Semuc Champey

Guatemala

　　Semuc Champey is famed for its great natural limestone bridge, 300m long, on top of which is a stepped series of pools with cool, flowing river water good for swimming. Though this bit of paradise is difficult to reach, the beauty of its setting and the turquoise perfection of the...

Market

Guatemala

　　Some villagers still walk for hours carrying their wares to reach Chichi's market, one of Guatemala's largest and a highlight of many people's trips to the country. It's a rich mix of the traditional and the tourist, where local women shopping for a new huipile rub shoulders with travelers looking...

Catedral Santo Domingo de Coban

Alta & Baja Verapaz

　　Cobán's majestic cathedral takes pride of place, overlooking the central plaza. ...

Mercado Terminal

Alta & Baja Verapaz

　　The local market is always good for a wander, even if you're not looking to buy. ...

Ermita de Santo Domingo de Guzmán

Alta & Baja Verapaz

　　The Ermita de Santo Domingo de Guzmán, a chapel dedicated to Cobán's patron saint, is 150m west of the bottom of the stairs leading to the Templo El Calvario (the stairs are at the north end of 7a Av). ...

Parque Nacional Las Victorias

Alta & Baja Verapaz

　　This forested 82-hectare national park, right in town, has ponds, BBQ and picnic areas, children's play areas, a lookout point and kilometers of trails. The entrance is near the corner of 9a Av and 3a Calle. Most trails are very isolated – consider hiking in a group. You can camp...

Templo El Calvario

Alta & Baja Verapaz

　　You can get a fine view over the town from this church atop a long flight of stairs at the north end of 7a Av. Indigenous people leave offerings at outdoor shrines and crosses in front of the church, and it's an interesting stop if you have time. Don't linger...

Orquigonia

Alta & Baja Verapaz

　　Orchid lovers and even the orchid-curious should not miss the wonderfully informative guided tour of this orchid sanctuary just off the highway to Cobán. The 90-minute to two-hour tour takes you through the history of orchid collecting, starting with the Maya, as you wend your way along a path in...

Town Hall

Panajachel

　　The Town Hall (Municipalidad), which stands behind the church in the center of town, is Panajachel's seat of government and handles administrative functions. It also houses the local branch of the Policía Nacional (national police). ...

Museo Lacustre Atitlán

Panajachel

　　Inside the Hotel Posada de Don Rodrigo, this museum has displays on the history of the Atitlán region and the volcanic eruptions that created its landscape, plus a collection of ancient artifacts recovered from the lake. A hall below the main gallery covers Samabaj, an ancient ceremonial center discovered at...

Iglesia San Francisco

Panajachel

　　The colonial-era church is the heart of old Panajachel. Its extremely broad stone facade, with four tiers of windows between double columns, resembles a castle, especially when illuminated in the evening. Inside the air is redolent of incense, hinting at Guatemala's interchange between its Maya and Catholic traditions. ...

Casa Cakchiquel

Panajachel

　　Pana's cultural center started life as one of the first hotels on the lake, built by a Swedish countess in 1948. Now it holds a radio station, Japanese restaurant and a tremendous little gallery of photos and postcards of Atitlán in simpler times, when steamboats plied the lake. 　　During its...

La Galería

Panajachel

　　Overflowing with art by Guatemalan painters and sculptors, this gallery functions as both an exhibit space and cultural center, hosting lectures, films and occasional concerts. Started in 1971 by the German-K'iche' painter Nan Cuz, the gallery holds a number of the hallucinatory landscapes that garnered Cuz international acclaim. ...

Reserva Natural Atitlán

Panajachel

　　A former coffee plantation being reclaimed by natural vegetation, this reserve is 200m past the Hotel Atitlán on the northern outskirts of town. It makes a good outing on foot or bicycle. You can leisurely walk the main trail in an hour: it leads up over swing bridges to a...

Iglesia El Calvario

Quetzaltenango

　　The church that lends its name to the neighborhood west of the center was built four centuries ago on a rise to avoid Xela's periodic flooding. Check out the grand interior with its unusually broad single-nave design. Calvario is one of the chief way stations during Semana Santa celebrations. ...

Templo de Minerva

Quetzaltenango

　　Rising incongruously from an island in the middle of traffic-choked 4a Calle, this temple was erected by dictator Estrada Cabrera to honor the Roman goddess of education and to inspire Guatemalans to new heights of learning. Bizarre contrast notwithstanding, it makes a handy shelter during a rainstorm and a useful...

Museo Ixkik'

Quetzaltenango

　　This museum is devoted to Maya weaving, with traditional outfits arranged by region. Director Raquel García is an expert on the symbols and meanings of indigenous clothing and provides interesting commentary. ...

Museo de Arte

Quetzaltenango

　　An interesting if chaotic collection of some 400 paintings by Guatemala's leading modernists is exhibited here, including works by Efraín Recinos, Jorge Mazariegos and the landscape artist José Luis Álvarez. Most prominently displayed are the fantastic canvases of Rodrigo Díaz, who also happens to be the curator. ...

Cerro el Baúl

Quetzaltenango

　　This wooded hill is a popular weekend destination for city dwellers, for its wonderful views across Xela's broad plain and to the volcanos that fringe it. There's a small cafe, some surprisingly fast and scary kids' slides and a giant obelisk with great Maya warrior Tecún Umán carved in relief...

Cemetery

Quetzaltenango

　　Quetzaltenango's enormous cemetery is a pleasant and fascinating green space for a walk. To the left of the main entrance, visit the grave of the gypsy Vanushka, spurned and shamed by her wealthy lover until she died of a broken heart. Flowers are still left at her grave by those...

Parque Centro América

Quetzaltenango

　　Most of Xela's sights crowd in and around the broad central plaza. It's a great place for a stroll or to sit and people-watch. It was originally two separate parks, designed by Italian architect Alberto Porta in the 19th century; these were combined in a 1930s update into its current...

Centro Intercultural de Quetzaltenango

Quetzaltenango

　　Quetzaltenango's railroad station, 1km east of the Templo de Minerva along 4a Calle, lay dormant for many years until the city converted it into this center, which now houses schools of art and dance, plus three interesting museums. 　　The Museo Ixkik' is devoted to Maya weaving and traditional outfits, while...

Convento de Capuchinas

Antigua

　　Inaugurated in 1736 by nuns from Madrid, the convent of Las Capuchinas was seriously damaged by the 1773 earthquake and thereafter abandoned. Thanks to meticulous renovations in recent decades, it's possible to get a sense of the life experienced by those cloistered nuns, who ran an orphanage and women's hospital....

Iglesia y Convento de la Recolección

Antigua

　　A serene air pervades the remains of the monastery of La Recolección, which stands well west of the center. Erected in the early 18th century by the Récollets (a French branch of the Franciscan order), its church was one of the largest in Antigua at the time. The earthquake of...

Antiguo Colegio de la Compañía de Jesús

Antigua

　　Established in 1626, the Jesuit monastery and college was a vital component of Antigua life until the order was expelled in 1767; just six years later, the great earthquake left it in ruins. Rescued from the rubble by the Spanish government, the complex has been reborn as a cultural center,...

Parque Central

Antigua

　　Surrounded by superb colonial structures, this broad and beautiful plaza is the gathering place for antigüeños and visitors alike – a fine, verdant place to sit or stroll and observe the goings-on, from hawkers and shoeshiners to school kids and groups of tourists. The buxom mermaids in the central fountain...

Catedral de Santiago

Antigua

　　Antigua's cathedral was begun in 1545, wrecked by the quake of 1773, and only partially rebuilt over the next century. The present sliver of a church – the parish of San José – occupies only the entrance hall of the original edifice. Behind it are the roofless ruins of the...

Arco de Santa Catalina

Antigua

　　The Arco de Santa Catalina is Antigua's most iconic monument, and an early-morning or late-afternoon photo opportunity framing Volcán Agua through its arch is an essential part of any visit to the town. It was built in 1694 to enable nuns from the Santa Catalina convent to cross the street...

Iglesia Merced

Antigua

　　At the northern end of 5a Av is La Merced – a striking yellow building trimmed with white plaster filigree. Its facade is one of the most beautiful in Guatemala The squat, thick-walled structure was built to withstand earthquakes, and three centuries after its construction it remains in good shape....

Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo

Antigua

　　Founded by Dominican friars in 1542, Santo Domingo became the biggest and richest monastery in Antigua. Following three 18th-century earthquakes, the buildings were pillaged for construction material. The site was acquired as a private residence in 1970 by a North American archaeologist, who performed extensive excavations before it was taken...

Museo del Ferrocarril

Guatemala City

　　This is one of the city's more intriguing museums, with lots of photos and interesting memorabilia from the train days of old. Documented here are the glory days of the troubled Guatemalan rail system, along with some quirky artifacts, such as hand-drawn diagrams of derailments and a kitchen set up...

Mapa en Relieve

Guatemala City

　　North of Zona 1, Zona 2 is mostly a middle-class residential district, but it's worth venturing along to Parque Minerva to see this huge open-air map of Guatemala showing the country at a scale of 1:10,000. The vertical scale is exaggerated to 1:2000 to make the volcanoes and mountains appear...

Museo Popol Vuh

Guatemala City

　　Inside Museo Popol Vuh you'll find well-displayed pre-Hispanic figurines, incense burners and burial urns, plus carved wooden masks and traditional textiles filling several rooms of this museum. Other rooms hold colonial paintings and gilded wood and silver artifacts. A faithful copy of the Dresden Codex, one of the precious 'painted...

Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología

Guatemala City

　　This museum has the country's biggest collection of ancient Maya artifacts, but explanatory information is very sparse. There's a great wealth of monumental stone sculpture, including Classic-period stelae from Tikal, Uaxactún and Piedras Negras; a superb throne from Piedras Negras; and animal representations from Preclassic Kaminaljuyú. 　　Also here are rare...

Museo Miraflores

Guatemala City

　　This excellent modern museum is inauspiciously jammed between two shopping malls a few kilometers out of town. Downstairs focuses on objects found at Kaminaljuyú, with fascinating trade-route maps showing the site's importance. Upstairs there are displays on textiles and indigenous clothing, separated by region, from around the country. 　　Signs are...

Museo Ixchel

Guatemala City

　　This museum is named for the Maya goddess of the moon, women, reproduction and textiles. Photographs and exhibits of indigenous costumes and other crafts show the incredible richness of traditional arts in Guatemala's highland towns. Guided tours are available in English (with prior reservation) or Spanish. 　　If you enjoy Guatemalan...

Palacio Nacional de la Cultura

Guatemala City

　　On the north side of Parque Central is this imposing presidential palace, which was built between 1936 and 1943 during the dictatorial rule of General Jorge Ubico at enormous cost to the lives of the prisoners who were forced to labor here. It's the third palace to stand on the...

Casa MIMA

Guatemala City

　　A wonderfully presented museum and cultural center set in a house dating from the late 19th century. The owners of the house were collectors with eclectic tastes ranging from French neo-rococo, Chinese and art deco to indigenous artifacts. The place is set up like a functioning house, filled with curios...