5 days in Guatemala

Guatemala City, Antigua, & Lake Atitlán

Check out my itinerary for the beautiful country of Guatemala!

I recently traveled to Guatemala in November of 2022, and it was an absolutely amazing experience!

So where do I begin?

Our trip lasted a short 5 days. Realistically speaking, you will want a few more days than that. However, if you’re planning a short trip and want to hit all of the high points of Guatemala then you have come to the right place!

Lets get to it!

Day 1

Day one was what you would expect – travel day. We flew from ORD to GUA with a layover in ATL. We chose an early flight so that we could maximize our time in Guatemala. We also decided the spend the day and night in Guatemala city, so that we could experience different parts of the country.

We took an Uber from the airport to our airbnb, which was located in the city center. Our airbnb was in zona 4 which is about a 15 minute drive from the GUA international airport.

Once we got to the city center, we had some time before check-in, so we grabbed a bite from Bululu and Tantita Pena, which were both located in El Mercado Dealedo. We had arepas from Bululu and tacos from Tantita Pena. And course we had to try the country’s beer – Gallo.

Enjoy the pics of the comida below!

After we ate, it was time to check in to our spectacular airbnb! Check out the views from our airbnb below!

After we checked in to our airbnb, we took in the views of the city and took a minute to rest. Then we headed to the Constitution Plaza… via Uber Moto (which is not something we have in the United States via the Uber app). I am not going to lie I was a little nervous riding passenger on the motorcycle considering I’ve never been on a motorcycle in my life. A couple minutes into the ride, I stopped hanging on for dear life and enjoyed the warm breeze on my face. Moments later, I arrived at the Plaza. We wandered around for a bit, simply exploring the area. One of my favorite pictures from the trip was taken near the plaza (see below)

After 20,000 steps later, we decided it was time for dinner. We headed to Saúl for dinner. We passed by Saúl while we were wandering the plaza earlier and it looked marvelous inside so we had to go in. I will admit the food was just ok. It wasn’t until later that we realized it was a chain restaurant.

We later returned to our airbnb for some much needed rest and that about wraps up day 1!

Day 2

Not to spoil anything, but day 2 was one of my favorite days of the trip!

We headed to Lake Atitlan early in the morning. We decided to take an uber… this may not have been the most efficient way of getting to Lake Atitlan for a number of reasons:

It was not economically efficient (costing around 675.94 quetzales or $86 USD)
We had 5-6 uber drivers cancel on us before we got a ride

If traveling to Lake Atitlan from either Guatemala City or Antigua, I would recommend using a shuttle service (for example Guate Maya Travel). This will cost you a lot less, but may take slightly longer.

Back to our Uber ride: we were lucky to get a ride from Rene (our uber driver). The ride in total took roughly 3 hours – that’s with a stop for gas and donuts of course. The ride truly went by fast and we were very fortunate to get a ride, but as mentioned I would recommend a shuttle service. Additionally, you could rent a car but there are a lot of road closures from Guatemala city to Lake Atitlan, and the road is incredibly windy.

Once we got to Lake Atitlan, we headed to our airbnb which was located in Panajachel. There are multiple towns surrounding the lake, so depending on what you are looking for there is something for everyone! The way we got across the lake was via a boat which cost 20-40 quetzales, depending on which town you were heading to.

Once we got settled in our airbnb in Panajachel we headed to San Marcos for some paddle boarding we booked via Venga. http://www.vengaatitlan.com/adventures/#page-section-61e89eb2ae68793e9fa19a4d

Here’s me on a paddle board:

The water was surprisingly calm when we paddle boarded, so it was quite enjoyable. We ended up relaxing on the water for about 2 hours. Afterwards, we explored San Marcos a little bit before heading back to Panajachel.

Once we arrived in Panajachel, we went to visit the town for dinner. We were craving some pizza, so we tried Lazzaroni’s Pizza for dinner. We then wandered around the town and headed back to our airbnb.

Our airbnb host was FABULOUS. She arranged tuk-tuks (essentially a golf cart that takes you around Lake Atitlan) for us, and even booked us a massage.

Day 3

We woke up in Lake Atitlan to the most amazing view.

Once we soaked up the views, we headed to San Juan to visit La Calle de las Sombrillas. We started the day early because we would be heading to Antigua later that afternoon.

The boat ride from Panajachel to San Juan was about an hour, which was pretty lengthy but worth it.

Once we arrived in San Juan, we went straight for breakfast. If there’s one thing you need to know about me it’s that breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and there’s no way I’m missing it.

After we ate, we walked the beautiful streets of San Juan, stopping to take photos of the umbrellas of course. We explored the area and met an artist by the name of Diego Isaias Hernandez Mendez. He spoke so passionately about his art and his culture. I was grateful to get to meet him. His painting titled Dolor Y Llanto Por Los Difuntos was even featured in the Smithsonian!

Then we took a quick 2 minute boat ride to the adjacent town – San Pedro. They had beautiful outdoor seating so we couldn’t resist one last view of the lake before heading back to Panajachel where our private shuttle was going to pick us up.

I will admit we were cutting it pretty close but we quickly picked up our bags from the airbnb and hopped into our shuttle. The ride from Lake Atitlan to Antigua was much shorter than the ride from Guatemala city to Lake Atitlan, being about 2 hours.

We arrived in Antigua and checked into our Airbnb, which was a 25 minute walk to the city center. While our airbnb looked amazing, it was infested with mosquitos so we didn’t spend much time there.

After we settled into our airbnb, we went to the city center for some shopping and dinner. We checked out this restaurant Frida’s and it is a MUST TRY in my opinion. The food was delicious, and it might’ve had the best guac I’ve ever tried in my life.

We explored Antigua a little bit, but were going to call it an early night because we needed to rest up for our hike tomorrow!

Day 4

Day 4 is the day we’ve been preparing for! We were going to Hike Volcán Acatenango. This was the most incredible experience of my life. I mean how often can you say you hiked a volcano??

For those of you that want a more detailed read, click here!

We started the day off at our meeting point, collected our gear, and took a short bus to the drop-off site for the Volcán Acatenango hikers. The first 2/3rds of the hike are supposed to be the hardest, and I would agree with that statement. We took frequent breaks before reaching the campground where we would camp overnight. The views on the way up were absolutely marvelous.

When we arrived at the campground after about 5 hours of hiking, we got to see Volcán Fuego erupt multiple times. The weather is often unpredictable at such an altitude, so we were all super excited that it was clear enough to see.

We gathered around the campfire with our group, while our guides were preparing dinner. It was getting pretty cold so we put on our winter gear for the night. After we bundled up, we captured the breathtaking views of Volcán Acatenango in the nighttime.

Once it was time for bed, we headed to our cabin. I am not going to lie, I was freezing. I was wearing a tee-shirt, quarter zip, and a patagonia fleece all in addition to 2 wool blankets and a sleeping bag. I did acclimate to the temperature eventually, but just know that you will need many many layers when hiking Volcán Acatenango.

Day 5

The next morning we woke up, had our breakfast and headed back down to the entry-point. The way down took about 3-4 hours. It is incredibly steep, and your legs are sore, but once again it is so worth it. I would 100% do this hike again. Frankly, I don’t think you can go to Guatemala without doing this hike!

We arrived at the entry-point and shortly after headed back to our original meeting-point. We then collected our belongings and headed to town. We were only sort of tired – I think it was a mix of adrenaline, as well as it being our last full day in Guatemala, so I wanted to explore! We sat down at a cafe, had some coffee, and relaxed outside before getting back to our Airbnb to get cleaned up and changed.

We headed into town later that afternoon for ice cream and empanadas from street vendors. The city center was very busy as it was a Sunday afternoon. We shopped around for a bit, and then headed back to our airbnb.

Day 6

This was our final day in Guatemala!

Our flight wasn’t until 1PM, so we had some time to grab breakfast before calling an uber to take us to the airport. The drive from Antigua to Guatemala City Airport (GUA) was about an hour long.

We were on our way back to Chicago before we even knew it.

It was an absolutely amazing and memorable trip. I was so lucky to be able to experience a country that was so full of life, color, and culture.