the country. Even children have been known to curse tourists in English for not buying.
THe lake itself is awesome though...and the shopping if you want that, is better priced for the tipica stuff than either in Chichi or in Antigua. The best views of the lake are in the dry season when you can count on it being clearer. So you have picked an excellent time to come (the dry season is from mid-Oct. to mid-May or so).
To get away from the tourists in Antigua you can do two things: walk down the streets tourists don't use (stay off Fifth Avenida and Fourth Street and away from the park), THe second strategy to see Antigua is to get up early and walk the streets before 8:30am...you will have the place to yourself if you start at dawn...you will see Antigua as it was decades and centruies ago.
Also, stay away from all the most popular tourist haunts:Frida's, Monoloco, Cafa Condesa,La Escudilla, etc.,etc....all the tourist bars and restaurants.....if you seriously want to avoid tourists!
Pro tip
Lonely Planet
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