Guatemala

Have limited funds but itching to travel somewhere beautiful, interesting and out of the United States? Well then, I’ve got a recommendation for you! Earlier this month I traveled to Guatemala and I definitely think that this country has something to offer for all sorts of travelers.

Travel Info: The flight was 234$ round trip from Chicago to Guatemala City with a layover in Panama (still can’t STAND this airport but it is what it is). Yes, we did fly Copa Airlines but hey, I like to save on flights when the cost is coming out of my pocket.

Transportation: I would highly recommend taking Ubers whenever possible, AVOID cabs unless you have done a lot of research. We were ripped off by a taxi that a restaurant host knew and referred us to (just a part of traveling sometimes!) I also highly recommend using shuttles from hostels, they have some great deals and you could meet some cool travelers! Personally I do not recommend trying to drive here, some of the roads are really bad and I believe you need to be experienced and knowledgeable of the areas.

Guatemala City

Hotel: Barcelo
Cost: 81 USD a night
Free airport pick-up/drop off

This hotel was stunning, SUPER accommodating and had every amenity you could imagine. We only stayed here the first and last night of our trip because we found it hard to find a lot of information on hotels with late check-in times (our flight arrived at 8:30 PM) and some places I found didn’t offer airport pick up that late. I’m glad we stayed here though it offered a nice and relaxing jump start and end to the trip.

FOOD
The hotel has a bar with decent food Strikers, a breakfast buffet and a Japanese restaurant. If you want some tasty food nearby I definitely recommend San Martin for breakfast it was SO good! Hacienda Real was AMAZING for dinner!

*Safety: Months prior to my trip I had come across warnings about safety on several websites, blogs, YouTube videos and even when Googling Guatemala safety concerns was one of the first links provided. I cannot say anything about anyone else’s experience other than my own but I didn’t feel unsafe “crime wise” the entire trip. Zipping around a mountain in a small car? Yeah, but that’s not particular to this country. I’m not sure if harping on this country being unsafe is just magnified on the internet or if times or changing or the areas we stayed in just had a lot of tourists – but the point I am trying to make is if you are interested in visiting Guatemala but are frightened from what people or the internet say GO! Respect the people who live there and enjoy the culture but don’t let this impede you. *The only questionable thing that did occur is when taking a taxi we were pulled over by some heavily armed police who only wanted to see my passport (not my boyfriends) but they let us on our way. I normally travel with women so perhaps the fact I was traveling with a man people left me alone (I wasn’t catcalled, harassed, etc. a single time!) more so than any other trip I have been on.

Iximche

The following morning we took a 2 hour Uber to Iximche from Guatemala City for around sixty USD.

Entrance to Iximche is 50 Q or around six bucks US.

We chose to visit Iximche because we really wanted to visit some Mayan Ruins and this one seemed the most reasonable destination wise (closer to Lake Atitlan.) I would have loved to visit Tikal but we only had a week and it would have taken at least two days to venture all the way north and back to our destination.

Where to Eat: If you find yourself visiting Iximche I absolutely recommend Kawil, the food was incredible and the portions were so big and filling.

If you do choose to visit Iximche I would recommend either asking your Uber driver to wait for you or having a return shuttle set up because Ubers are near impossible to come by. We had to ask a restaurant to call a taxi for us (which then proceeded to rip us off).

Lake Atitlan

We had our taxi take us to the Panajachil area of Lake Atitlan, where we caught a boat to where our hotel was. If I were to make a recommendation of what I SHOULD have done VS. what we DID do I would stay elsewhere next time. Where we stayed was beautiful but in hindsight we agreed we could have experienced the hotel without staying the night there. We stayed at the beautiful Casa Del Mundo for about 100 USD a night. The hotel, however, is very isolated, so we needed to take a boat not only to get there but if we wanted to go anywhere else. The boats cost about 25Q or like three bucks.

We visited San Pedro and ate breakfast, walked around exploring the area and shopping for souvenirs. We had some drinks at a few cute spots (Columpio is one!) and wanted to hike the Indian Nose Trail but my partner had rolled his ankle the night before so we were unable to. If you choose to do the hikes though I recommend having a guide!

Spots to eat in the area:

Cafe Atitlan – San Pedro – this place had awesome breakfast burritos for only 5 USD!
Sababa – San Pedro – a spot with a great view! Good for grabbing a snack or light lunch and enjoying a drink while taking in the sights.
Deli Restaurante Jasmini – Panajachel – Great breakfast! so affordable, cash only.

El Paredon

This was absolutely my favorite part of the trip. However, we had to take a four hour shuttle from Panajachil in Lake Atitlan to El Paredon for 600 Quetzal which was like seventy USD. The shuttle had to board a wooden raft to reach our final destination, which was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced!

Accommodation: Driftwood Surfer Hostel
Yep, a hostel – and it was an incredibly fun experience. If you’re willing to go the route of a party hostel I cannot emphasize what a great time we had here enough. Met some awesome people, enjoyed some great food – and I got a surf lesson for like 18 USD.

Our hostel was located directly on the beach and had a pool, so we spent our time in El Paredon swimming, relaxing, having drinks and surfing. There was a family meal every night for seven USD and different organized games like flip cup.

Antigua

Our final day in Guatemala we spontaneously decided to throw Antigua into the trip. We hopped on a shuttle for 35 USD to Antigua from El Paredon. In Antigua we found a place to get or COVID tests (VITALMED – if you need a test to get home).

We grabbed delicious sandwiches at Cafe Bohemia, an adorable cafe with a great view. We visited the Santa Catalina Arch. We were able to see the nearby Volcan Fuego’s smoke since it is active and was erupting! I wish we had the time to hike Volcano Pacaya but one week just wasn’t enough time to squeeze in all of the things we wanted!

Unfortunately I have low blood pressure and suffer from really terrible altitude sickness so the increase in altitude going from El Paredon to Antigua left me not feeling so great. That and the fact we were pressed for time we did not get to hike a volcano which I would say is one of two things I wished we could squeeze into the trip.

What we didn’t have time for BUT if you have the time I think you should:

1. Hike a volcano, there’s several near Antigua and Lake Atitlan
   2. Semuc Champey – google this if you need convincing its SO pretty! But it is a struggle to get to, hence why we didn’t go.

Well, that’s all I have to write for now! If you’re thinking about visiting Guatemala and have further questions about travel to Guatemala or any other country feel free to DM me on IG @demetrakay or @runawayblond 🙂 Thanks for reading!