Antigua Guatemala Travel Forum

I will arrive at Puerto Quetzal (on the coast south of Antigua) Feb 22 for one day. I would like to rent a car and/or driver to go sight-seeing. Is it unreasonable to drive to Antigua and Lake Amatitlan and Chichicastenango in a day? Any ideas for locating a guide for private tour (4 travelers)? We don't want to sit on the beach. What should we not miss? Thanks

At the dock in puerto quetzal you'll be met by tour operators offering their services on tours to antigua. Antigua is a two hour drive on a four lane highway. So, You're not going to be able to see more than one place in one day. You'll be better off going on a tour than taking a chance of getting lost driving a rental car because you have to go through guatemala city and the traffic is pretty heavy. Read Giovana's pleasant cruise experience in guatemala on www.tripadvisor.com

You don't have to go through Guatemala City; there is a good direct road from Puerto Quetzal to Antigua (1.5 hours).

Be careful (note the spellings): Lake Amatitlan is an unremarkable lake about 1 hour from Puerto Quetzal. Lake Atitlan is an extremely beautiful lake 2.5 hours from Antigua (90kms of windy road). Thursday is market day at Chichi (1 hour from Lake Atitlan, 2.5 hours return from Chichi to Antigua). You can't do all three destinations in one day. You could almost do Antigua and the Lake in one day if you left the port a 5am and went to Atitlan first. BUT that wouldn't give you time for a boat ride which is one of the pleasures.

Better you go to Antigua only. There's sufficient to do for a full day. The town is very photogenic. Visit some ruins and have lunch in a cafe. You may want to purchase Jade jewelery which is very inexpensive here. Be careful with the guides, they are rubbish. They make up tall stories to hide the fact they know very little of the history of Antigua.