Hi and welcome to my travel guide for Guatemala, my favorite Central American country so far! The food was amazing, the people were so friendly, and it is just an all around beautiful country. I had about a week and a half here which was spent between Lake Atitlan and Antigua. Read on for my experiences in this amazing place!
TIPS
As usual it is good to have cash on you.
LEARN SOME SPANISH! If there is anywhere that is a good place to start learning Spanish, it is here. The people were extremely friendly and willing to teach and be patient. Give it a go!
Go to Lake Atitlán!
ADVENTURES
Lake Atitlán is the first place I went upon landing at the airport in Guatemala City. The ride there was about 3.5 hours via private shuttle, plenty of time to take in the beautiful countryside. We stayed in an Air Bnb in Santa Catarina palopó which had incredible views overlooking the lake with the backdrop of the volcano! Here is a link to the Air Bnb that we stayed at, which is a bit pricy at $138/night but there are definitely cheaper spots in towns like Panajachel!
The lake has many little towns and there are ferry boats that will take you from one to another. We started in Panajachel and stopped in to San Marcos La Laguna and San Pedro La Laguna.
San Marcos La Laguna had a lot of hippie/ chill vibes with juice bars etc. We found a little spot there in the back of El Dragon Hotel and Restaurant to swim and lay in the sun. There were also some cute little alleyways with stores, restaurants, etc to explore.