We combined a visit to Guatemala with a few days in Costa Rica and therefore our time was at a premium in both of these fabulous countries. Here’s how we made the most of four days in Guatemala.
Day 1 – Guatemala City
You could argue that a precious day in Guatemala could be spent elsewhere. However, we were waiting for our daughter to fly into the country that morning and spending our first day in the city made sense based on our schedule. It also allowed us to see the “real” Guatemala – there wasn’t another tourist in sight in the capital city. Since we were there right before Christmas, there was a lot going on in “Parque Central” (the main plaza) – live music, ice skating, and numerous clothing and food stalls. We enjoyed wandering around and taking in all the festivities.
Ice skaters in the December 70 F degree weather in Guatemala City. Behind the skating rink is the National Palace of Culture, formerly the headquarters of the president of Guatemala, now a museum. All roads in the country originate from this spot, known as Parque Central.
One of the many tasty food stalls we saw during the Christmas celebrations in Guatemala City. We tried some good dishes!
Wandering the colorful clothing shops set up near Parque Central in Guatemala City.
A family strolling the main plaza in Guatemala City. The traditional women’s clothing is worn as everyday wear and is not just for “show”.
Guatemala City Cathedral, which dates from 1783. It has suffered damage over the years from numerous earthquakes, but is still standing near the main plaza.
Nativity display in Guatemala City’s Cathedral.
Day 2 – Antigua and Iximche Ruins Day Trip
This was a very enjoyable and full day, we combined a visit to a small collection of ruins in Iximche (I’m a ruin junkie!) with a tour of the colonial town of Antigua. I felt an afternoon in Antigua was sufficient and splitting the day between the two sites worked out well.
Ruins of Iximche. A small Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archeological site and one of the closest to Guatemala City. Its heyday was in the late 15th century.
View of the quaint Spanish colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala.
It was less than a 2 hour drive to the Iximche ruins from Guatemala City and then about 1.5 hrs from Iximche to Antigua and only about 45 minutes from Antigua back to Guatemala City. I will do a separate post with more detail on this day trip.
Day 3 – Fly to Flores and a Visit to Yaxha Ruins
We caught a 6 am flight from Guatemala City and arrived in the small town of Flores by 8 am or so. The town is on an island (connected to the mainland by a causeway) in Lake Peten Itza and made a great place to stay – lots of small hotels and close to Tikal and other Mesoamerican archeological sites, such as Yaxha. We wandered the town in the morning and then took a tour of Yaxha in the afternoon, which included taking in a beautiful sunset over Yaxha from the top of a temple.
My daughter and son in the Acropolis North ruins at Yaxha.
Sunset over Lake Yaxha in the Yaxha archeological park.
A separate post on Yaxha will be forthcoming!
Day 4 – Visit Tikal Ruins and Fly to Guatemala City
This was very long but great day. We got on our tour bus in Flores at about 4:30 am and we were at the archeological park by 7 am. We exited the park around 3 pm.
Temple 5 in Tikal.
We arrived back in Flores by about 5 pm, had dinner and then took a flight back to Guatemala City around 7:30 pm. We then flew out of Guatemala City early on Day 5, traveling to San Jose, Costa Rica. I will do a separate post on Tikal. (Posts on Costa Rica to follow Guatemala!)
With all of our flights into and out of Guatemala City, we stayed at the Courtyard Marriott, only about 15 minutes from the airport. The hotel is in a nice section of Guatemala City and there are good restaurants nearby. We found the Guatemalan people to be very friendly, kind and prompt. The food was excellent and prices were very good for most items. The weather in Guatemala City is lovely throughout the year and December was warm and pleasant with low humidity.
A fantastic dinner spread at the Kacao restuarant, near the Courtyard Marriott hotel, Guatemala City.
