Departamento de Guatemala Travel Forum

I want to travel in july to guatemala to make first a language course in Antigua and than to make voluntary work with ARCAS wildlife rehabilitation center in Peten. The only thing that keeps me of is the safety in Guatemala. I read a lot of dangerous things. Are these things true, is it really as dangerous?

dear Denise, Antigua is very popular with backpackers for language courses at affordable prices. In October-November 2005, I was travelling along the Golf of Tehuantepec in Mexico, towards Guatemala. For logistical reasons, I could not cross the border at Tapachula, Mexico, as planned. The bus company sent me further south to Ciudad Hidalgo. On arrival, I learned that cross-border bus service was interrupted because of road & bridge damage caused by Hurricane Stan in early October.
I travelled 5 kilometers from Ciudad Hidalgo to the border crossing on a small box on wheels, drawn by a man pedalling a tricycle in front. He left me at a good distance from the first inspection booth, in an isolated area, & tried to intimidate me to pay him 4 times the agreed price.
Eventually, a kind Guatemalan truck driver returning to his country agreed to let me ride with him into Guatemala & made sure I was safe in a good hotel before continuing on to his destination.

I can tell you with certainty that of the two places, Tapachula is the better town from which to cross the border. Even if it means waiting there an extra day for a seat on a long-distance bus, do it. Ciudad Hidalgo is too small and has no facilities or services, should you have to wait there.

I don't know whether roads & bridges destroyed by Hurricane Stan have all been fixed. Please read updated reports from official sources for the latest information. I have heard, however, from other travellers and from reading Spanish papers recently, that problems still exist following Hurricane Stan & that Peten (& a biosphere area there) are not safe areas to travel to at this time.
I hope you will find the information you need to decide on your itinerary and I wish you safe travels!

hi all!!
I am going to guatemala ( november)
I will vistied a language school and a little bit travel around the country
but I have the dame problem!!! is it too dangerous??? I don`t know what is the right decision???
bye lara2006

hi!! what do you think it is better travel with travel agency in different citys in guatemala??? bzl the dangerous thinks???
bye lara2006

We were in Guatemala last August, prior to Hurricane Stan, and spent time in Antigua and Panajachel. In Panajachel we visited friends. Guatemala is a third world country and you must exercise caution but I didn't feel unsafe, ever. The culture is fascinating and the scenery, magnificent. I would go again without a second thought. I have some information on my pages, including informatiom about a library project that we visited. Feel free to email me if you think I can be helpful. Sue

I second that thought. I am a very conservative traveler and was concerned about safety before traveling to Guatemala in March 2006. I spent over a week traveling in Antigua, Chichi, Panajachel and Flores/Tikal, and I never once felt unsafe. The people were amazingly open, kind and helpful. Granted, we did not travel too far off the beaten path into rural areas, but we loved what we saw and would return in a heartbeat. Serious incidents do take place in Guatemala, as they do anywhere else in the world, but I believe they are infrequent in the well-traveled areas. This is a wonderful country well worth the trip!!

We spent a month in Guatemala and never felt unsafe. Just act confident and be smart.

Just a friendly reminder to all answering questions about present conditions & safety in a particular country. Circumstances change rapidly & even natural disasters can make an area unsafe or impracticable. I think it would be helpful to indicate the date of our visit, in forum replies & tips. This would be very helpful to people looking for up-to-date information.

From my experience travelling all over Latin America by bus recently, I know that there are many, major differences within one single country. Those include differences in infrastructure, general economic situation, social attitude of the local people, etc. For example, a region seriously affected by a hurricane will leave many roads, bridges & areas destroyed, sometimes for a long period. The local people there obviously will be going through hell trying to put their lives back together. Travellers need to be aware of this.

I spoke to as many locals & nationals as I could throughout my trip, and I kept myself informed with local & national medias. I don't think I could paint a broad-brush picture of any of the 12 countries I visited.

Let's all use common sense & let's all be as aware as we can be of the present conditions in any given region. :)

you should always go to the u.s department of state website to research travel advisories before visiting a country like guatemala.as someone who has lived in guat. for 6 years,i can say the security situation here has deteriorated trmendously here over the last 3 years,the peten region is,along with guat city,probably the 2 most dangerous places a tourist would ever visit. cerro cahaui national park[on the outskirts to tikal],el remate[on the otskirts to tikal]are EXTREMELY dangerous.Panajachel,rio dulce,monterrico.and antigua are relatively safe.Be carefull,don't travel at night,and good luck.

There is no more or less crime in Guatemala than in the US, so don't let that deter you. The same way you wouldn't walk around with wads of bills hanging out of your pocket in your hometown, you wouldn't do that there or anywhere. Common sense is the best thing to follow. You'll be okay. I'm 24 year old female who travels to Guate at least twice a year and thank God I've never had a single problem.

I warn tourists travelling to Guatemala. Traffic is quite anarchic in this country, they, specially buses, are extraordinarily rash and unconscious and overtake in any conditions. Damaged trucks (not infrequent since the maintenance is poor) give up where it happens. Legislation does not reach (for incomplete and slow) to crimes of driving of enormous severity. Since they do not have statistics, they get away themselves from knowing how many deads and disabled persons have. When I asked to my doctor, he told me that attended persons for traffic accident and bullet are frequent. Even tourism companies are not sufficiently matured in this aspect. On September 11 2007 my wife and me, from Spain, were travelling with PTP (Promotora Turística Panamericana) and we clashed with a truck that was coming in the opposite direction advancing to another truck stopped in the road. I got several broken ribs. After hospitalization I had to recover in a hotel (the trip was cancelled by PTP) and we remained dependent on our means. With regard to safety in the streets, you must be aware of pickpockets and not to go alone at night or in empty or dark areas.