Hi! I'm Stephan and I blog about my travels around the world! follow me so you can always see my latest update in your feed!

Currently, I'm putting out a series of my latest trip to Guatemala and Belize. This is part 5. If you haven't read the first parts, you can find them here:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4

Since I was in Prague last week, I was not able to upload the final part of this series. But as they say, better late than never.

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In the last part, we ended by visiting Lake Atitlan where I did some altitude diving and explored some of the towns around the lake. After a week or so we went back to Panajachel to find a chicken bus that would bring us to Antigua. After asking around a bit we founded a bus that was waiting in an alley for its departure to Antigua. The trip is around 110 kilometers and will last around 2 till 3 hours. Although in the beginning, the bus is not that full, prepare for it to be crammed near the end. You will be sitting with 3 people in each row and someone will just squeeze himself in the aisle between the rows, hold in place by just people =)

Antigua

The colonial town of Antiqua used to be the main capital when the country was still a colony of Spain. But in the year 1776, partly because Antigua was almost completely destroyed by the 1773 earthquake, they moved the capital to Guatemala City. After this switch, it received its current name La Antigua Guatemala or in short: Antigua. Prior to this switch, it was called (by its founders in 1543) Santiago de los Caballeros.

Arriving by chicken bus in Antigua

The central square

Antigua is a perfect place for either starting or ending your journey. It's exactly what you would expect from a colonial town. Colored houses and churches, narrow cobblestone streets, cute markets and a big square where everyone meets. Put some volcanos in the background and you've just described Antigua. We stayed in Antigua almost a week, but we also climbed the Acatenango volcanos which takes two days and I recommend to take another day to properly rest. In our opinion, a week is perfect to explore this beautiful town.

Antigua streetview with the Agua volcano in the distance	-

Places to Stay in Antigua

There are some great hostels to be found. We first stayed in El Hostal. Clean rooms, proper breakfast and around 500 meters from the central square. Later we also stayed one night at Wicho & Charlie's because we had to get up quite early the next day for our Acatenango hike. We booked this hike at OX Expeditions which held its office on the other side of the street from Wicho & Charlie's. This hostel is also not bad in terms of price/quality, but a little less social. On the other end, how much can you tell after just one night? After the volcano hike, we stayed at another place. Since it was our last vacation day and we knew we would be pretty exhausted from the hike, we had booked something above our normal budget. We stayed at Nina Boutique Hotel which was a really beautiful place. Big room, a pool, sunroof and a massive breakfast. Too bad we couldn't really enjoy it since we ended up with a Shigella bacteria from the hike :(

Things to do in Antigua

Aside from the accommodation, Antigua, of course, has a lot of spectacular sights to behold. For instance the Arco de Santa Catalina or the Iglesia de la Merced. Two iconic landmarks that you've probably seen before in travel guides or travel programs. If you visit the Arco de Santa Catalina early in the morning you'll have the best chance of capturing it without (too many) people. Don't want cars in your picture? Visit the Arco in the weekend.

Arco de Santa Catalina	Iglesia de la Merced

Iglesia de la Merced

Iglesia de la Merced is a baroque church from 1767, consisting out of a luxurious sanctuary and cloister. You will especially enjoy the stucco work. There are also many ruins scattered all over the city. Ranging from small houses to big sites like La Recoleccion. Also, a good way to spend your afternoon is just sit down on a bench in the central square and watch all the different people enjoying their day, sellers trying to get rid of their goods or kids chasing a flock of pigeons.

Kids on the central square

Antigua market

You can also visit the highest building in Antigua, be aware since the rooftop bar is at the third story... From there you can see all the nearby volcanos whilst enjoying a drink. If you really want to see Antigua and it's surroundings you should visit one of the view tops in the hills. There is Cerro de la Cruz. After about 300 steps you will be rewarded with a great view of the city and its nearby volcanoes. Another good viewpoint is the organic farm and restaurant Cerro San Cristobal. You can take a shuttle bus at Nim Pot (Centro de Textiles Tradicionales). A shop at 6a Avenida Norte. The shuttle is free of charge but does not have a schedule. SO you'll just have to sit and wait for it to show up. The restaurant offers a great view of Antigua and also serves some very nice nachos!

Time lapse from the rooftop bar

View from Cerro San Cristobal

Around Antigua - hiking a volcano

Something I definitely recommend! We hiked the 3.979 meters high Acatenango volcano. An inactive volcano which offers a great view of the nearby active volcano Fuego. Don't be too greedy, trying to save on this trip. Your safety is worth something at such heights. You can do it for 20 dollars, but don't expect too much of it. You will leave Antigua late in the morning thus you will have less time on the volcano (and the worst camping spot). The groups are big, up to 30 people, the food and tents are bad, you can't borrow any equipment and even your guide might be drunk. We paid 89 dollars a person at OX Expeditions and it's worth every cent. They organize a briefing the evening before where they will explain everything about the trip and what you can expect. There will be enough food and wine and the tents are of good quality. A good alternative is Old Town Outfitters which are slightly more expensive than OX (I think around $ 125 or so).

Fuego seen from the Acatenango

We left early in the morning for some breakfast, that's why we slept across the street at Wicho & Charlie's. After breakfast, a minivan took us to the start of the hike. The first day you will hike to 3.600 meters where you will spend the night. During the hike, you will travel through multiple microclimates like a rainforest, a cloud forest, a pine forest and finally a barren volcanic landscape. The climb is pretty challenging and the heavy backpack is surely not helping. But you'll get there. If you're not a big climbing fan you can also hire a porter to carry your backpack for you. Might help you actually enjoying the hike =)

More shots from the Fuego	-

Because we left quite early in the morning, we also were one of the first to arrive at base camp. The guides fixed our tents and went out to collect some firewood. Our task for the rest of the day? Watching the eruptions of the nearby Fuego volcano. Somethings that never gets boring. Especially when the sun goes down and you start to see the lava.

Setting up the tents with a volcano in the background

Around 4 AM the guides woke us up for the last 400 meters up to the summit. The hike was though because of the volcanic sand and took about one/ one and a half hour. Every two steps up you will slide one back, but you will all forget about that once you'll reach the top of the volcano. The superb view of the surrounding volcanoes Agua, Fuego en Pacaya and the feeling that you get once you realize how high above sea level you are, is something you will not forget soon. We spend a small hour on the summit. It was pretty cold and windy. Descending back to base camp was quick because they made us run through the sand. I even flipped over but didn't hurt myself luckily ;D Even when I got back home in the Netherlands I found volcanic sand everywhere in my backpack.

Evening shot of Agua

Night shot of Fuego

Gopro shot on the summit

Shot on the summit of the Acatenango

After we had some breakfast, we descended back in about 3 hours to the start of the hike and took the minivan back to Antigua. This volcano hike was one of the best things we've ever done so far, at least in Guatemala.

Descending is always quicker than getting up there!

Breakfast with a view

On our way back down again

Well, this was the last part of my series about Guatemala and Belize. Hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. If you have any questions about places we visited or stayed, just drop a comment below or look me up on Discord. I'm usually hanging around in the PAL channel or the All Dutch channel. Feel free to message me.

If you enjoy my work, please consider upvoting it and follow me for more travel blogs around the world. Also, check out my Steepshot account for daily travel shots!

Cheers, Stephan

If you’re interested in any of my previous work, feel free to check it out below:

• Things to do in Guatemala | Travel tips for Guatemala and Belize part 4 | Semuc Champey and Lake Atitlan
• Things to do in Guatemala. Travel tips for Guatemala and Belize part 3
• Things to do in Belize. Travel tips for Guatemala and Belize part 2
• Travel tips for Guatemala and Belize part 1
• Weekend trip to London
• Relaxing and shopping in the UK. Leamington Spa and Birmingham in a nutshell
• Old castles and Shakespeare's birthplace. The UK at its best

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