Lolazahra

Hi all — we are taking a last minute New Year’s trip to Guatemala. Been reading everything like crazy to try and put it together. We only have 6 nights, so we are doing the best we can to see two places, knowing that we will be back to explore longer one day. Please see our itinerary for comments and a few questions. Thanks so much in advance.

December 27
- Fly from the U.S. and land in Guatemala City at 12:14 PM
- Private transfer straight to Lake Atitlan. We are staying at a hotel in San Antonio Palopo
- Stay at hotel for remainder of day/evening

December 28
- Three Mayan Villages Tour with Salvador Coquix of Tour Guides Salvador. Leave from San Pedro La Laguna and visit Santiago Atitlan, Panajachel and San Marcos

December 29
- Mayan Kitchen Cooking Class with Anita in San Pedro La Laguna
- Visit a weaving Co-Op with Anita after the class

December 30
- Private transfer to Antigua
- Check into hotel
- Lunch
- Antigua Walking Tour with Carlos at Guatemalan Guide
- Dinner at El Refectorio at 8:30 PM

December 31
- Chichicastenango Market Visit with Carlos of Guatemalan Guide
- Come back to hotel in late afternoon and relax before dinner
- New Year’s Eve Dinner at Meson Panza Verde at 8:30 PM

January 1
- This day is not yet planned

January 2
- Breakfast
- Private transfer to airport in Guatemala
- Depart Guatemala for the U.S. at 1:40 PM

Questions

- Does this sound like a good plan?

- What time do the public boats stop running?

- Do private boats run later, or is everyone on the same time frame?

- When staying in San Antonio Palopo, will we need to take a boat to all of the different villages, especially San Pedro where we start for the three village tour and the cooking class.

- Should we visit any other villages on the tour? This is a suggestion and we can make a change.

- I have no hiking in the plan yet, which we want to do. I could would like to fit it in while at Lake Atitlan. I was interested in hiking Indian Nose, but then I read about all of safety issues. Liked the idea I read from “hopefulist” about hiking with a guide from Santa Clara to Jaibalito or San Marcos, passing through interesting villages. How much time would we need to allocate for something like this? Wondering if we could do it after the cooking class on December 29 or if we should make it apart of the three village tour on December 28? Thoughts? Other than getting up before dawn on December 30, I am assuming we would not have time for a hike before leaving for Antigua?

- On our last day of January 1 in Antigua, we were considering hiking the volcano but it may take longer than we want to give. Also considering coffee plantation/nut plantation visit. Or maybe visit a few towns outside of Antigua...We are trying not to take the whole day so that we have a bit of unstructured time around town prior to leaving the next day. Thoughts?

- Looking for lunch and dinner recommendations to fill in. Would like local, casual places to compliment the more upscale places we already have booked. Looked at Frida’s and Ripcon Tipoco. Any more?

Thank you guys in advance. Excited to visit this country for the first time, even knowing that things will be different based on the circumstances of the world right now.

Take good care.

LAX_Esq

Can you squeeze in Tikal by flying, and cut Antigua down to one full day? Tikal is really cool. Antigua isn't so interesting if you've been around Latin America; it's just a typical colonial city, and nothing so interesting -- plus a lot of annoying gringo hippie types, and the BS that caters to them. You can see the whole city in a few hours -- 1 full day is plenty.

If you're into hiking, the Acatenango volcano hike from Atitlan is absolutely amazing, but requires a very high fitness level.

At Lake Atitlan, I did the Santa Cruz --> Jaibalito --> San Marcos hike. It's okay.

BTW, see my trip report for more ideas and how to squeeze in Tikal: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopi...Guatemala.html

Lolazahra

Hi LAX,

Your trip report was great and very helpful. Thanks for posting.

We are locked into our hotels so no changing. But I think you have been helpful that we will not rush to Antigua our last day first thing in the morning and instead explore Lake Atitlan a bit more and leave later in the afternoon. I will also try to fit in the multiple village hike you talk about as well. Maybe our last day or mix it with the boat village tour. Not sure yet, but need to go back and read and restructure.

Thanks again!