Great trip to Antigua and Lake Atitlan
Guatemala
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Jan 3 - Jan 11, 2026
Chris helped us plan a really fantastic trip for our first visit to Guatemala. He was helpful, communicative, knowledgeable, and undertook to deal cheerfully with our preferences and frequent changes of plans! It was a good mix of planned activities and free time. We visited Antigua and Lake Atitlan. The hotel Porta in Antigua was beautiful, calm and a great experience with a relaxing pool and really great staff. My favorite activities included the half day Pacaya volcano hike with our fantastic guide Esmeralda and local guide Sheni, and visits to smaller towns outside Antigua to learn about weaving and chocolate making. On Lake Atitlan, we stayed in a lovely hotel in Panajachel, but had I researched the area more, I think I would have preferred a quieter town. However, we didn't have much time there and it was a convenient base. Our guide for a trip to some lake towns, Nicolas, was excellent - he taught us a lot about Mayan culture and history and it was great to visit Santiago with him. I appreciated that Chris planned a tour for us with a local Mayan guide at a really interesting archeological site on the way to the lake since we were not going to Tikal. Guides and drivers that Chris arranged through Old Town Outfitters were all professional, really kind, and great to be with. People were so patient with our elementary Spanish. On our own we visited a few things I would recommend: Cafe Azotea (coffee farm we walked to in Antigua), the Central Market in Antigua where locals buy and sell produce and many other things), Caoba Farm in Antigua for lunch, free salsa lesson at Las Palmas in Antigua.
Hotel Reviews
Lovely set up, nice pool, good food, attentive service. Our room was on one side of a courtyard and a little dark, but very nice! No complaints!
Really nice small and comfortable hotel with lovely staff and a small hot spring bath in the backyard. They were kind enough to pack us a breakfast the day we left to go back to the US as we were leaving at 6 am. Really enjoyed our stay at this hotel but I would have preferred to stay in a town on the lake that is less busy than Panajachel.
Activity Reviews
We had a wonderful guide and met some really interesting and friendly local people at their shops. I would have liked to have a little more time to just walk around and see things as well. I don't think the visit to the macadamia farm is particularly necessary or enlightening, at least that was my feeling.
Fascinating to see what Mayan life is like around the lake. Extremely colorful and beautiful. People are really enterprising despite some hardships. Textiles, produce, friendly people and beautiful views are everywhere. Personally I could have done without visiting the town of San Pedro, which is really crowded with tourists and shops selling the same items. My favorite part was going through the town and streets of Santiago with our guide Nicolas.
Thank you for taking the time to leave us your review Laurie! I'm glad you were able to get to know Guatemala with our local team and shared such positive energy along the way. Be sure to spread the word to your friends and family, the more people know about our area the better. Thank you again for your business!