Scroll to see things to do in Antigua and suggested activities in Petén, Lake Atitlán, and beaches. These are some suggestions to get you excited and give you a sense of what Guatemala has to offer. Guatemala is small but visiting Petén (where Tikal is located), Lake Atitlán, and beaches in addition to Antigua can be a great addition to your trip!

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This beautiful, historic city is also the location of our wedding :) Walk around! Visit the famous Santa Catalina Arc, the beautiful yellow church of La Merced, visit the ruins of El Carmen Church, Candelaria, Santa Clara, and Capuchinas Convent. Visit Nim Po't located by the Santa Catalina Arc to see all the typical textiles from around the country, decorative masks, and maybe buy a souvenir or five.

Mesón Panza Verde

Clio’s - French fusion with great wine list, cocktails, and lovely patio. We recommend making a reservation

Once Once - vegan fusion

Santo Spirito - Italian cuisine

Bistrot Cinq - French fusion

Ulew - amazing cocktails

Antigua Cerveza - local beer, pub eats, great rooftop

Hector's - deli and sit-down patio

Frida's - Mexican with a great rooftop

Samsara - cozy vegan café

Cactus Taco Shop

La Fonda de la Calle Real - traditional Guatemalan fare

Saberíco - laidback garden restaurant serving Guatemalan and international food

Vast, sparsely populated, and jungle-covered, Guatemala's largest and northernmost department is a wonderland of exploration. Whether it's the spectacular architectural achievements of the Classic Maya, the bounty of the forest, or the chance to lounge lakeside that inspires you, it's all here in abundance.

Activities Lucía & Matt Recommend

Tikal Day Tour

In the heart of the jungle, surrounded by lush vegetation, lies one of the major sites of Mayan civilization, inhabited from the 6th century B.C. to the 10th century A.D. The ceremonial centre contains superb temples and palaces, and public squares accessed by means of ramps. Remains of dwellings are scattered throughout the surrounding countryside.

Flores

Flores Island in Guatemala is located in Peten, one hour south of Tikal. It is surrounded by the third biggest lake in Guatemala, Lake Peten Itza. The picturesque town of Flores Guatemala offers you the chance to enjoy stunning landscapes, cultural activities, plus, it is the gateway to most of the archaeological Mayan parks around the area.

This quiet island is one of the 25 most colourful places in the world. It hosts a big concentration of restaurants, cafés, and pubs to keep you busy during your stay. Flores is the perfect place to relax for a couple of days, combining it with awesome things to do like exiting excursions to the Crib of the Mayas, one of the biggest civilizations in the history of the world.

Yaxhá

The Classic Maya sites of Yaxhá, Nakum, and El Naranjo form a triangle that is the basis for a national park covering more than 37,000 hectares and bordering the Parque Nacional Tikal to the west. Yaxhá, the most visited of the trio, stands on a hill between two sizeable lakes, Lago Yaxhá, and Lago Sacnab.

The setting, the sheer size of the site, the number of excellently restored buildings, and the abundant jungle flora and fauna all make it particularly worth visiting.

During its heyday, in the 8th century, it was home to a population of 20,000. Its 400-plus structures included five acropolises, two astronomical observatories and three ball courts.

It takes at least a couple of hours to look around the main groups of ruins. The high point (literally), towering above all else, is Structure 216 in the Acrópolis Este (East Acropolis), which affords magnificent views in every direction. On an island near the south shore of Laguna Yaxhá is a separate, postclassic archaeological site, Topoxté.

The site is 11 km north of the Puente Ixlú–Melchor de Mencos road, accessed via unpaved road from a turnoff 32 km from Puente Ixlú and 33 km from Melchor de Mencos.

El M

irador

Buried within the furthest reaches of the Petén jungle, just 7 km south of the Mexican border, the Late Preclassic metropolis at El Mirador contains one of the largest clusters of buildings of any single Maya site, among them the biggest pyramid ever built in the Maya world. Ongoing excavations have only scratched the surface, so many are still hidden beneath the jungle.

El Mirador (The Lookout), the name given to the site by "chicleros" (chicle harvesters) before its 'discovery' by archaeologists, is due to the excellent views provided by some of the pyramids. La Danta (the Tapir) looms some 70m above the forest floor. Another pyramid, El Tigre, measures 55m high and its base covers 18,000 sq meters – six times the area of Tikal's biggest structure, Templo IV. La Danta, El Tigre and the other temples erected here display the unusual 'triadic' style, in which three pyramids crown a large platform, with the one in the middle dominating the other two, which face each other at a lower level. The facades of these buildings were once embellished with carved masks.

Cra

ter Azul

This stunning spring-fed tributary lies just a 90-minute boat ride from Sayaxché, during which you pass birdlife and a mix of farms, fields, and forests. The last few hundred meters are too shallow for the engine, and your guide will row the rest of the way. At the source, the water clarity is unsurpassed, allowing for stunning underwater photography and swimming. A small dock is the only facility, so you will need to bring all sunscreen, food and beverages, and carry out your trash.

Lago de Atitlán leaves even the most seasoned travelers marveling. Fishers ply the lake's aquamarine surface. Fertile hills dot the landscape, and over everything looms the volcanoes, permeating the entire area with unique and striking beauty. It never looks the same twice. No wonder many have fallen in love with the place and made their homes here.

Lake Atitlán is renowned as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, and is one of Guatemala's most important national and international tourist attractions. Aldous Huxley famously wrote of it in his 1934 travel book Beyond the Mexique Bay: "Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing."

The largest town is Panajachel and there are several towns surrounding the lake. Lucías favourite? San Marcos La Laguna. One of the prettiest of the lakeside villages, San Marcos La Laguna lives a double life. The mostly Maya community occupies the higher ground, while expats and visitors cover a flat jungly patch toward the shoreline with paths snaking through banana, coffee, and avocado trees. The two converge under the spreading matapalo (strangler fig) tree of the central plaza.

Wherever you stay around the lake, you can get around by public or private boat. so wherever you stay you can visit San Marcos La Laguna during the day, take a hike around the mountains, go to the hot springs, kayak or paddle board, walk through the towns and artisanal markets, or enjoy a day by the sun.

Guatemala has two coasts, on the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The Pacific side has black volcanic sand beaches, while the smaller Atlantic Caribbean side has white sand beaches. They are both worth visiting! It all depends on how much time you'd like to spend here and what kind of activities you prefer.

Monterrico

Best beach for watching the sunset

Monterrico is a favorite with capitalenos (people from the capital) on weekends and during Holy Week. The town is home to some of the best beach resorts in Guatemala. It’s about a three-hour drive here from the city if you take the route via Iztapa. If you’re up for a true adventure, travel to La Avellana instead and take the ferry along the canals through the natural reserve until you reach Monterrico town: the ferry even transports chicken buses.

The beach at Monterrico is one of the best black-sand beaches in Guatemala. It’s quiet during the week, but becomes very busy over weekends and during Holy Week. A particularly good time to be on the beach is around sunset to watch that fiery red ball slowly sink below the horizon without the black sand searing the soles of your feet. Instead of looking out straight across the ocean, turn slightly to your right and you’ll get the setting sun’s reflection in the water as it washes over the beach. You may even get the silhouette of a surfer amidst all those shades of pink, orange, and yellow.

El Paredón

Best beach for surfing

With its thatch-roofed houses, the tiny town of El Paredón looks like your typical laid-back beach town. Like so many of Guatemala’s Pacific beaches, this beach has dark sand and quite a slope down to the water. In recent years, however, the secret got out. If you’re looking for the best beach resorts in Guatemala that cater specifically to surfers, El Paredón is the place to find them.

Despite the fact that you can get to El Paredón by tourist shuttle direct from Antigua, the vibe in town remains decidedly laid-back. Wi-Fi is spotty on good days, but on bad days, you can forget about cybersurfing.

The surf’s up in the real world anyway, and El Paredón offers something for every level of surfer. The waves are consistent throughout the year, and they tend not to be crowded. Surfing is such an integral part of the lifestyle here that just about every hotel offers boards for rent and, if they don’t offer surfing classes themselves, they can arrange these for you with one of the surf schools in town.

Iztapa

Best beach for sailfishing

Once Guatemala’s principal port until, Puerto San José was built some 15 km up the coast, Iztapa is home to a scenic black-sand beach – really a sandbar – backed by a river flowing parallel to it. There’s some decent surfing to be had, and Iztapa is a great place from where to go whale watching. But fishing is the main attraction. Iztapa is one of the best Pacific beaches in Guatemala – and one of the best spots in the world – for sailfishing. World records for sailfishing have been set here, and those in the know say that on average you can catch between 15 and 25 sailfish in a day.

The town has good tourist infrastructure with good hotels and resorts to choose from. Several of these cater to anglers and can arrange fishing trips for you.

To really get off the beaten track in Guatemala, travel east to the Rio Dulce, board a boat, and head downstream, eventually arriving in Livingston on the shores of the Caribbean.

Playa Blanca, Guatemala’s best beach on the Caribbean coast is about an hour’s boat ride northwest of Lívingston. In fact, the only way to get here is by boat, and the easiest way to do this is to book a tour through a travel agency in Lívingston or Puerto Barrios. The beach is privately owned, so check that your tour includes the price of admission. Many tours also include a stopover at Siete Altares, a series of small waterfalls and natural rock pools set in the jungle just off the coast.

What’s so special about Playa Blanca? The name means “white beach,” and this is exactly what you get: a postcard-picture beach with white sand and lots of coconut palms. The quality of the water depends on the weather. When it’s been raining, the water tends to be murkier. Guatemala’s Caribbean beaches are subject to erosion, so Playa Blanca isn’t very wide. That means that you can get a beer at the on-site restaurant and sit in the shade of a palm tree while the water practically laps at your feet.

Punta de Manabique

Best beach for ecotourism

Punta de Manabique is a peninsula some 20 km north of Puerto Barrios, and it’s a wildlife reserve where the rainforests and mangrove forests are home to mammals like spider monkeys, howler monkeys, jaguars, tapirs, and peccaries, as well as green iguanas and more than 300 bird species. In the mangrove swamps, you’ll find manatees and crocodiles, while sea turtles come from the ocean to lay their eggs on the beaches. The beaches are long and narrow, with rough seas on the eastern side and calmer waters on the western side.

Playa Punta de Manabique itself is located near the tip of the peninsula where you’ll also find the small community of Punta de Manabique. The beach is narrow, and the light beige sand is often littered with driftwood and pieces of coral. This coral comes from the nearby coral outcrops, which are the only ones in Guatemala. A long dock provides a starting point from where you can snorkel in the calm waters. Rustic accommodations can be found here as well.

The easiest way to get to Playa Punta de Manabique is to book a trip through a travel agency in Puerto Barrios or Lívingston.

Amatique Bay

Best beach for the all-inclusive resort experience

With its friendly staff, thoughtful layout so that the pool with water slides doesn’t create noise in the luxurious rooms and plenty of things to do, from horse-riding to beachside massages, Amatique Bay Resort and Marina just outside Puerto Barrios is one of the best all-inclusive beach resorts in Guatemala.

An old stone lighthouse complete with cannons overlooks a private beach where the light-coloured sand becomes a soccer field or beach volleyball court when enough people want to play. Run-off from a small creek and the marina means that the water here is quite murky. It’s great for fishing, kayaking, and even bobbing around on a giant inflatable banana but not so much for swimming. Still, the sea is calm, and the views are fantastic.

The resort offers a variety of accommodation options and two on-site restaurants. You can get here from Puerto Barrios by taxi.