We will be arriving for the day by cruiseship at Puerto Quetzal and are considering private transportation into Antigua, arranged by Elizabeth Bell. Once in Antigua, Elizabeth arranged for us to hook up with a private guide to see the city.

The ship arranges police escort with machine guns, for their tour buses. Makes me wonder if our group of 6 will be safe taking a private van into Antigua. We don't like taking ship tours but we do like being safe.

Are the roads between Puerto Quetzal and Antigua as dangerous as we've heard? Any input would be greatly appreciated... Sandy

I'M NOT SURE ABOUT THAT AREA BUT THE NEARER YOU GOTO ANTIGUA THE MORE IT SHOULD BE SAFE. ANYWAYS, DON'T WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT IT, YOU'LL BE OK.

AS FOR THE ROADS GOING FROM PUERTO QUETZAL TO ANTIGUA, THEY ARE MOSTLY SMOOTH AND FAST AND YOU SHOULD GET THERE IN LIKE 2 HOURS TOPS. I'M ASSUMING YOU'RE NOT GONNA TAKE THE ROAD THAT GOES FROM PUERTO SAN JOSE (FOLLOWING ON TO ESQUINTLA) AS THAT ROAD IS UNFINISHED AND VERY BUMPY.

The dingy port cities of Puerto Quetzal and Puerto San Jose are far more dangerous than Antigua.By all means take the day trip to Antigua,enjoy the scenery and colonial atmosphere,and I'm sure You won't regret it!The highway between Puerto Quetzal and Antigua is a modern 4 lane autopista[toll-road],and amongst the safest in the country.

Hi there: Mongo2 is right, you'll be travelling on a four lane highway in excellent condition. I don't know why they have to use body guards with machine guns. That only scares and makes the tourists look like prisoners. Believe it or not, if you were to watch the news here in South Florida every day, you would think that tourists in guatemala are safer than here. Recently in Miami some criminals broke into a best western room and attacked and robbed the tourists. The US state department travel advisory is the most confusing, useless and outdated thing I've ever seen. You'll love antigua. Good luck.