Guatemala Travel Guide

Browse the Guatemala Photo Gallery

Top Things to See

• See the sights of Guatemala City, which include Parque Central, bordered by the National Palace and the Cathedral. Not to be missed is the world’s largest Relief Map (of the Republic) in Minerva Park, and the city’s wonderful art and archaeology museums.

• See one of the world’s most ancient lakes, Lake Amatitlan, which is surrounded by archaeological remains dating back to 2000BC. Another lake worth seeing is Lake Atitlán, framed by three volcanoes: Tolimán, Atitlán and San Pedro. Waterskiing, swimming and boating are all available.

• Take a trip to former capital, Antigua Guatemala. Despite countless earthquakes, floods and fires, Antigua is a beautiful place of multicolored, single-story buildings, tropical gardens, plazas, fountains and cobbled streets.

• Marvel at the remains of great stone heads and other carved reliefs dotted around the sugarcane fields of Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, northwest of Escuintla. Further south is La Democracia archaeological site, with dramatic basalt sculptures of heads with closed eyes and furrowed brows.

• Survey superb craftsmanship throughout Guatemala at towns like Jocotenango (for ceramics) and San Antonio Aguascalientes (for beautiful handwoven textiles). Salamá is a good place to buy silver, clay and leather handicrafts. Momostenango (City of Altars) is recommended for traditional handwoven ponchos.

• Visit Guatemala’s major Mayan sites. The spectacular ruins of Tikal encompass vast pyramidal temples, ball courts, causeways, plazas and public buildings. Other impressive sites include: El Mirador, Uaxactún, Ixlú, Yaxhá, Aguateca and Quiriguá, home to the largest Maya-carved stelae yet discovered.

• Head for the Tikal National Park for diverse wildlife, including howler monkeys, tropical birds, ocelots, jaguars and brocket deer. There are over 50,587 hectares (125,000 acres) of rare forest and tropical vegetation.

• See two of the finest examples of 16th-century baroque architecture in El Progreso: the parish churches of San Agustín Acasaguastlán and San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán.

• Visit the town of Esquipulas, home to the sacred Basílica of Esquipulas with its Icon of the Black Christ that dates back to 1594. Pilgrims from across Central America gather here on 15 January. Esquipulas is also the seat of the Central American Parliament.

• Explore the unique highlands region of Western Guatemala (known in Spanish as El Altiplano), inhabited by the greatest number of modern day, indigenous Mayan groups - many of whom still speak the languages and uphold the sacred rituals of their ancestors.

Top Things to Do

•Climb a volcano. At 4,200m (13,776ft), Tajumulco is Central America’s highest volcano but a technically easy climb. More challenging is Tolimán, with a twin peak summit. Alternatively, ascend Agua (or Hunapu) and you can sleep in a refuge inside the crater.

• Get wet. Río Dulce and Lakes Izabal and Atitlán are good for windsurfing, with Lake Atitlán also popular for diving. Guatemala’s fast-moving rivers, including El Cahabón, El Chiquibul, El Motagua, La Pasión and El Usamacinta are ideal for boating and shooting rapids.

• Catch a whopper. Lakes and rivers good for fishing include El Lago de Izabal, El Petén, Río Dulce and the rivers of Alta Verepaz. The Pacific Coast is a world-class location for sports fishing. Sea fishing is rated highly off San José.

• Take a boat trip from Livingston along the Río Dulce, which winds its way through steep cliffs, dense vegetation and lakes to Amatique Bay. Its waterways pass through mangroves and lagoons of the Chocón Machacas Biosphere, home to manatees (sea cows).

• In towns like Antigua Guatemala, Easter is when locals and visitors flock to see spectacular processions; huge litters bearing religious icons are carried over carpets of flowers and colored sawdust.

• Drink coffee in either Cobán, capital of the Alta Verapaz Department, or Antigua - both vying for title of the most delicious coffee in Guatemala.

• Embark on the adventurous Spanish Rural Tourism Plan; visitors can travel on horseback, by bicycle, on foot or by 4-wheel drive from Quetzaltepeque through San Luis Jiltepeque to the attractive departmental capital of Jalapa, staying in family homes en route.

• Take a beautiful drive into the mountains around Huehuetenango. Visit the isolated village of Todos Santos Cuchumatán to see traditionally dressed men wearing high-necked red shirts, red and white-striped trousers, black capes and red fabric tied under straw hats.

• Enjoy ghoulish festivities for the Day of the Dead (All Souls’ Day) on 1 November, in which Guatemalans celebrate the lives of dead loved ones. Graveyards overflow with flowers and color, sugar skulls, skeletal fancy dress and gifts.

• Visit Totonicapan during the week celebrating the feast days of San Miguel Arcangel (24-30 September) when traditional dances (morerías) are held, with descriptive titles such as Mexicans and The Deer and the Monkey.

See Contact Addresses for further tourist information