mosthecat

I'm a little embarrassed to post a 3rd version of an itinerary, but, since this trip is much shorter than usual, I'm having difficulty paring down the number of stops. I think we are set.

Jan 28 ORD-MIA overnight
Jan 29 MIA-BZE/transfer to DuPlooy's
Jan 30 DuPlooy's
Jan 31 DuPlooy's
Feb 1 Du Plooy's
Feb 2 Transfer to Tikal Inn
Feb 3 Day to explore Tikal with overnight in Flores
Feb 4 Flores-GUA/transfer to Antigua
Feb 5 Antigua
Feb 6 Antigua
Feb 7 Antigua (or GUA airport hotel, because the flight leaves at 6 am the next day)
Feb 8 GUA-MIA-ORD

My question concerns Antigua. Is this too long? Besides exploring the town and enjoying the atmosphere, we'd like to go up the volcano - loved this in New Zealand - take the Elizabeth Bell tour, and possibly visit Lake Atitlan (this might be too much for a day trip, though other posters have done this). Should a couple night be at Atitlan? I feel like that might be a bit too much running around.

ttraveler

We are also going to Guatemala and will be there some of the same days. We are using Old Town Adventures for some of our activities. They offer the Pacaya volcano trip and also some biking trips around the area. It seems like they have bike trips for everyones level of activity. We are also considering Elizabeth Bell's Mayan Ceremony. If it's something you might be interested in, let me know as the price is 150 dollars total so if there are more people it is cheaper. We are a group of three woman. It's a pm ceremony and sounds quite interesting. The Antigua cooking school is closed during the month of Feb... that was something that I had really wanted to do. Enjoy your trip.

luv2globetrot

I think that's a good amount of time in Antigua.
We only spent 2 nights which really only gave us one full day and that was NOT enough.
Antigua is such a lovely town to explore on foot...you could easily spend a day just doing that.
If you want to do the volcano hike or visit a coffee plantation or anything more, you will definitely need that extra day.

As far as visiting Lake Atitlan, I don't think you'd get much out of just a day trip.
We spent 3 nights at Lake Atitlan in Panajachel and we thought that was a good amount of time. It gave us an opportunity to take a boat over to a couple of other towns along the lake.
We could've probably squeezed all that in with 2 nights.
So, I would recommend 2 nights at Lake Atitlan and 3 in Antigua.

If you're interested here is the link to our trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...6&tid=35117074
Good luck and
Happy, safe travels!
>-

www.luv2globetrot.com

mosthecat

Those pic's are great luv2globetrot. I'm jealous of all your travels. I can't believe how often I've changed the plans for such a short trip. We'll just have to return. As for the Mayan Ceremony, that sounds like it might be interesting. Do you know the date you are planning on attending, ttraveler?

ttraveler

Sorry about the delay in answering.. I have been out of town without computer access.
We will be in Antigua the nights of Feb 5th and 6th so either night would work for us if you are interested.It does sound interesting and I have a feeling that if it's an Elizabeth Bell tour it should be pretty good.

mosthecat

I agree, the Elizabeth Bell tours are rated highly. We arrive in Antigua the afternoon of February 4th, and leave the afternoon of February 7th. The 5th or 6th would work. also, we can take this conversation off this site, if you'd like. I am:
[email protected]