Guatemala - Enchantment of Antigua

This trip came about because on a Tuesday I found out that I had a free weekend night with Hilton for any standard hotel room that was going to expire after the upcoming weekend. This wasn’t the first time that Hilton was about to let my free nights expire without telling me, so I was determined to find any place in the world that had empty seats just to stick it to Hilton (“Is this how you treat your Diamond members?! Jk…but really…). This proved to be more difficult than it usually is due to it being the beginning of spring break. The first place I found was Puerto Vallarta, which was wide open, but the only Hilton there was all-inclusive (which is eligible for this free night), so I had to continue the search. I just started typing in every Latin America airport code I could think of since those flight times usually work out really well for doing a weekend trip. The only thing I could find that was open enough for me to chance it was Guatemala City (GUA).

I knew nothing about Guatemala – nothing about the attractions, the safety, the logistics. I just thought, “How much trouble could I get into in less than 24 hours? If it’s terrible then I’ll be out of there before I know it.” Luckily on Thursday my friend IM’d me at work and asked what my weekend plans were. I shared and asked him if he had been (this guy has literally been everywhere and he’s always my first stop for tips). He said don’t waste time in Guatemala City, but Antigua is pretty cool. The only two things he recommended to me I will talk about below: (1) Transport to Antigua from GUA and (2) the Cerro de la Cruz hike. I took his suggestions on the transport and it worked out splendidly. Otherwise, I did very little research, and was literally just going to wing it once we got to Antigua.

Trip Type:
Last minute, weekend trip, one night stay, 24 hours on the ground, same time zone, budget friendly with a couple posh flares

Timeline
Saturday 09:00 - Trip departure from DFW
Saturday 11:21 – Arrival in GUA
Saturday 12:30 – All the way through customs & cash sourcing
Saturday 13:00 – In a car on the way to Antigua
Saturday 15:00 – Arrive in Antigua
Saturday 18:30 – Leave Antigua
Saturday 20:00 – Arrive at hotel in Guatemala City
Sunday 08:00 – Depart hotel in Guatemala City
Sunday 08:15 – At GUA airport
Sunday 09:00 – Tickets in hand, cash exchanged, all the way through security/customs and in the premium lounge for breakfast/relax
Sunday 11:15 – Head to gate for boarding
Sunday 12:16 – Depart GUA
Sunday 16:51 – Arrive DFW 

GUA Airport

LOGISTICS

There’s no doubt about it – the best way to get around is to hire a car. Renting a car is absolutely out of the question unless you have elephant-sized balls of steel. Road rules here are not even just a suggestion – they are non-existent. Even with an experienced taxi driver you will still audibly gasp at least two or three times before you reach your destination. There aren’t any lanes, signage is limited and drivers often hand signal and cut you off or come into your side to get you to back off and let them into your lane. Traffic is extremely congested – you can basically double the time that Google Maps tells you. The ride to Antigua around 12:30 pm took a solid two hours in very heavy traffic, and coming back in the evening around 6:30 pm it took about 1 hour and 45 minutes. And complicating matters further, there are a lot of motorcycles that will try to avoid traffic by weaving in and out of cars. Hawkers will take advantage of the at-times stand-still traffic situation to try to vend products like building blocks for kids, textiles and other knick knacks. If you hire a taxi driver they will actually physically lock the trunk of their car with a key so that these hawkers cannot approach the trunk of the car and access your bags while you are sitting there in traffic. P.S. If they don’t do this you might want to ask them to (the vendors did get super close to out car and look in for valuables).

Uber does work here – especially in Guatemala City, and the rates are very reasonable. From our hotel it was about 10 minutes’ drive to the airport, and Uber was offering 8-14Q ($1.12-$1.96 USD). Personally I would feel more safe with an Uber driver than a random taxi driver hailed off the street, but that’s mostly because you can set the addresses in the app and track your progress. Also, you have the convenience of not having to haggle on prices & having them charge a different price once you’ve arrived at your destination. Even more important is that the liability is on the company if something goes awry. 

Because we knew we did not want to spend much time in Guatemala City, but rather wanted to check out Antigua (25 miles - 41 km - west of Guatemala City), we went to hire a driver, which was super easy from the airport. As soon as you exit immigration/customs, and leave the secured portion of the airport you will see stands that advertise rides to Antigua. I’ve heard that some of these stands will offer seats on a bus (“chicken bus”…use your imagination…) to Antigua, but what we actually experienced was just normal taxis for hire. If you had four riders it would cost you $10 per person. For three riders it was $13 pp, and for two it was $20 pp. The taxis would not take just one person. If you are a solo traveler you just wait around for others to want the same service and join your cab. When we arrived there was one solo traveler waiting, Jim from Salt Lake City, and so since we wanted to waste no time continuing to wait for one more person to join we jumped in on the $13 rate. This actually turned out to be a more comfortable situation, because it would have been a super uncomfortable two hours if we had crammed four of anyone average-sized or above into that tiny sedan. 

The other notable thing about the Antigua rides stands is that you can also broker a return trip through the same company/stand. I got the impression that in most cases they just give you your receipt with the company’s phone number on it so that you can call to broker a ride later when you are ready to return. They were a bit taken off guard when we wanted to broker a return ride for the same day, just 6 hours later, but they allowed us to pay there at the advertised flat rate of $35 for two people. It wasn’t until later when we were walking the streets of Antigua that I panicked a little when I realized that our taxi driver who drove us there and then was just supposedly parked waiting for us to come back at the agreed upon time could very well just have left us there and taken off for home and we really wouldn’t have had too much recourse to get our $35 back.  Luckily this wasn't the case and he really was waiting there for us all day.  He was such a sweet man - we offered to bring him back food or ice cream, but he didn't want to take our offer.

Your receipt with contact info for the company

If you didn’t broker a ride in advance I think you could still easily hire any taxi from Antigua at the taxi parking area just right on the side of the central park where they drop you off at. I just can’t guarantee that they would give as reasonable of a rate, especially if they know you’re a tourist. 

Once we paid for our trip there and back (they only accept cash – either USD or Q), the woman we booked with, who spoke both Spanish and English, led us outside to our driver, handed him our paper tickets and then explained to him our unique return situation. At first he was pretty confused – more confirmation that this must not be a normal request – but after two or three times having it explained in slightly different ways he got it. Our driver only spoke Spanish and did not understand any English, but that really wouldn’t have been too much of an issue because he knew exactly where he was taking us – it was denoted on our paper tickets. The default drop off location in Antigua is the park in the center of the city – Parque Central, but they will drop you off somewhere reasonably close by that park if you have it written on your ticket when you book it. He never once looked at a GPS – even when taking us back to our hotel in Guatemala City. The car was an old sedan, probably a 1990s model, but it had been Frankensteined like so many of the other cars we saw in Guatemala – it was made up of after-market pieces of various different kinds of cars. The two front seats were quite obviously from two very different car models, and they squeaked all the way to Antigua. The taxis don’t have air conditioning, and since many of the models are much older they also don’t have power locks or power windows. Our taxi seats were quite stiff due to dried on sweat, and had a unique odor, but aside from that I can’t complain too much. The driver was reliably, nice, and ultimately got us where we needed to go safely.

We never used the public transportation, but there is a metro and there are bus lines. Due to the research I did on the safety situation in Guatemala City and also due to the extensive blocks and blocks of barred buidings with double barbed wire everywhere I never really entertained the idea of trying it out. But again, if you have elephant-sized balls of steel you could try it out – I hear it’s very cheap.

DO IT FOR THE INSTA (ATTRACTIONS)

Antigua - A Brief History

Antigua, Guatemala was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its amazing colonial ruins. The city survived natural disasters of floods, volcanic eruptions and serious earthquakes until the 1773 Santa Marta earthquakes destroyed most of the city. Antigua has more than 30 monastic orders, and is full of the most gorgeous monasteries, convents and cathedrals in the architectural style of Barroco antigueño, a regional adaptation of the Baroque style designed to withstand the earthquakes common in the region. These buildings make Antigua, Guatemala one of the world’s best conserved colonial cities, and have a special way of making you feel like you have stepped back in time to a more simple and colorful way of life.

Santa Catalina Arch

Agua Volcano lightly visible in the arch

This one is probably the biggest tourist attraction in the small town of Antigua – you’ll know it, too. As soon as you walk down a street that all of the sudden is not fairly desolate, but rather is populated with tons of vendors selling purses, jewelry, textiles, etc. then you’ll know it’s close. This main street is actually closed down to vehicles moving north/south in order to protect pedestrian traffic to/from the arch. The coolest view of the arch is looking out towards the southwest because on a clear day you can see the Volcano Agua right behind the arch. Unfortunately for us, it was a pretty smoggy day - the pollution can get pretty bad in Guatemala City/Antigua. You can still slightly make out the outline of the volcano in the arch.

This arch is a neat emblem of colonial design, and the brightly colored buildings around it, with the cobblestone roads underfoot make it an especially picturesque experience. Apparently this arch was built in the 17th century to connect the Santa Catalina convent to a school on the other side of the street so that the cloistered nuns could pass from one building to another without being seen, but you would never guess that such a hidden passageway exists inside this arch. Interestingly enough the clock was added later, in the 1800s, and needs to be wound every three days.

Santa Clara Convent

This was my favorite place we visited on this trip. It looks so quiet and unassuming from the outside – it really just seems more like a fort, with high walls and not much visible other than that. 

Outside the convent

Once you walk up to the front there is a small desk where you are supposed to pay to visit (40Q or ~ $5), but we walked right in, not knowing that. We would have gotten away with it too, had my travel partner not lingered in the main entryway looking terribly confused. Then a man came out from around the corner and told us we needed to pay. Later we watched several other people walk right in and never pay. Let’s just say it’s loosely enforced. Regardless, once you get past that first little room and wooden counter there are a series of stunning courtyards and ruins from majestic religious buildings that you can linger in and amongst. 

We walked straight into this courtyard with budding flowers and peaceful water features, just soaking in the warm late afternoon sun. 

It was breathtakingly stunning – the scenery and backdrop behind the arches of the ruins – eucalyptus trees and big mountains in the background that reminded me so much of home. 

I was so caught up in the beauty of the surroundings that I almost didn’t notice that somehow we had ended up right in the middle of a wedding. When I came to I realized that on the other side of the complex the main courtyard was filled with dinner tables, a buffet was set up, cocktails already being poured for formally-dressed guests by the cathedral, and inside the cathedral workers were hurrying to light all the candles leading up to the greenery-adorned alter. 

Then a bride walked right in front of me with some photographers and suddenly I felt terribly out of place in my Columbia hiking pants, t-shirt, and tennis shoes. I was shocked that the complex was allowing other tourists inside when it was supposed to be hosting a wedding! It was very odd. But seeing this place adorned for a wedding was impressive - it really is a gorgeous place for a wedding.  I could only imagine what the ruins would look and feel like under candlelight.

Parque Central

This is apparently the hub of all tourist traffic in Antigua – most taxi services will drop you off and pick you up from here. Immediately upon stepping out of our car we noticed tourists everywhere, and all kinds of vendors selling to them – mostly selling ice cream or textiles, and lots of groups of school-aged children asking for donations. We did not stick around the square for very long because quite frankly I stick out like a sore thumb and in all my travels I end up being the victim of relentless street pushers. It was no exception here. The park has some beautiful cascading willow type trees surrounding a large water fountain, and is very picturesque. It is surrounded by impressively large colonial buildings that now house mostly chain restaurants (like Wendy’s & Burger King) and ATMs. Before leaving the square I succumbed to an ice cream vendor (it didn’t take too much coercion).

Cerro de la Cruz

Photo from Google Images, may be subject to copyright

This is the iconic cross on a “hill” that overlooks all of Antigua and out across the city to the volcanos. The famous stone cross was installed in 1930. On a clear day you can actually see all three volcanos (Agua, Fuego & Acatenango), and if you are super lucky you could see plumes from Fuego’s small gas and ash eruptions, which allegedly happen roughly every 15 to 20 minutes. 

All three volcanos visible from the viewpoint...from left to right: Agua, Fuego & Acatenango

Photo from Google Images, may be subject to copyright 

Unfortunately as Cerro de la Cruz has become a bigger tourist attraction, the crime rate has risen – mostly assaults and robberies. The best way to stay safe is to take a ride up to the top of the hill, or to walk with a group using a police escort that is provided daily around 10 am and 3 pm, leaving from Parque Central for free (but tips are greatly appreciated). If you do take a ride and want the cab to wait for you they usually will, but parking fee at the top is 5Q, which you will have to pay on their behalf. The lookout is open daily from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, and to get to the base of the hiking trail you just follow 1a Avenida north and as soon as the hill starts to incline you will see the “Bienvenidos Cerro de la Cruz” sign. On the left there will be a set of stairs up to the lookout, which later turns to a cement pathway. The hike up takes about 20 minutes if you go straight up without stopping periodically to breathe or enjoy the view. Once you get to the top you will likely be harassed by several vendors selling water, textiles and other knick knacks, but I hear the view will be worth it. Unfortunately it was already late afternoon, with sun beginning to descend when we arrived to Antigua, and we only had a couple hours before our return trip to Guatemala City, so I wanted to see some of the colonial ruins first. Then it was very hazy and we were running out of daylight and the streets were getting more quiet and I wasn’t getting the safest vibe, so we decided not to chance it and squeeze this hike in. Some of my coworkers have done this before and have said it’s super easy and a truly gorgeous view – they highly recommended it.

Volcano Hikes

View of Fuego Volcano erupting from overnight camping trip on Acatenango

Photo from Google Images, may be subject to copyright

If you are very adventurous and pretty fit you can hike the volcanos! Most of the trips leave on Saturday mornings around 7/8 am because the best volcano hikes (Acatenango & Fuego) start about an hour outside of Antigua (in the town of La Soledad) and then it takes about 5 hours to get up the volcano and about 3 to get down. Most of the volcanos require you to be with a guided group because it is pretty easy to get lost and not all together super safe. Also I heard you will want to pack your own food and water before you leave Antigua because there is not a whole lot available outside of Antigua. They say that November to March provides the best views, especially from Acatenango Volcano, which has the best lookout point to its active neighbor, Fuego Volcano. If the weather is good and clear you can also see views of Pacaya Volcano, Agua Volcano, and all the other volcanoes around Atitlan Lake. If you're super ambitious (and super fit) you can do what they call the "Guatemala Volcano Trilogy" which is a guided tour that takes you to the top of the three most iconic volcanoes of Guatemala (Agua, Fuego & Acatenango) in 35 hours or less. Here's a description of the trip:

"You will start this adventure by ascending Agua Volcano with nothing more than a day pack that way you can make it to the top by sunrise. Then the long 6 hour descent through the other face of the volcano starts. Once you are done with it you get some rest and lunch at Alotenango town. Then it is time for the hard part. You pick up your large, camping backpack and start the ascent to Fuego Volcano to reach the camping area at around 9pm. On the last day the hike starts at 5am to reach Fuego’s summit, go down to the point where it meets Acatenango Volcano and do the last ascent towards its crater."

You can find more information about the volcano trilogy here.

I hear that the sunrise views of the volcanoes are absolutely amazing - especially when Fuego is active. This is even more reason to be able to be up and at it super early on Saturday morning. 

View from Acatenango Volcano at sunrise

Photo taken from Google Images, may be subject to copyright

(A lot of the guided trips won't run on Sundays because Guatemala is extremely Catholic, and there are markedly less planned activities on Sunday mornings). 

After this quick impromptu trip to Guatemala camping on Acatenango has definitely made it on to my bucket list!

RECHARGE

There are lots of super nice hotels in Antigua for super cheap. Most of these hotels are more boutique-y, but they have a vibe kind of like a hostel because it seems pretty unassuming when you first see the door entrance off the street, and then when you enter the hotel opens up to a large, beautiful garden patio where people are just hanging out and socializing. 

Many of the hotels in Antigua have amazing courtyards like this one at the Palacio de Leonor Hotel

Photo taken from Google Images, may be subject to copyright

So many of these hotels are very nice hotels with beautiful courtyards and clean, uniquely-decorated rooms.  These super nice hotels were only running $85 to $100 when I looked into it that Tuesday before we left. They may even be cheaper if you booked further in advance.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) the whole reason we did this trip is because I had a free weekend night for a standard room with Hilton that was going to expire after this weekend, so we needed to book at a Hilton. There are no “chain” hotels in Antigua – IE: IHG, Starwood, Hilton, etc. You can only find these more boutique-y kinds of hotels in Antigua. However, there was one Hilton in Guatemala City – the Hilton Garden Inn, and so that was where we booked. This was the whole reason why we needed to go to Antigua that afternoon and return to Guatemala City that evening. The Hilton we stayed in was SUPER nice though – very high-quality, heavy and soft/smooth Egyptian cotton sheets and puffy pillows, super clean room and even an all-marble bathroom. 

This quality of Hilton would have easily cost $150+ in any average metroplex or $220+ in any big city, but the going rate when I asked to redeem my free night was $82. When I called the Hilton Honors desk to book this the lady asked if there was anywhere else more expensive that I wanted to redeem at, but I really feel like this was superb value for what we got by way of room and service. We could have added breakfast there, but we had planned to go to the lounge in the airport.  We did use their free airport shuttle which ran every half hour, and was super convenient and safe. The hotel was also guarded by armed policemen (most chain hotels are), and I felt as safe as I could get.

Also, as an added bonus, since I am Diamond Hilton status they left us a little treat in the room – the standard two free water bottles, two chocolates (these couldn't hold a candle to my chocolates from Antigua though), some fruits and a Guatemalan textile bracelet that was allegedly “lucky.”

WHAT DO I BRING?

Since we were just going to be there for roughly 24 hours, we just packed our backpacks and my small travel purse. Of course, I always bring my laptop & its charger (mostly for non-rev emergencies, but this time for on call “work from home”), but aside from those items here is what was in my backpack:

• Pajamas – long-sleeved + pants because I knew my hotel would have AC and I would make the room super cold so I could be cozy in blankets
• A shirt for the next day (I planned to use my same Columbia travel pants I arrived in the day before – which turned out to be a poor idea because of the state of the seats in the taxi (they left my pants pretty smelly, and I was wishing I had brought another pair).
• My Go Pro dive housing + attached selfie stick, which I never used
• My travel make up bag (paired down items, in mini sizes)
• My liquids – these were my tailored liquids for this trip:

• Bug spray (Zika is still a real threat here and the weather was starting to warm up…bug season) – This actually ended up being confiscated by their version of TSA upon our return. Apparently in Guatemala they won’t let you get through security with bug spray. They didn’t confiscate any of my other liquids or aerosols, and I never could find out why they took the bug spray but not anything else.
• Sunscreen – it was super sunny and about 80 to 85F (26 to 29C), but I never made the time to put some on.  I did not get burned though.
• Spray bottle of alcohol & another of saline water – I had just gotten my cartilage pierced the prior week and wasn’t about to risk infection. Side note: Don’t ever try to bring Hydrogen Peroxide in your carry on. I found that out the hard way once in London – apparently it can be used as a combustible substance, and I definitely went through the third degree of security in London for that.
• Travel-sized toothpaste - an essential
• Dry shampoo – I had planned to not have to wash my hair because I had just done that the morning we left, however the pollution is so real in Guatemala, and since we drove to and from Antigua with the windows rolled down my hair smelled like I had dry shampooed it with carbon monoxide, so I ended up washing it again that night at the hotel, using the hotel’s shampoo/conditioner.
• Face cream for dry/sunburned skin - another essential
• Makeup remover cloth - yet another essential
• My normal other non-liquid toiletries (like deodorant, toothbrush, hair brush, etc.)

I ended up wishing that I wore or brought something trendy, like bohemian, girly and cute, and not just my hiking/adventure get up because all the tourists were dressed SUPER well and very trendy – in cute dresses and skirts and blouses and sandals, and ultimately it made me feel like a hobo.  In the moment I thought that it was detracting from the gorgeous, almost whimsical nature of some of the places we visited. Therefore, I would highly recommend bringing something to match the scenery.

THE THINGS YOU WOULDN'T KNOW

Travel time on the road is at least double the time Google tells you, which I already mentioned above. But this is important for you to know if you have to get someplace by a certain time.

Pollution is so heavy that it will make you get nasty boogies and it may even make your eyes water. I do not suffer from allergies of any kind (thankfully), so I know all of the symptoms I was experiencing were from the pollution. As you drive down into Antigua you can see the haze of pollution sitting in the valley.

I also mentioned above that my bug spray was confiscated. I still have no idea why, but after trying to do some research I have found that this has happened to others when leaving other Central American destinations like Costa Rica.

MOST SURPRISING

The biggest thing that surprised me was the number of American tourists! Well, this was the beginning of spring break, so there were TONS of high school and college students on the plane and in the hotel that were on their way to mission trips with either their churches or humanitarian societies. I also saw a few Doctors Without Borders doctors and nurses (advertised by their t-shirts). Guatemala is one of the most popular places for organized humanitarian efforts. But I was very surprised at the number of older, retiree-aged tourists I saw – there were elderly tour groups and even a bird watcher tour group. All of this was surprising to me because of the pretty well-known poor safety rating from the U.S. Department of State travel advisory – a Level 3: Reconsider Travel… “Violent crime, such as sexual assault, carjacking, armed robbery, and murder, is common. Gang activity, such as extortion, violent street crime, and narcotics trafficking, is widespread, particularly in the border regions. Local police may lack the resources to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents."

The second most surprising thing was the number of weddings going on – there were weddings EVERYWHERE! I don’t know if this was just the season for it (spring), or if this is a regular year-long occurrence. Guatemala, and especially Antigua, is a destination wedding venue that is most certainly trending. In fact, our taxi buddy, Jim, was headed to his sister’s destination wedding in Antigua. And it turns out the wedding we accidentally crashed at the convent ruins was actually a lawyer from Dallas (thank you Insta-creeping)! Our taxi driver said that weddings are extremely popular at hotels in Antigua and Guatemala and that they are extravagant and expensive affairs (expensive in his terms or ours I don’t know because I could never get him to pin down an estimate). At least the wedding we crashed was certainly extravagant, and most certainly a dream.

SHOW ME THE MONEY

The national currency of Guatemala is the Guatemalan quetzal. At the time of our trip (early March 2018) the exchange rate was 7.41Q for $1 USD, or 1Q = 0.13 USD.

Overall Guatemala is a very cheap country to travel in.  Unless you’re going somewhere fancy they mostly only accept cash, so it will be important for you to always travel with some cash on you. In many cases they will accept USD, especially in some of the touristy places in Antigua, but I would just caution against dealing in USD because many vendors will offer you a USD price that is actually more expensive than the Q price with the going market exchange rate. Also, by dealing in USD you identify yourself as a tourist, which may or may not be the smartest thing to do. 

We changed over $140 in cash at the airport because we were cautioned that there are a lot of scams in Guatemala to steal banking information at ATMs.  Also, I was aware that the last time I was in a Latin American country on a Saturday I had some issues getting into an ATM because the banks were closed, and in that case you need to swipe a bank card to open the doors to access the ATMs (this was in Santiago, Chile). We didn’t know if we would face the same situation here, but we didn’t want to risk it. Research on Lonely Planet  also warned us that “ATM card cloners have moved into Guatemala, targeting Guatemalans and foreigners alike. They operate by attaching a card reading device to the ATM (often inside the slot where you insert your card) and once they have your data, proceed to drain your account. There have been reports of card cloning in all the major tourist destinations. The only way to avoid it is to use ATMs that cannot be tampered with easily (inside supermarkets or shopping malls). The ATMs most prone to tampering are the ones in the little unlocked room at the front of a bank. Note that you should never have to enter your PIN number to gain access to an ATM room.” 

It turns out that there were plenty of ATMs in Antigua, all of which were open and many of them were guarded by armed police with Baretta M-9s (there were many of these armed policemen stationed at all the major tourist attractions). But it also turns out that the exchange rate we got at the airport was actually more favorable than the fee the ATM would have charged us (the exchange rate we got made us lose $2.50 compared to what we would have gotten for that pure USD to Q conversion at the going market rate, and the ATM withdrawal fee would have been $5). We ended up not needing all that we changed over, and we decided to try to turn it back to USD because we didn’t foresee that we would be back to Guatemala anytime soon (otherwise we would have just held onto the Q for the next trip...I definitely do this with Euros and Pounds). If you exchange back at the airport they give you 20% off coupon from your prior receipt – just show them your prior receipt and the coupon they gave you with it and they will actually give you a pretty decent rate. The amount of Q that we wanted to change back should have amounted to $29 at the going market rate, and they gave us back $26. 

Use your coupon you got when you arrived!

The only things we paid for with our cards were dinner at a fancy restaurant in Antigua and my souvenir spoon at the airport. At the fancy dinner we went to we each had a plate with two meats – between the two of us we shared beef tenderloin in adobo, spicy pork sausage, regular pork sausage and smoked chorizo – plus per person we enjoyed one whole large russet potato sliced in half, Guatemalan layered cheese, a small bowl of guacamole, grilled scallions and freshly made from scratch tortillas (about 3 per person). We also ordered two 750 mL bottle of waters (they say you shouldn’t drink the tap water in Guatemala), one Gallo beer (Guatemalan equivalent of Bud Light), one michelada and one hibiscus tea. All of that cost us the equivalent of $40 (tip included…P.S. The price you see on your bill includes tip already). That same quality of meal (which was fantastic) would have cost us about $58 USD in the states, including tip, so we felt that it was worth splurging for a fancier restaurant and fancier seating in the garden. 

Otherwise if you’re trying to be more budget-friendly and aren’t easily bothered by less strict sanitary standards there was street food galore for stupid cheap – 10Q ($1.40) for a big tamale-like thing (its size was the equivalent of about 2.5 average-sized tamales). I for sure would have tried some of this stuff if I hadn’t already been so full. We did, however, pick up a double scoop of ice cream from a street vendor for 5Q each ($0.70). I also bought three artisan dark chocolate truffles, in the most touristy area of Antigua (under the Santa Catalina arch), for 6Q ($0.84). Here’s how all our costs for the whole trip broke down…you can just plug & play with your other expenses like hotel/airfare, and then multiply by the # of days you’d be there for a better idea of what your unique trip would cost you:

*PPPD = Per Person, Per Day 

*PPPD NNE = Per Person, Per Day, Net Normal Expenses – IE: on a normal day at home it would cost you about $20 to eat, drink, and get where you want to go.

GET IN MY BELLY

I already made mention of some of the food we tried in Antigua. Here are the food items that stood out the most to me:

• The seasoned sausages/chorizos had lots of herbs and were so flavorful. Even more, the spicy cilantro cream sauce that came with it was super tasty (but very hot!).

• The hibiscus tea was seriously one of the most refreshing things I’ve ever tasted. This was the first time I had tried it, and at first taste it reminded me a lot of pomegranate juice, but it was already sweetened (probably a lot), so it was less bitter and very enjoyable.

• The michelada mix was really good! It was also seasoned with herbs and pepper and it didn’t taste plain. It was super refreshing at the time as well – great for a 80F/26C sunny day spent walking around with no shade.

• The dark chocolate was so amazing! The best dark chocolate I’ve had to date, and I’m a dark chocolate connoisseur! Most of the pieces I had were very heavy cacao – around 70%, so they were more on the bitter side, which my travel partner didn’t like but I loved. It had more dimension than just bitter, and the finish was naturally sweet. I had one piece – banana flavored that was 65% cacao and that was pretty sweet and very authentically banana-y (definitely made with real bananas and not just banana flavor). The other two pieces I had were Lemon (had rinds in it, so it was the most bitter of the three), and then Honey Chili (nice little slow burn on the backside). All of the chocolates in the shop were dark chocolate – I was in heaven.

• The ice cream vendors are everywhere, but the ice cream isn’t anything to write home to your mother about. In hindsight I would have rather spent my calories on more of that chocolate! The ice cream is mostly “cream flavored” and they put a little dollop of fruit jam on top of it. The ice cream sits in the cart all day where it melts down and gets re-frozen later, so it is a little more icy and less creamy smooth than I prefer.

• Also in Antigua was the nicest Taco Bell I’ve ever seen. We used a restroom there before we left. We didn’t order anything, but boy was that patio amazing! Also, it looked like Wendy’s had an amazing patio when we walked past it. But fast food establishments were kept super clean, and they were located right around the main square (Parque Central).  You could walk into any one of them to use a restroom and the restrooms were very clean.
• Side note: The Los Anejos Priority Pass Lounge in the airport had delicious refried black beans and Guatemalan cheese. It was definitely worth getting to the airport early for.

OVERALL RATING

Attractions = 7

I rated attractions so high because I think the colonial ruins in and amongst the vegetation that is characteristic of Guatemala was just stunning. This place had me wishing I could have a professional photo shoot here because the scenery definitely projected a certain aura to every picture I took, and it was so beautiful and unique. Furthermore, the volcano hikes that Antigua has to offer makes an amazing addition to my bucket list – how many other places can you have a quiet and personal sunrise front row seat to an active volcano eruption?

Cost = 9 

Guatemala was probably the second cheapest country I’ve been to so far – second only to Thailand. Very cheap to eat here, and especially cheap to stay in nice hotels here.

Logistics = 3

I rated this so low because of the lack of road rules, the traffic causing significant transport delays, and the general safety when getting around the cities. Also, I believe it would be difficult to secure safe, budget-friendly, reliable transportation outside of the airport without knowing how to speak Spanish.

Lodging = 7

I rated this as a 7 because many of the hotels in Antigua had beautiful courtyards, and almost honeymoon-like suite set ups. They also seemed to have very unique decoration – displaying the textiles native to the region and lots of flora and fauna. Furthermore, most of the hotels had added security to address tourist concerns. It was also possible to get a very high class hotel for very cheap.

Food & Drink = 6

I rated this just above average probably mostly because the type of food available in Guatemala is very similar to other Mexican/Central American/Latin American cuisine. There really weren’t any dishes that were incredibly unique to Guatemala. However, what I did have was very tasty (hence the above average).

Overall = 7.1

This is a “GO!” recommendation – mostly for the unique outdoorsy experiences and stunning scenery that makes for incredible photos and even more impressive memories.