Guatemala essentials tour

Meals included: Breakfast at the hotel and lunch with a Maya family
Accommodation: Hotel (Panajachel – 2nd night)     

Lake Atitlán is considered one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, as writer Aldous Huxley once said. Set at 1 500 m (4 900 ft) in the tropical zone, it lies within an ancient caldera surrounded by three towering volcanoes of over 3 000 m (9 840 ft).
A scenic boat crossing from north to south takes you between these majestic volcanic peaks to a quiet bay where, early in the morning, fishermen glide across the water in their traditional wooden boats.
In Santiago Atitlán, you’ll admire the intricate, colorful clothing of the Tz’utujil Maya. Women wear richly embroidered huipiles and long red headwraps known as tocoyales, while men sport white embroidered pants decorated with colorful birds. You’ll also visit Maximón, a contemporary Maya deity venerated in a small chapel maintained by his brotherhood. The rituals—filled with flowers, incense, candles, and offerings of alcohol—are a striking mix of ancient and modern devotion.
Continuing by boat, you’ll sail beneath the imposing slopes of San Pedro Volcano toward San Juan La Laguna, one of the loveliest villages on the lake. Here, women’s cooperatives preserve ancestral textile and dyeing traditions using local plants. You’ll share a traditional lunch with a Maya family, organized by a local ecotourism association.

Boat ride back to Panajachel on the northern shore.
Second overnight stay in Panajachel.

Meals included: Breakfast
Accommodation : Hotel (Quetzaltenango).

Morning departure for the highland village of Chichicastenango, steeped in Maya traditions. It was here that the Popol Vuh—one of the few surviving pre-Columbian texts and the sacred book of the Quiché Maya—was rediscovered.
Today, the town is best known for its incredibly colorful markets and fascinating scenes of religious syncretism that unfold daily in and around its 16th-century colonial church. The church was built on the foundations of an ancient Maya temple; its stairway has 18 steps, one for each month of the Maya solar calendar.
As you wander through the narrow streets, you’ll experience one of the most famous handicraft markets in the region—a vibrant explosion of color and life. Vendors sell textiles, masks, incense, fruit, silverwork, and carved wooden figures. Among the most prized items are embroidered huipiles (women’s blouses) and traditional dancer masks.
Just a ten-minute walk from the center lies the town’s colorful cemetery, where you may witness Maya families performing ancestral ceremonies to honor their ancestors. Nearby, the Pascual Abaj hill serves as a sacred site for rituals that blend ancient Maya beliefs with Catholic elements.

In the mid-afternoon, transfer across the highlands and its volcanic landscapes via the Pan-American Highway to the city of Quetzaltenango.
Overnight in the historic center of the city.

Meals included: breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel (Guatemala City)

After breakfast, follow the Pan-American Highway through the highlands to the village of San Francisco El Alto, perched at 8,630 ft (2,630 m). Stroll through one of the largest indigenous markets in the region—featuring a lively livestock market, colorful embroidered textiles, pine furniture, and fruits and spices from every corner of the country. Nearby, you may also witness traditional Maya ceremonies set against a breathtaking mountain panorama. After exploring this vast market, continue through the Maya villages of the region: Zunil, with its beautiful traditional cemetery dominated by the Santa María volcano (12,370 ft / 3,770 m); San Andrés Xecul, whose church is famous for its strikingly colorful façade; and Salcajá, home to the oldest church in Central America, founded in 1524.

Next, follow a scenic road through hand-tended patchwork fields to reach the Fuentes Georginas hot springs. Here, you can relax in large natural pools of steaming mineral water on the slopes of the Zunil volcano, surrounded by a lush mountain jungle of giant ferns and tropical vegetation. Less visited due to its distance from the main tourist routes, the Quetzaltenango highlands are filled with natural beauty and deeply rooted Maya traditions.

By mid-afternoon, drive back across the highlands toward the capital.
      

Meals included: Breakfast
Accomodation: Hotel (Copán)
Included: Guided tour in English — Copán archaeological site and museum

Travel to Honduras via the Atlantic Highway, crossing through a variety of landscapes—from the forested mountains of the Sierra de las Minas to the Motagua Valley and its cactus-studded plains and fruit plantations of melon and pineapple. After crossing the border (with the same vehicle and driver), visit the Copán archaeological site with a English-speaking specialist guide..  

Renowned for its magnificent carved stelae—true masterpieces of Maya art—and its extraordinary hieroglyphic stairway, Copán is considered the Athens of the Maya world and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The site’s impressive museum houses numerous reliefs, sculptures, and temple decorations. Nestled in a tropical valley at around 2,000 ft (600 m), the archaeological park remains surrounded by lush forest, where you may spot scarlet macaws, the national bird of Honduras, soaring above the temples.
After your visit, don’t miss the chance to sample the region’s excellent coffee.
Just steps from the village square, two small museums provide fascinating additional insights into the site’s history.
Overnight in the charming colonial village of Copán Ruinas.

Meals included: Breakfast
Accomodation: Hotel (Livingston - 1st night)   
Self-guided visit

Return to Guatemala as you make your way toward the Caribbean coast. Stop at Quiriguá, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its towering stelae—the tallest ever discovered in the Maya world. Set within a pocket of tropical forest amid vast banana plantations, the site offers the chance to see toucans, parrots, and other tropical birds among majestic trees draped in vines. While crossing the banana fields, a stop will allow you to learn about the cultivation system of this giant herb—an industry that profoundly shaped Guatemala’s political, economic, and social landscapes throughout the 20th century.     

Stop to explore the archaeological site of Quiriguá, home to the tallest stelae ever found in the Maya world. Set within a pocket of tropical forest surrounded by vast banana plantations, this UNESCO World Heritage site is also rich in wildlife—you may spot toucans, parrots, and tropical trees draped in vines. During your visit, you’ll also get a glimpse of the banana cultivation systems that once shaped much of Guatemala’s 20th-century history. In the afternoon, continue to Puerto Barrios, the country’s former Atlantic port, where a local boatman will take you along the coast to the remote Caribbean village of Livingston. Isolated from the rest of the country, Livingston is home to the Garifuna, a people of Afro-Caribbean and indigenous descent who live along the coasts of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Their culture—rich in music, dance, and language—was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2001.     
Overnight in the village (two nights scheduled).

Meals included: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel (Livingston)     

Your boatman will meet you at your hotel’s dock for a beautiful coastal excursion. Cruising along the northern shore, you’ll reach the Siete Altares nature site—“The Seven Altars”—a series of small freshwater waterfalls hidden in the tropical forest (swimming possible; water shoes or sandals recommended). Continue by boat to Playa Blanca, a lovely white-sand beach lined with coconut palms, hammocks, and pelicans—perfect for relaxing under the Caribbean sun.      

Return to Livingston by boat. The afternoon is free to enjoy the laid-back atmosphere of this Caribbean village. Suggestion: sip a coco loco (fresh coconut spiked with rum) at a waterfront café, or try the local specialty, tapado, a delicious seafood stew cooked with coconut milk.
Second night in Livingston.

Meals included: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel (Flores)

After breakfast, board a motorboat for a scenic journey along the tranquil Río Dulce, surrounded by lush tropical vegetation. The river’s steep gorges and dense forest are home to several natural reserves—cliffs, mangrove islands, and bird sanctuaries that once served as hideouts for pirates attacking the Spanish galleons bound for Europe. The region teems with wildlife, including monkeys, anteaters, toucans, coatis, iguanas, manatees, pelicans, egrets, and herons. Midway through the journey, visit Ak’ Tenamit, a Maya Q’eqchi’ community project where you’ll discover local crafts and learn about life in the tropical forest. Connecting the Caribbean Sea with Lake Izabal—the largest lake in Guatemala (228 sq mi / 590 km²)—the Río Dulce is one of the country’s most important waterways, channeling rainfall from the highlands to the Atlantic Ocean.   At the end of the cruise, stop to explore San Felipe Castle, a small 17th-century Spanish fortress built to protect the colonial warehouses from pirate raids. Today, this charming little stronghold has become one of the region’s postcard-perfect icons.  ²  

In the afternoon, travel north across the Petén region to reach the small island of Flores, located on Lake Petén Itzá. Along the way, you’ll pass many ceiba trees (kapok trees), Guatemala’s national and sacred Maya tree. As one of the last areas to be resettled, Petén was a major center of ancient Maya civilization—recent lidar studies have revealed that millions of Maya once lived here for more than 18 centuries!

Overnight on the charming island of Flores, nestled on Lake Petén Itzá (the third-largest lake in the country, at 35 sq mi / 90 km²). With its cobblestone streets, colorful houses, and lakefront cafés, Flores has the feel of a cheerful holiday village. The sunsets over the lake are often spectacular.     ^2 2  

Meals included: Breakfast
Accommodation: Lodge (Tikal National Park)
Visits: Self-guided

Suggestion: Before leaving Flores, take a walk around the island along the lower inner street that circles the town. You’ll notice elegant old houses with shell-shaped arches above doors and windows, colorful façades, and raised entryways built to protect against the lake’s cyclical flooding (which occurs roughly every 50 years). You might even spot traditional Maya houses with whitewashed adobe walls and thatched roofs.

Continue by unpaved road to the Yaxhá archaeological site for a self-guided visit. Lesser known yet beautifully restored, Yaxhá is one of Guatemala’s most impressive Maya sites after Tikal. From the top of the main pyramid, enjoy a panoramic view over the forest and Lake Yaxhá. Off the beaten path, take a short motorboat ride across the lake to the small island site of Topoxté, inhabited by the Maya until the 16th century. Both Yaxhá and Topoxté—like Tikal—are located deep within the tropical forest, surrounded by extraordinary natural beauty. Nature lovers and photographers alike will find plenty to capture here.     

After your visit, transfer to Tikal, crossing the southern section of the National Park on your way to the lodge—a great opportunity to observe wildlife in the rainforest.

Overnight in a lodge inside Tikal National Park, just steps from the archaeological site—perfect for soaking up the magical atmosphere. At dawn and dusk, you may see coatis, ocellated turkeys, and agoutis wandering near the lodges.

Note: It is possible to enter the site for sunrise or sunset visits—please inquire for details.

Meals included: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel (Guatemala City)
Included: Guided tour in English— Tikal archaeological site and National Park
Flight Flores – Guatemala City included

Explore Tikal with a English-speaking specialist guide. Tikal National Park is one of the few UNESCO World Heritage sites listed for both its cultural and natural value—celebrated for its extraordinary biodiversity and its archaeological significance. This former ceremonial center, inhabited mainly from the 9th century BC to the 9th century AD, lies at the heart of a 576 km² (222 sq mi) tropical forest reserve.           

With its towering pyramids—Temple IV rises over 230 ft (70 m)—Tikal is the most awe-inspiring Maya site in the country, and perhaps in all the Maya world. During its pre-Columbian peak, this great metropolis extended its political, economic, and cultural influence as far as the Mexican highlands. Your guide will introduce you to both the site’s fascinating history and its rich ecosystems. The protected habitats shelter several monkey species, anteaters, deer, coatis, and more than 300 bird species. The vegetation is equally remarkable, with over 200 tree species thriving in the reserve.

In the mid-afternoon, transfer to Flores Airport for the short flight (45 minutes) to Guatemala City.

Overnight in a hotel located in Zone 10 of the capital.     

Meals included: Breakfast

Short transfer to Guatemala City Airport for your international departure (check-in three hours before the flight). Depending on your flight schedule, you may visit the city’s main museums (upon request). In that case, we recommend choosing flights departing in the mid- or late afternoon.