Nearly every trip lands at Guatemala City and leaves it within the hour for Antigua, an hour west, which is the base almost everyone uses. From there the highlands open up: Lake Atitlán and its villages, the Chichicastenango market on Thursdays and Sundays, and Quetzaltenango further west for volcano hikes and Spanish schools. The Petén is the second half of the country and a flight rather than a drive, with Tikal in the rainforest and Flores on its lake as the base. Between the two sit the Verapaces, where the pools at Semuc Champey are. The Caribbean side around Lívingston is Garífuna and arrives by boat, and the Pacific is black sand. Come between November and April and you get the dry season.
1 Guatemala city guide
Fun fact
The Guatemalan capital has been moved twice by natural disaster. It sat near Ciudad Vieja until a mudslide off the Agua volcano destroyed it in 1541, moved to what is now Antigua, and moved again after the Santa Marta earthquakes of 1773 to the site it occupies today.
Stereotypes, sorted out
The realityIt is the most concentrated country in Central America and the one that rewards staying. Colonial Antigua, a caldera lake, a living Maya market culture and a Classic Maya city in rainforest all sit inside a country you could drive across in a long day if the roads were straighter.
The realityMore than four in ten Guatemalans identified as Indigenous at the 2018 census. The 22 Maya languages the state recognises are spoken at home, the markets are working commerce rather than folklore, and the huipil someone is wearing tells you which town they are from.
The realityTikal is the one everybody books, and Yaxhá, Uaxactún and El Mirador are all in the same forest. Flores is a good town in its own right, and the lake around it is where the Itzá held out against the Spanish until 1697.
The realityThree of them are permanently active and monitored around the clock by INSIVUMEH, the national volcanology institute. Fuego erupts most days, which is the reason people camp on Acatenango next door, and Pacaya and Santiaguito are the other two on the live list.
The realityAntigua is the easiest and most photographed hour of it. Xela is a working highland city with none of the polish, Cobán smells of cardamom, and the Caribbean coast at Lívingston speaks Garífuna and reads like a different country entirely.
Cultural notes that actually help
- Ask before photographing anyone, and expect a no in the highlands. Around Chichicastenango and Santiago Atitlán it is a real boundary rather than shyness, and a camera pointed at a ceremony is the fastest way to be asked to leave.
- Greet before you ask. "Buenos días" comes before the question, the price or the directions, and skipping it reads as rude in a way that nothing else you do will fix.
- Bargain gently in the markets, or not at all. A backstrap-loom huipil is months of work, and the second price is usually the real one.
- The Semana Santa alfombras are made to be destroyed by the procession and by nobody else. Do not step onto one, however finished it looks while people are still kneeling over it.
- Maximón, in Santiago Atitlán, is a living devotion rather than a sight. Go with a local guide, bring a small offering, and ask before the camera comes out.
- Spanish is a second language for many highland Guatemalans. Speak plainly and slowly rather than loudly, and expect the answer to come back the same way.
- Cover up in churches and in small towns. Antigua and the lake are used to visitors; a village on market day is not, and dressing for the beach in one is noticed.
Famous Guatemalan faces
Rigoberta Menchú
Miguel Ángel Asturias
Luis von Ahn
Ricardo Arjona
Gaby Moreno
Óscar Isaac
Jayro Bustamante
Carlos Mérida
Augusto Monterroso
Regina José Galindo
Érick Barrondo
Kevin Cordón
Carlos Ruiz
Juan José Arévalo
Jacobo Árbenz
Bernardo Arévalo
Must-try Guatemalan food
Pepián
The national dish: chicken or beef in a sauce of toasted seeds, chiles and tomato, ground back to a thick brick red.
Hilachas
Beef shredded to threads and simmered in tomato with potato and carrot. Sunday food, and the name means rags.
Kak’ik
Q’eqchi’ turkey soup from Alta Verapaz, red with achiote and sharp with coriander, served with small tamalitos.
Jocón
Chicken in a green sauce of tomatillo, coriander and spring onion. Lighter than anything else on the menu.
Revolcado
Pig’s head and offal in tomato and chile. The dish that separates the curious from the polite.
Chuchitos
Small corn tamales tied in a husk, with a piece of meat and a spoon of red sauce inside. Sold from a basket.
Tamales colorados
The Saturday-night tamal, wrapped in banana leaf, softer and far larger than a chuchito.
Paches
The potato tamal from Quetzaltenango, eaten on Thursdays because that is when they are made.
Tostadas
Fried tortillas under guacamole, black bean or tomato sauce, from a park stall as the light goes.
Garnachas
Small fried tortillas with mince, hard cheese and pickled onion. Two bites, and never one order.
Shucos
The Guatemala City hot dog: grilled meat, guacamole and cabbage in a toasted roll, ordered at midnight.
Fiambre
A cold platter of dozens of ingredients, made once a year for All Saints on 1 November and eaten in the cemetery.
Torrejas
Bread soaked in syrup and fried, the Semana Santa dessert every bakery in Antigua stacks up for Lent.
Ponche
Christmas fruit punch, simmered with panela and spices and served hot on cold December nights.
Rellenitos
Mashed plantain wrapped around sweet black bean, fried, and rolled in sugar.
Mole de plátano
Fried plantain in a chocolate and sesame sauce. A dessert built like a main course.
Champurradas
A flat sesame biscuit made for dunking, and the standard companion to a cup of coffee.
Atol de elote
Hot, thick and sweet, made from fresh maize and sold in a cup from a street pot at dawn.
Highland coffee
Antigua, Huehuetenango and Cobán are all named origins. Order it in a specialty café rather than a comedor.
