GUATEMALA · CENTRAL AMERICA
Living volcanoes, Maya temples, and a lake ringed by peaks.
Volcano hikes, ancient ruins, coffee farms and highland villages. Antigua, Lake Atitlán, Tikal, Pacaya and the country roads in between.
Only in Guatemala
Three things you can’t do anywhere else.
Plenty of countries have volcanoes, ruins and a pretty lake. Almost none let you camp beside an erupting one, stand on a live lava field, and watch dawn break over a thousand-year-old Maya city. Build the rest of the trip around these three.
Overnight
Camp on Acatenango, Watch Fuego Erupt
You climb most of a day to a camp near 3,600 metres, then spend the night watching neighbouring Fuego throw lava into the dark across the saddle. Nowhere else lets you pitch a tent this close to a constantly-erupting volcano and wake above the clouds for a pre-dawn push to the summit.
- 1 From Antigua: Adventure, 2-Day Hiking to Acatenango Volcano
- 2 Antigua, Guatemala: Volcano Acatenango Overnight Hiking
- 3 From Antigua: 2-Day Acatenango Volcano Hiking with Guide
Active crater
Roast Marshmallows on a Live Lava Field
Pacaya has been erupting on and off for half a century. You walk up through black volcanic sand to the cooled flows near the top, feel the heat rising through your boots, and toast a marshmallow over a vent. An hour from Antigua, and about as casually as you will ever stand on a living volcano.
- 1 From Antigua: Pacaya Volcano Tour in English/Spanish
- 2 From Antigua: Pacaya Volcano Trek
- 3 Hike to Pacaya Volcano from Antigua
Before dawn
Watch the Sun Come Up Over Tikal
Climb Temple IV in the dark and wait above the rainforest canopy while the mist burns off and howler monkeys start up below you. The great Maya city ran this corner of the world for a thousand years. At sunrise, with the temples breaking through the trees, you understand how.
- 1 From Flores: Tikal Guided Tour with Transportation
- 2 From Flores: Tikal Sunset Tour
- 3 Flores: Yaxha Shared Sunset Tour with Transportation & Guide
The one to book first
If you only do one thing, make it this.
The experience most first-timers build their trip around. A safe place to start before you fill in the rest of the days.
The classics
The ones almost everyone books.
Acatenango, Pacaya, Tikal and the lake. The experiences most travellers plan their trip around, and a fair place to start yours.
If it’s your first time
The route almost everyone takes.
Most first trips run the same loop, and for good reason. Land in the capital, settle into Antigua, slow right down on the lake, then fly north for the temples. Here’s the order that works.
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1
Land here
Guatemala City
Fly in, sleep, and move on in the morning. The capital is your way in and out, not the reason you came.
33 things to do → -
2
Settle in
Antigua
An hour from the airport and where most people base themselves. Cobblestones, coffee, ruins and volcanoes all within reach.
95 things to do → -
3
Slow down
Lake Atitlán
Three hours west to a volcano-ringed lake and a string of Maya villages. Plan one night, end up staying several.
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4
Head north
Tikal & Flores
A short flight to the jungle and the greatest Maya city of them all. Set the alarm early and climb a temple for sunrise.
34 things to do →
By place
Pick a corner of the country.
Each place earns a few days of its own. Antigua for the cobblestones and coffee, the lake for slowing right down, Tikal for the temples, the volcanoes for the climbing.
By tour type
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
Hike a volcano if you want the big one. Walk the coffee farms if you want it gentle. City tours, Maya ruins, lake boats, evening tastings and everything in between.
Your home base
If you’re staying in Antigua.
Most people run the whole trip out of this one small colonial city. Coffee on the cobblestones, ruined churches, rooftop bars, and a volcano on every horizon. Three good ways to fill a day from your Antigua base.
The highland lake
A day out on Atitlán.
A deep blue crater lake with three volcanoes standing over it and a different Maya village on every shore. Boat between them, hike the ridges, or just sit with a coffee and watch the water. Three ways onto the lake.
Grown on the slopes
Coffee country.
Some of the best coffee on earth grows on the volcanic soil around Antigua and the lake. Walk a working finca, pick a few cherries, watch the roast, then drink the result on the spot. Three farm mornings worth the early start.
When the sun drops behind the volcanoes
Guatemala after dark.
Long dinners, rooftop bars, rum and chocolate tastings, and the odd late-night street-food crawl. The few hours worth saving for once the volcanoes have gone to silhouette.
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