Soaking up Antigua
Summary
Great history – Antigua was the former Spanish colonial capital of Guatemala from 1543 to 1776, so it is steeped in tradition – traditions they work hard to maintain through, for example, not allowing modern day commercial branding to deface the facades of the beautiful buildings
Great vibe – there are a series of markets selling local goods and plenty of international visitors not just from tourism, but also as many people travel to the host of language schools located here
Nice place to stop and recharge your batteries after travelling or hiking nearby. One day enough though
If you’re keen for an easy hike and half day trip, you can head up to the Pacaya Volcano. Unfortunately, the weather was poor the day we went, which meant we couldn’t really see much, but being able to see the lava flowing near(ish) was very very cool
highlights
#1 Wandering through the well preserved streets, soaking up the feel for the place and with the backdrop of the surrounding mountains
#2 Walking through some of the wonderful churches and other beautiful buildings that are dotted all around the centre
#3 Checking out the local markets with all sorts of tat to buy
#4 The hike up to the Pacaya Volcano rewards you with sights of the flowing lava just under the recently solidified rock. Very very cool
Travel Tips
- Really recommend staying at Casa Santa Rosa Hotel – gorgeous small gardens and traditional feel to the place, very friendly and helpful staff, and walking distance into the main square
- Restaurants:
- The Cactus Taco Shop was great
- Casa Troccoli is worth visiting just for the place itself, let alone the food. Make sure you sit in the front area rather than round the back
- For the Pacaya Volcano, you need to be lucky with the weather as I’m sure the views on a good day are spectacular. My other tip is see if you can hire a private guide as the group tours feel particularly commercialised
- Be sure to check out Lake Atitlan, a 2 hour drive away and one of the most beautifully idyllic places I’ve seen in the world. More details for a trip there see 3 days by the simply stunning Lake Atitlan
- If staying a bit longer in Guatemala, see my Itinerary for 10 wonderful days in Guatemala and generally for useful tips for your time there
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Old Town experiences
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone