Hello all!
My husband and I, 35 years old, have just booked our flights to Guatemala in December 2024. We have a flight coming in at 8:30-ish in the morning and leaving after one week at around 4 PM. We are slower travelers, so we are planning to go to Antigua and Lake Atitlan (we'll got to Tikal another trip). We were hoping to do the following activities:
1-1.5 days in Antigua
Walk around and see the architecture, maybe the art museum
5-ish days in Lake Atitlan
Go to San Juan, San Pedro, Panajachel, and Santa Cruz
Nature Reserve in Panajachel
Birdwatching
Hiking Indian Nose
Weaving class
Cooking class
Salsa dancing
Licor Marron
Kayaking on the lake
A market, but not too big of one, because those get overwhelming for me
Do these seem like reasonable activities for the time period given?
Does anyone have lodging recommendations? The one I am having the most trouble with is San Pedro because we want to go to Chabad on Friday night. The main hotel there has a three-night minimum. While I don't want to stay in San Pedro that long, we have to stay there because Shabbat dinner will be over after the lanchas leave for the last time for the day. Our budget is no more than $75 a night pre-tax. We are open to nice hostels as long as we can get a private room and a private bathroom. Thank you for your help!

Hi there -
That's a ton to pack in but you can accomplish most of it since some of the activities like kayaking, visiting a market, and the Panajachel Reserve will take only an hour or 2. I don't know that you'll have time for a weaving lesson but there are weaving cooperatives in San Juan, San Pedro, and Santiago Atitlán that will give weaving demonstrations including information about the natural dyes they use.

I'd add Santiago to your list, way ahead of Santa Cruz. Rolando Tol Gonzalez is a fantastic birding guide based in Santiago Atitlán. That time of year is a great time to see resplendent quetzal in Tepepul and the birding and hiking are both fantastic in the Los Tarrales Reserve; you might consider spending a night there and hiring Rolando for birding and a waterfall hike.

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000583534066

https://www.atitlanexpeditions.com

I don't understand 'the main hotel there' since there are dozens of hotels in San Pedro. I'd consider Mikaso and Sak'cari Amanacer.
Happy trails!

Hopefulist, I meant the Mikaso hotel, the main hotel I had in consideration, has a three night minimum. Thank you for the tip about Santiago. Any recommendations about the best lodging in Santiago?

One full day in Antigua seems a little skimpy, especially for slow travellers; but then, I have a bias towards quaint historic cities and can usually hang out for ages in any good one; and I know not everyone can. However, it would be useful to know whether your week in Guatemala includes the day you fly in, and the day you fly out. Since those two days usually cannot be devoted to tourist stuff, you may effectively have only five full days in the country -- and much as I hate recommending that anyone skip Antigua, given all the activities you intend, you may then want to consider heading straight to Lake Atitlan and staying there. Even if you find yourself agreeing, I personally would consider it worth stopping in Antigua, if it is feasible, for at least a couple of hours for a quick stroll around, and a visit to the splendid MUNAG museum: its official name (in English, National Guatemalan Museum of Art) is an understatement, for there's a good deal of history in it too, from ancient to post-independence times. Even the building itself, the former palace of the Captains-General (I won't take the time to explain that!) is worth seeing. Just make sure the museum is open on the day you will be passing through.

(To help decide on even a short stop in Antigua -- one night, or an afternoon -- you may want to consult the illustrated "Antigua" part of my Guatemala trip report, posted on this forum last November. Though I probably shouldn't recommend my own stuff, there just aren't a lot of Guatemala trip reports on this forum, apart from what hopefulist, above, has posted, and which you should also read. Of course, I don't know how much Antigua, including the MUNAG, might have changed since I posted that report.)

[QUOTE=Faedus;17580507]One full day in Antigua seems a little skimpy, especially for slow travellers; but then, I have a bias towards quaint historic cities and can usually hang out for ages in any good one; and I know not everyone can. However, it would be useful to know whether your week in Guatemala includes the day you fly in, and the day you fly out. Even if you find yourself agreeing, I personally would consider it worth stopping in Antigua, if it is feasible, for at least a couple of hours for a quick stroll around, and a visit to the splendid MUNAG museum

The week does include the flights to and from. However, we are arriving at 8:53 AM, so we planned a half day in Antigua to start with and maybe the morning afterward before taking transportation to Panajachel. Then, we would stay overnight at Panajachel day 2 before proceeding to do activities in Atitlan the next day. The museum and walking around were in our plans. Do you have any recommendations for lodging in Antigua? We are considering Hotel las Camelias Inn because of the reasonable budget and also because it has safes in the rooms as well as the ability to leave hotel in a luggage room due to our arrival pre-check-in.
In terms of return, since our plane doesn't leave until 4-something in the afternoon, I thought we could take morning transport from Pananjachel directly to the airport. Does anyone think we should be more cautious and go to Guatemala City the night before?

For lodging in Antigua, I can mention only the two hotels I stayed in during my two non-consecutive stays in Antigua: one is the Selah Hotel, towards the south-eastern part of the city, and which maintains something of a subdued hip or trendy vibe (it's full name is Selah Hotel and Coffee, and they do have a little coffee bar); the other is Posada San Pedro, a bit south-east of the central plaza, near 3rd avenue and 7th street (I think they moved there from another location, so older internet reviews may not be applicable). It's in an attractive, more traditional building that goes nicely with the city's overall ambience. I can recommend both hotels, though I don't know whether either would suit your needs better than Las Camelias seems to.
As for leaving Panajachel for the airport on the day of your trip: perhaps hopefulist will appear with better advice than I can give, for I didn't make that trip myself; but I suspect that if you leave Panajachel early enough in the morning, you will be able to make it to the airport by 2:00 pm, which is when you will probably have to be there. But leave Panajachel early enough to have time to spare; traffic can be bad approaching Guatemala City, and I suppose other unexpected delays could occur.

As for leaving Panajachel for the airport on the day of your trip: perhaps hopefulist will appear with better advice than I can give, for I didn't make that trip myself; but I suspect that if you leave Panajachel early enough in the morning, you will be able to make it to the airport by 2:00 pm, which is when you will probably have to be there. But leave Panajachel early enough to have time to spare; traffic can be bad approaching Guatemala City, and I suppose other unexpected delays could occur.[/QUOTE]
I had hoped to not have to kill time in the Guatemala City hotel before going to the airport and then killing time at the airport, but it would be worse to miss the flight. I have too much of my father in me- always insisting on arriving to the airport like the airlines suggest- 2 hours prior to a domestic flight and 3 hours before an international flight. We could sleep in if we stayed in Guatemala City the night before and relax a bit before our flight home; I just have to look at it differently.

Hello again -
Re: lodging in Santiago, I can't say since we have a little home in San Pedro and always stay there. I ate lunch with a group of friends and our guide at Hotel Bambu after a birding trip last year and the grounds are beautiful but I didn't look at the rooms.

Re: your last night, it's always more risky to sleep that far from the airport ahead of an international flight and the airlines do recommend arriving at least 3 hours ahead. Although we haven't always needed it, a few times we have over the years. I've been delayed on that route by crashes, construction, landslides, funerals, processions, bike races, strikes, heavy city traffic, and (when taking a side route with a private driver because traffic on the Pan American Hwy was completely stopped by a crash) sheep. The share shuttles basically all detour through Antigua and the trip can take 5-6 hours or more. I've made it as quickly as under 3 hours with a private driver and a bit of luck with traffic but you can't count on it.

Staying in Antigua would be another option - the trip should take under an hour from there but could be two or more, depending on traffic. It's all about your risk tolerance! The historical center of Guatemala is beautiful and there are some very nice museums. My favorites are the neighboring Popul Vuh archaeological museum and the Ixchel textile museum at Universidad Francisco Marroquínn. For Guatemala City-based transport and tours you could consider Elmer Soto - he speaks decent English and has lots of personality. puntualtours.gmail.comHave a great trip, whatever you decide!