patt711

I need some quick advice since we're leaving in 3 days! We'll be staying in Antigua and haven't yet made plans for Tikal. Should we fly there on our own or join a tour group for just a one-day tour?
If you're suggesting a tour, which one would be best?
Thanks so much!

SusanInToronto

We did a 1 night / 2 day tour package. I think a day tour would be have been just too long for me. As it was, our flight out of GC was delayed a few hours, so we would have had almost no time in Tikal. We booked our package with Elizabeth Bell. It was fairly standard, included pickup in Antigua, flight to Flores, transit from Flores to Tikal (which didn't work out because the flight was delayed - no one was waiting for us, so we had to take a cab on our own), 1 night accommodation at the Tikal Inn, lunch & b/fast the following day, and a tour of the park. Because we missed the tour the day we arrived, we took it the next morning. We also got up really early and went for hike in the park ourselves. We then had transit back to the airport in Flores, flight to GC and a shuttle back out to Antigua. As I said, if we had done a day trip, it would have been 1 very long day.

Suzie2

That is a hard call. Having a guide whether you hire them from outside or wait until you get there is a really good thing as long as they are good. I am not a big fan of "tours". We went through Tikal twice on our first trip there. Once with a park guide that didn't speak much english and then a week later with a guide who spoke english and grew up in the park. You can hire one on your own or share one with as many or as few people as you like. We were asked by several people if we wanted to share their guide to cut the cost. We learned so much more the second time around. Luis, who we used, knows every inch of that park. He is also an excellent birder and had been our guide at a lodge several hours away for 2 days before heading back to Tikal. All the guides have numbers and he is #1 because his dad was the first guide ever. Hiring a guide at the park doesn't guarantee a great one and we got so lucky with Luis. He is an incredible birder and knows the parks cold. We went back the next year and went through Tikal a third time with him as well as many other places over 4 days. I know I want to go back again and I am sure my husband will too.

One thing I would recommend, if you have the time, is to spend a night or two at one of the hotels in the park or at least nearby in El Remate so you can get to the park when it opens. There is nothing like the sounds of Tikal waking up or even settling down for the night. We watched the sunset from the top of Temple 4 last year. The wildlife is just as amazing as the temples.

Most of the visitors and tours are in the morning. There are a couple of little stands around the park that sell sodas, beers, snacks but close down around 1-2pm. There are a couple of small restaurants near the entrance. My husband and Luis headed out to one of the old Mayan quarries around 2 pm and I decided to just sit and enjoy the park by the temples. There were few people around then and it was just awesome listening to nothing but the sounds of the jungle.

hopefulist

We looked into overnight tours before we headed back to Tikal last August (2nd time there for me). In the end we decided to bus there with a few days' stopover in Rio Dulce and fly back to GUA in time for our flight home. If we'd done the round trip tour it was a better value than all the pieces if we'd "done" it on our own. I asked about the tour minus pieces and was told by several agencies that we could take or leave whatever bits we wanted but the price would be the same. There's a little more risk that the hotel will "lose" your reservation if you don't go with a tour, I've head, but we didn't have any problem. We paid $75/double with dinner and breakfast included at the Tikal Inn and $115 for our one way flight. We used Rainbow Travel in Antigua as we'd heard good things about them:

http://www.rainbowtravelcenter.com/

I can't imagine visiting one of largest and most amazing ruins in the world on a day trip, though lots of folks fly up from Guatemala City or shuttle over from Belize. It's wonderful to spend the night in the park which gives you the cooler evening and early morning hours to explore when the wildlife is abundant and you practically have the place to yourselves. There are Tikal photos in both the Belize and Guatemala 2007 collections here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

Have a great trip and be sure to tell us all about it!

airwayvz

We booked an AMAZING guide named Luis Oliveros. Probably the best guide we've had anywhere...he grew up in the park and is the president of the local tour guide association. Do a search for some of my old posts, I'm sure there's a lot about him in those.

Let me know if you'd like his cell phone number and I'll email it to you...he's easy to reach that way

patt711

Thanks for the excellent (and speedy!) replies. We still haven't decided what we're going to do, but the latest is see how much we enjoy Guatemala and if we think we'll return, we might hold off on Tikal on this trip, then plan 2 or 3 days there another time. If we think we won't return. then we'll definitely do Tikal this trip.
I guess that makes sense...

airwayvz

Trust me, you'll return!