I grew up in Ohio. A dear childhood friend of mine moved to Guatemala for a few years after we went to college and she fell in LOVE with the country, the people and the culture. She always talked about how much she wanted to go back.
When we moved to Costa Rica I was searching Skyscanner one day and found roundtrip tickets from Costa Rica to Guatemala for $88 each and I decided we had to go!
This was our first backpacking experience with Beckham and we had so much fun. I probably say that now because the trip is over and my traumatizing memories replaced with beautiful pictures haha.
In all seriousness, though, we had such a blast in Guatemala and I honestly think the best part was having Beckham there. The people loved our blonde whirling dervish and we had nothing but positive experiences with how kind and loving they were to our family.
It’s hard to travel with a two year old but we love traveling and we so very much want to expose Beckham to cultures and people all over the world. We have a special place in our hearts for people that welcome our family with open arms, like Guatemala.
I’m a very visual person so I like seeing maps to visualize a route!
Guatemala is a large country and with our limited one week itinerary, we were not able to see everything on our list, but I will share what we saw! We focused (starting at the southernmost point and moving north) on Guatemala City, Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Flores and Tikal National Park.
If I had more time, I would have LOVED to add Semuc Champey and Rio Dulce to the list!
Guatemala City
Airport
Guatemala City is where the main international airport (La Aurora) is, and where we flew into. There are a ton of taxis, but Uber works great (cheaper) in Guatemala and can take you anywhere from the airport.
Guatemala City is a HUGE city and traffic can be terrible during rush hour. Plan accordingly!
Guatemala City is also where you can buy bus tickets or shuttle transfers to go to any of the main tourist destinations in Guatemala. This is where we bought our overnight bus tickets to Tikal (just a few days before). Ask your hotel to help you!
Hotel San Carlos
We were SO impressed with the service, cleanliness and comfort of this hotel. It felt like we were sleeping in a mansion out of a black and white novel (if that makes ANY sense haha) and everyone was so helpful and accomodationg.
Okay this place was actually a little stressful with a toddler because of all of the breakable furniture and decorations but if you don’t have a child that literally cannot sit still for more than a min, it shouldn’t be a problem!
They had free pick up from the airport, which we loved, but it was just a LITTLE fancy for our tastes. We constantly felt like Beckham was going to break something.
Breakfast is really fancy and you get to choose something from the menu, which always makes me feel special haha.
And Beckham loved the pool, so really we can’t complain! It was just a scary place to stay with a toddler haha.
Catch an Overnight Bus to Tikal (or Other Location)
Guatemala City is a a giant transportation hub and you can catch a bus or collectivo (shuttle van) to any of the main tourist spots in the country.
Popular spots are Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Semuc Champey, Flores, Tikal, and Rio Dulce. I honestly think you would be good to schedule any of these the day of, but it’s smart to reserve your spot at least a day in advance to be sure.
Antigua
Antigua is a beautiful city a few hours (with traffic) west of Guatemala City.
It became the Spanish colonial capital in 1543 and was the center of Spain’s power throughout Central America.
In 1773 there was a huge earthquake and much of the city was destroyed. A lot of effort was given to rebuild and regrow the city.
It became a World Heritage site in 1979, which brought in a lot of Spanish-language schools. There is now a really cool mixed culture of foreign students, Guates that have been living there all of their lives, and an expat population.
The city has a small town feel with really cool historically preserved/rebuilt architecture and views of volcanoes in the background. If you like history and coffee, this is your place!
If we didn’t have Beckham with us or had more time, I would have LOVED to do the overnight hike to Acatenango. You can camp up by the mouth of the volcano and watch the lava spurt out all night! We met a lot of backpackers who had done it and they said it was incredible.
Check out a Coffee Shop or Cafe
Antigua is full of a ton of coffee shops and cute little cafes!
This was not something we enjoyed with Beckham…..cute cafes and toddlers don’t mix haha.
With all of the Spanish schools around, you can find a ton of students relaxing in coffee shops studying their Spanish or teachign English!
Hike Cerro de La Cruz
Cerro de la Cruz is a FREE and easy hike up some stairs that will give you an awesome view of Antigua and Pacuaya volcano in the background.
You can get a taxi for a few dollars to the bottom of the stairs, or walk there in 10 minutes from the center of town.
It is best to go in the morning before the clouds roll in, especially during rainy season (April-Oct).
Get a Guided Walking Tour of the City
This was really important to me because I love learning about the history of the place we are visiting.
If you walk into the central park in Antigua there are guides hanging out everywhere, looking for work. Get an official one with a vest and a badge!
Tip: Don’t be afraid to talk to a few of them before choosing one. Our guide had THE quietest voice and though he did a great job, it was really hard to understand him all of the time.
Our tour cost us $20 for the 3 of us and lasted about 2 hours.
Dan was the best and played with Beckham chasing pigeons half of the time so I could learn and hear. I love my Dan!
Check out the Famous Arch
This arch has become a symbol of Antigua and has a lot of history behind it! It connects an old school and convent so that the nuns living there would never have to mingle with the outside world.
Today the convent is an INCREDIBLE and very expensive hotel that you can stay at. We were able to walk through. They were playing the most beautiful classical music and I had flashbacks of my time singing in my touring choir growing up. Weddings of wealthy families are held there.
On a clear day you can see the entire Volcan de Agua through the arch.
Tip: If you want a good picture with no people, go really early in the morning! Try taking pictures from both sides of the arch!
Stay in Hotel Palacio de Dona Beatriz
This place was incredible! It was half indoors and half outdoors, which I loved because it was so different and you could see the stars at night from the main lobby area.
We usually stay in very budget accomodations but since we found such cheap plane tickets we decided to treat ourselves a bit.
Rooms here are not extravagant, but do run about $95-$110 a night.
An incredible breakfast is included and they even had their driver take us into town.
The first night we arrived we were so hungry and didn’t want to go back into traffic and get dinner (Beckham was in rare form) so we tried to order Uber eats (ended up ordering it from Utah so it obviously never came haha) and finally just ordered room service. They make YUMMY PIZZA!
Walk Around and Enjoy the Architecture
One of my favorite parts of Antigua was just walking around and seeing the architecture! There are a TON of yummy restaurants and cool buildings.
I would dedicate an entire day to literally just walking around!
Our tour guide took us to a really yummy restaurant (Antigua has a big food scene) with a cool roof on top. It’s really just a tranquil beautiful city.
Lake Atitlan
This was definitely my favorite part of Guatemala. If you love being surrounded by water, LAKE ATITLAN IS YOUR PLACE!!!!
I would honestly go back JUST to spend another week at this lake.
Lake Atitlan is about 3 hours from both Guatemala City and Antigua. It is a lake surrounded by 11 towns (5 that tourists can stay at).
Here is what I recommend doing at Atitlan:
Kayak/Paddle Board at Casa del Mundo
There are hostels and hotels all over the lake that rent out kayaks and paddle boards but I 100% recommend Casa del Mundo.
It has the most incredible view of the lake and serves AMAZING food. Beckham was super happy with his oatmeal, and we loved our breakfast burritos! And honestly we were surprised by how reasonable the prices were for such a fancy place!
They let us leave our stuff there for a few hours while we paddle boarded around.
It was a blast!
$10 for a paddle board for 2 hours.
Meet the Locals
You know how I talked about how kind and accepting Guates (people from Guatemala) were to us? It started the second we arrived in Guatemala City and was especially prominent around Lake Atitlan.
We were bringing our bags from the boat into our accommodations and we turned and Beckham had started playing soccer with the local kids. They passed to him, helped him kick, and were so patient with him.
He loved being a part of their group and we loved them for playing with him.
Guates are VERY family friendly people and love kids!
Check out the Villages Around the Lake
Lake Atitlan has 11 main villages around it and the fun thing is they are all so different!! I would recommend having a home base at one of them (if you are there for less than 3 days) and then take day trips to check out the other villages.
They each have a different vibe, from party town, artisan village, best views of the lake, best place to hike, etc.
The names of the towns are: Santiago, Panajachel, San Pedro, Santa Cruz, San Juan, Jaibalito, San Marcos, Santa Catarina, San Antonio, San Lucas, San Pablo.
My favorites were San Juan and San Marcos. 🙂
You can also do a hike around the entire like and see all of the villages. This takes several days and was not recommended while we were there for safety reasons but I have had some friends that have done it and it looks AMAZING!
Spend a Night at Iguana Perdida
I’m not that particular about accommodations so I don’t tend to do a lot of research on where to stay. I don’t tend to spend a lot of time at my accommodations so they aren’t really that important to me. And I don’t often write about where I stayed, unless I REALLY loved it.
My dear friend that lived in Guatemela told me about this place and we LOVED it.
It is a really reasonable priced hostel that is impeccably clean, has the best views of the lake, and offers a ton of activities. Every night there is something different to do, whether it is salsa classes, live music, tacos, etc.
This is also a place where you can get SCUBA certified in the lake! You can see sunken parts of the volcano and a few boats or something. We heard it wasn’t really cool diving, but I bought a tshirt anyway haha.
Flores
Flores is a beautiful island on Lake Peten in northeastern Guatemala and really the only reason we went there is because it is a jumping off point to Tikal National Park.
You can’t really get to Tikal without passing through here, and I would definitely recommend spending a day or two here if you are going all of the way up to Tikal!
Eat at Cool Beans Cafe
Head to Rey Kanek for Chechenal Beach
Chechenal Beach has clear water and is absolutely beautiful!
This is actually on Rey Kanek Island across from Flores. You take a 3 minute boat to get to Rey Kanek from Flores and then walk about 30 minutes through the jungle. You can hear Howler monkeys and go to an amazing viewpoint (number 6 on the map above).
We brought our snorkel and saw a ton of fish!
Tikal National Park
It was really hard to decided whether or not to add this to our itinerary because we had limited time and it is a 9 hour drive northeast from Guatemala City.…really far away from anything else we wanted to see or do.
BUT the Mayan ruins really are one of the most unique things to see in Guatemala and so we decided we had to go. Also it helped a lot that there is an awesome night bus that will take you there WHILE you sleep.
We were so glad we went. It was an exhausting last part of the trip with Beckham, and I wouldn’t REALLY recommend a 9 hour overnight bus ride with a two year old, but we survived haha.
Take an Overnight Bus from Guatemala City to Flores
Flores is the jumping off point to Tikal National Park.
A 9 hour bus ride may seem like a terrible idea, but it really isn’t that bad. The thing I love about it is that (if you are able to sleep on a bus) you sleep and wake up at your next destination. It saves you from wasting an entire day just getting there.
Transportation and accommodations are wrapped up into one, so it also saves money. This 9 hour bus ride was less than $30 per person, which is a TON cheaper than airline tickets.
You can also fly into Flores, but tickets are often at least $170 round trip.
Time and budget-wise this is very much the way to go. You really don’t want to rent a car in Guatemala. You can’t use it at Lake Atitlan and it is just too easy to use public transportation in other parts of the country.
We did a ton of research and most of the bus companies are the same. You can buy tickets in Guatemala City maybe even the day before the trip. We bought ours a few days before we planned on leaving, just to be sure we had seats.
The bus is actually pretty comfy and will make a stop or two so everyone can stretch their legs and get food.
The bus goes to Flores and then you can take a shuttle from Flores to Tikal (1 hour, $10). It was SUPER confusing but they have a whole system there and that’s what everyone does.
Spend Some Time at Flores on Your Way There or Back
Flores is a little island about an hour south of Tikal, and is where the airport is/bus station for people heading to Tikal.
It’s a beautiful island and well worth spending a day here. See above for what to do on Flores.
Stay at the Jungle Lodge
We had such an incredible experience at Tikal National Park and I think so much of it was because we did the sunrise tour.
The best way to do the sunrise tour is to stay IN the National Park. There are only 3 accommodations (I think) that are right inside the park, and this is one of them. This is the budget-friendly option, so I thought it would be like a hostel, but it was SO NICE!!!
You can literally walk to the ruins from the lodge. The restaurant is wonderful and there is a pool to cool off in. What more could you want??
You can also hire guides here for the park (you NEED to have one for the sunrise tour because you can’t enter in the park before it opens without a guide).
You can book a guide in Flores, too, but I would totally recommend just booking one when you get to the Lodge because these guys know their stuff!
Sunrise Tour of The Ruins
Don’t expect to actually see the sunrise, but there is something about being in the park as everything gets light.
You get picked up from your lodge around 4:30 am if you are staying in the park like us (Guatemala time, which is kind of like Tico time in Costa Rica haha). You can also take the sunrise tour by getting picked up in Flores but then you have to leave at like 3 am….ew?
If you stay at the lodge you can order a box breakfast ($6), which almost everyone at our lodge did. It had a sandwich, juice, apple, cookies and cheese.
With your guide you walk for about 30 minutes into the park as the guide tells history.
You can hear the howler monkeys screaming like crazy!
The guides will take you up to the top of the one of the ruins for one of the best views of the park and you sit on the top and watch the world wake up.
It’s a pretty cool experience.
About $30 a person, including your day entrance into the park.
You will see pictures all over Guatemala of a “beautiful sunrise” in the park, but that rarely happens. It’s usually very cloudy in the mornings, but it’s still awesome!
Spend the morning in Tikal National Park
You can do a sunrise tour or a sunset tour or you can just come into the park during the day.
I would personally recommend doing the sunrise tour and then leave the park by 11 AM. This gives you about 6 hours to enjoy the park and you are out before the hottest part of the day.
This part of Guatemala gets HOT and the sun is STRONG.
After our guide was done with the tour we walked around on our own for about another 90 min/two hours before we headed back to Jungle Lodge to play in the pool and cool off!
**If I could do this again I would have gotten another guide. We LOVED ours, but being LDS, I would have tried to find one that knows more about Book of Mormon history. There are speculations that parts of Book of Mormon history happened in Central America. We did that in Peru and it was a really cool experience for us.
That said, we really did love our guide and we made sure to tip him because he was SO great with Beckham. He pointed out every monkey to him, made him laugh and was so patient with his occasional/very frequent tantrums haha.
We LOVED Guatemala. I would love to go back and spend more time at Lake Atitlan, as well as head to the bat caves and Semuc Champey and some places we were not able to visit. I would love to do the overnight hike in Antigua and spend more time getting to know the culture.
We love you Guatemala. We especially love your people! Thank you for welcoming us and giving us a reason to come back!