If you had only one night and one day in Antigua, what would you do?
Jul 6th, 2009, 09:28 AM
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If you had only one night and one day in Antigua, what would you do?
Hi all,
My husband and I are going to a wedding and spanish language school/home stay in Pana the first week in August. We are travelling with a 9 yr old boy and a 6 yr old boy, both quiet and good walkers, campers, and hikers. We arrive at the airport around lunch time on a Tuesday.
Should we spend the first night and the next day in Antigua? How should we get there from the airport? Where should we stay (we are simple people)? What must we be sure to see there? Any suggestions are welcome!
Mary
My husband and I are going to a wedding and spanish language school/home stay in Pana the first week in August. We are travelling with a 9 yr old boy and a 6 yr old boy, both quiet and good walkers, campers, and hikers. We arrive at the airport around lunch time on a Tuesday.
Should we spend the first night and the next day in Antigua? How should we get there from the airport? Where should we stay (we are simple people)? What must we be sure to see there? Any suggestions are welcome!
Mary
Jul 6th, 2009, 01:00 PM
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Jul 6th, 2009, 01:01 PM
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Jul 6th, 2009, 01:52 PM
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Another vote for quinta de las flores -- especially a garden room. Food is good, very reasonable...great pool, views and nice little playground. The walk into the center is about 6-7 blocks -- very nice. The hotel can arrange pick-up at the airport -- very nice to have someone meet you -- or you can easily talk a cab, onlyy 45mins or so.
Jul 7th, 2009, 04:48 AM
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For a two night stay in Antigua in February we stayed at Posada Las Bucaros because it was moderately priced and had parking, a feature that is not always available in the less expensive hotels. (We rented a car for our whole trip but I would not recommend having one for your short stay in Antigua) We really liked our stay there. I think the review in the Fodor’s destination section describes it pretty well although I would not consider its location much of a “con.” Everything in Antigua is pretty close, and Los Búcaros is close to the church of Nuestra Señora de La Merced even though it is a longer walk to the central plaza. The hotel does not serve breakfast but it does have coffee, and there is a big kitchen guests can use. I don't think it has family rooms, though. I am not sure whether other hotels in Antigua do.
We ate pizza our first night at Quesos y Vino. We enjoyed having beer selections other than the ubiquitous El Gallo and my son and I especially liked the darker Mozza.
Antigua is a fascinating and beautiful colonial city in a spectacular setting. My husband, older son (23) and I really liked it. The younger son (18)was somewhat less enthusiastic, largely because he is really interested in Mayan ruins and kept insisting we should have gone to Copán instead.
We had a good breakfast one day at Fernando's right near the hotel and another good breakfast the second morning at breakfast at Dona Luisa Xicoencatl. We had interesting Guatemalan food at La Fonda de la Calle Real and Cafe Colonial (the latter is much simpler, cheaper).
Because we were only in Antigua for a day and a half, we did not do day trips, just wandered the city. I would have gone out to the museums of the Centro Azotea cultural center if we had had more time. These are in a village 2 km from Antigua. Our older son would definitely have opted for a hike on one of the volcanoes.
In the city we especially enjoyed touring the local and handicraft markets, the Convento de las Capuchinas and the San Francisco monastery with its shrine to Guatemala's saint, St. Pedro de San José Betancur (1626-1667). Unfortunately the Casa Popenoe was “cerrado” so we missed seeing that colonial mansion.
We ate pizza our first night at Quesos y Vino. We enjoyed having beer selections other than the ubiquitous El Gallo and my son and I especially liked the darker Mozza.
Antigua is a fascinating and beautiful colonial city in a spectacular setting. My husband, older son (23) and I really liked it. The younger son (18)was somewhat less enthusiastic, largely because he is really interested in Mayan ruins and kept insisting we should have gone to Copán instead.
We had a good breakfast one day at Fernando's right near the hotel and another good breakfast the second morning at breakfast at Dona Luisa Xicoencatl. We had interesting Guatemalan food at La Fonda de la Calle Real and Cafe Colonial (the latter is much simpler, cheaper).
Because we were only in Antigua for a day and a half, we did not do day trips, just wandered the city. I would have gone out to the museums of the Centro Azotea cultural center if we had had more time. These are in a village 2 km from Antigua. Our older son would definitely have opted for a hike on one of the volcanoes.
In the city we especially enjoyed touring the local and handicraft markets, the Convento de las Capuchinas and the San Francisco monastery with its shrine to Guatemala's saint, St. Pedro de San José Betancur (1626-1667). Unfortunately the Casa Popenoe was “cerrado” so we missed seeing that colonial mansion.
Jul 7th, 2009, 01:45 PM
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My favorite hotel in Antigua is
Casa Cristina
http://casa-cristina.com/
Posada La Merced
http://www.merced-landivar.com/
just around the corner is another good one; I'll be spending time at both this summer. Fernando's is just a few doors down from both. Keep us posted!
Casa Cristina
http://casa-cristina.com/
Posada La Merced
http://www.merced-landivar.com/
just around the corner is another good one; I'll be spending time at both this summer. Fernando's is just a few doors down from both. Keep us posted!
Jul 9th, 2009, 04:30 PM
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We stayed in Casa Cristina when we were there last year. It's inexpensive and although the room was small I do really recommend it. The service was excellent, they stored our bags during our Tikal trip, there is a beautiful roof deck, etc.
You can show up and take a shuttle without reservation from the airport.
I also second the food at La Fonda de la Calle Real, it was probably the best meal I ate in my 6 weeks there and has a great Guatemalan sampler platter of classic dishes that my husband really enjoyed. Cafe Condesa is also a nice spot for sandwiches and horchata.
If you can swing it based on time constraints, the Pacaya volcano hike is not too difficult if your 6 year old is a good hiker and they would get to see real lava, which I'm sure would impress most boys (and makes for great bragging back home). Pack some snacks/sandwiches if you do this.
Generally you can just wander around the city for a day, really. There are some markets on the edge of the downtown area (fairly touristy but still interesting) and lots of pretty spots.
p.s. my husband, a beer snob, also MUCH preferred the dark beer in Guatemala to Gallo (but he still bought the Gallo t-shirt)
You can show up and take a shuttle without reservation from the airport.
I also second the food at La Fonda de la Calle Real, it was probably the best meal I ate in my 6 weeks there and has a great Guatemalan sampler platter of classic dishes that my husband really enjoyed. Cafe Condesa is also a nice spot for sandwiches and horchata.
If you can swing it based on time constraints, the Pacaya volcano hike is not too difficult if your 6 year old is a good hiker and they would get to see real lava, which I'm sure would impress most boys (and makes for great bragging back home). Pack some snacks/sandwiches if you do this.
Generally you can just wander around the city for a day, really. There are some markets on the edge of the downtown area (fairly touristy but still interesting) and lots of pretty spots.
p.s. my husband, a beer snob, also MUCH preferred the dark beer in Guatemala to Gallo (but he still bought the Gallo t-shirt)
Jul 21st, 2009, 08:39 AM
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Good advice from everybody! I live just over the mountain behind the cross on the hill in Antigua. (Ex-pat for 22 years) Take a few minutes to sit in the square in the morning (before the kids get out of school) and absorb the feel of Antigua. You can walk almost everyplace in Antigua; just watch out for holes in the sidewalk.
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