3-week itinerary for Guatemala
3-Week Itinerary for Guatemala
Written on 03/09/2025
Some people choose to only spend a little time in the south of Guatemala, before trekking on to the next country. I’m here to tell you to absolutely pencil in these three weeks and I’ll tell you exactly what to do in that time. There is so much nature to see and culture to learn about, the possibilities are endless. I actually ended up staying 5 weeks longer after my friend left to learn Spanish, which I also really recommend, but for this article we’ll stick to the three weeks.
Transportation
In Guatemala you have several means of transportation. Of course you can always take a taxi or an uber, but for tourists the main transportation are shuttle buses. You can book these online, with your accommodation or with any travel agency you see in the streets. They are so popular they’re definitely not hard to find. They are generally pretty nice, have air conditioning and seat about 15 people. Make sure to get there early though! If the shuttle is fully booked, they fold out some extra seating in the middle of the bus and believe me you do NOT want to have to sit there for 10 hours. Other than that, the shuttles are really chill and easy, you don’t have to worry about a thing. They will always stop at a place with some food and a toilet and get you safely to your destination. The only problem is that they can be a bit expensive, with prices ranging from 15 to 50 US dollars, depending on the length of the journey and the luxury of the vehicle. I would recommend booking with Bookaway to see a few options! You can also ask around, a lot of people have a whatsapp number they can share for a cheaper ride.
A cheaper, but way more chaotic option is the Chicken Bus. These are the famous buses in Central America that were old school buses donated from the US, but now happily painted in multiple colours. They are the public transport for the locals, but you are more than welcome to join. You do need to speak a little bit of Spanish though, since the bus drivers will only speak to you in Spanish. I would also recommend doing this together instead of on your own, as it can be a bit dangerous or you can end up in some strange places. There is no set schedule: you’ll show up at the bus station and tell someone your destination (people will come up and ask you). They’ll point you to a bus and you get on there. You’ll pay cash while the bus is driving, someone will collect money from everyone during the trip. They’re pretty helpful for tourists, so when you get to the right place, they’ll tell you to get off. Only problem, there might be a lot of transfers. We were once told there was one transfer point and later it turned out we needed four different buses. BUT, we did get there, and for a LOT cheaper than we otherwise would’ve spent on the shuttle. It is also just a fun experience to try, so I would definitely recommend trying it at least once for a short journey.
Weather
We were travelling around Guatemala in March, but the temperatures are actually really nice all year round. As the land of the eternal spring, temperatures are really consistent. The main difference is the height of the area. Antigua and Lake Atitlán tend to have springlike temperatures, around 22 degrees celsius, while Flores tends to be extremely hot. The main thing weatherwise is the rain season: between may and october there is always a lot of rain, so if you don’t want to get caught in the pouring rain during your activities in Guatemala, I would recommend going anywhere between november and april.
Finances
Compared to Europe, Guatemala is definitely very cheap. You can really live on a budget here, especially if you book the cheapest accommodation, eat at local restaurants and take the chicken buses for accommodation. Personally, I spent around 60 euros a day. This is because I did some expensive activities and mostly took shuttles to get from A to B. If you wanted to, you could definitely live cheaper in Guatemala.
Itinerary
Since most international flights arrive here, that’s where we started as well. Since it can be pretty dangerous to walk around at night and there’s not really that much to do, we only spent one night here and immediately left for Antigua the next morning. If you arrive early, you can also leave the same day since Antigua isn’t that far. If you really want to spend some time in Guatemala City, I’ve heard the museums are good, so check those out!
We left Guatemala City in the morning to make the trip, which took around three hours. Antigua is a really nice town, with all the colourful houses built in colonial style. It’s really beautiful, but since it isn’t that big, we could walk around the whole town in one afternoon. It’s got some really nice restaurants, so I would recommend going out to eat here.
Even though it’s not that big, I would recommend another day in Antigua to get used to the height difference and get over your jet lag. We spent the morning at Hobbitenango, a knockoff Hobbiton close to Antigua. Entry was only a few euros and the park was absolutely hilarious. We took the shuttle they provided to get there, which was an adventure in itself, driving the steep roads in the back of the truck. Then at the park we tried all the activities: archery, midgetgolf, huge jenga and an exciting rope jump. It’s also just a really nice park to hang out, with flowers everywhere, some hobbit houses and everything made in hobbit style. There was even a guy dressed as Gandalf walking around. All in all, definitely worth the few euros we paid.
We got back to Antigua in the afternoon and spent some time strolling around the markets. There’s a big food market where locals shop, a touristy market for souvenirs and a second hand clothes market, all close to the chicken bus station. Even if you don’t want to buy anything, it’s fun to see all the hustle and bustle of the markets. Or the opposite of that, cause we also saw some people taking naps on piles of clothes. The evening we spent preparing our bags, cause there was a big day ahead…
It was good that we had the extra day in Antigua, cause the height difference did get to a lot of people and still got to us as well. Climbing the Acatenango volcano really is a must-do in Guatemala. You hike up the first day, camp close to the top, see sunrise and then hike down again. The highlight here is seeing the Fuego volcano, one of the most active volcanos in the world. If you’re lucky, you get to see it erupt. Unfortunately, for us it was really cloudy and it also didn’t erupt, so we didn’t get to see any lava. The sunrise was absolutely gorgeous though, so I would still recommend making the trek. The hike is really challenging, especially because you’re also carrying a backpack. The guides are a big help though and as long as you take enough time, you’ll make it through. And the views are worth it! If you want to know more about our climb of the Acatenango and all our tips and tricks, read all about it here! (LINK NAAR ARTIKEL OVER ACATENANGO).
After the beautiful sunrise at the top and a nice breakfast at basecamp, it was time to descend the mountain again. This was a lot easier than climbing it, but we were still really really glad to finally make it down. After stepping in dog shit immediately after (it smelled so bad), driving back to Antigua and cleaning up a bit, we didn’t do anything else all day. We booked a hostel with a pool on purpose for this night, and I can really recommend laying by the pool the whole afternoon after this trip, cause you’re not going to want to do anything.
We traveled from Antigua to Panajachel by shuttle (if you get carsick, this is a really windy road so be prepared) and then took the boat from Panajachel to San Pedro, where we would be staying the next week. These boats go around every half hour and can bring you to all the different towns on the lake, so it’s really easy to get everywhere!
We planned it out so we had arrived in San Pedro on a Sunday, so we could start Spanish lessons this monday. We took Spanish lessons at Lake Atitlán Spanish School, which I would definitely recommend (after our trip, I went back for another 5 weeks). We stayed in a homestay with a local family, also arranged through the school. We also ate all of our meals with the family. Everyday, we had four hours of classes from 8 to 12 in the morning (you can also choose afternoon classes), with a private teacher. This was really nice, as we really got the chance to practice our Spanish. In the afternoon, we could chill at the lake, tour the other villages and do our homework. There was also an optional activity that the school organized everyday. I would 1000% recommend taking Spanish lessons here. The village has such a nice vibe and I feel like we really improved our Spanish a lot (which you need if you’re going to be travelling Central America). The lake also has a lot of activities around it and it’s nice to have a whole week to explore them, while learning something. So while it’s a bit more expensive, this experience was definitely worth it (and still 50 times cheaper than learning a language in Europe). Check out these other articles for our experience learning Spanish in San Pedro and the activities we did around the lake! (LINKS NAAR TWEE ANDERE ARTIKELEN, eentje over spaans leren, eentje over activiteiten bij lake atitlan)
Since the Spanish lessons end on friday, but you’re allowed to stay with the host family until sunday morning, we stayed at Lake Atitlán an extra day. We spent the day exploring San Marcos and chilling at the nature reserve there, but there’s heaps of activities you could do around the lake. Check out THIS ARTICLE LINK for more inspiration!
On day 13, it was time to leave Lake Atitlán on the first very long shuttle ride: 10 hours to Lanquin. A lot of people choose to skip this because of the long drive, but I think it’s completely worth it, it was one of the most fun days of our trip! More on that on day 15.
You can choose to travel in the night, as there is a direct night shuttle from San Pedro, or to take the boat to Panajachel and then spend all day in the shuttle. You will spend a long time in the shuttle, but if you arrive early, you can get a good spot by the window. The shuttle will stop on the way for food and toilet, but make sure to bring enough snacks!
In Lanquin, the main attraction is Semuc Champey. You can choose to book a hostel close to the town of Lanquin or close to Semuc Champey. This choice doesn’t really matter. All the day trips to Semuc Champey include transportation from Lanquin, so you don’t have to worry about that. You will probably eat all your meals at your hostel (or another hostel close to your hostel) and spend more time there, since most of them are in a nice place surrounded by nature and as I said, there’s not really anything to see in Lanquin.
When you arrive at the shuttle station, people from your hostel will be waiting to take you to your hostel.
We had a rainy day, so we spent all day chilling at our hostel and doing our taxes. Not the usual fun activity while travelling, but necessary. Luckily we had some nice views. You could skip this day if you want to make your trip a little shorter. Still, it was nice to have a rest day after the long shuttle ride.
As I said, the main activity to do from Lanquin is the day trip to Semuc Champey. I 100% recommend taking a tour for this, since you will have to pay the same amount to do all the activities separately and you are going to want to do alllll the activities. We just booked the day trip through our hostel, but all of them have the same program so it doesn’t really matter. We got picked up from our hostel early in the morning to ride to Semuc Champey in the back of a pickup truck. Once there, we hiked up to the viewpoint to have some amazing views of the river underneath. It is not a long hike, but it is usually really hot. Some sturdy sandals are recommended. After taking in the magical river, it’s time to explore it a bit closer by taking a dip in the pools. Here the first jumping started, we didn’t know yet that we were going to jump off a lot of rocks today…. We explored a lot of different caves in the river and it was really cool to see the structure, as the river is a bridge over another river. Nature can be crazy sometimes. After lunch came the highlight of the day: we all got a burning candle and descended into ice cold water in a completely dark (except for our candles, stretched out to not get in the water) cave. Here we had to climb over stuff, jump down into the water and try not to drown, all while holding our candles up over our heads, cause if it got into the water you wouldn’t even have light anymore. It was really fun, and also a great group bonding experience. After the cave, we got the chance to jump from a 11 meter high rock and everyone was cheering each other on. Then to do some relaxing, we did the tubing down the river. Except it wasn’t really relaxing because we got bombarded by beers from locals at the riverbank. We were dodging for our lives, but I guess if you’d like a beer this would be ideal. All in all, a super fun day. We concluded it was one of the most fun from the trip so far, while also seeing such a cool natural phenomenon. Don’t miss out!!
Not skipping Semuc Champey does mean you will have to take another day long shuttle to get to Flores, but it is definitely worth it. We got some random guys number from someone in the Dutchies in Guatemala group and booked our shuttle through him. This meant it was very cheap, so we did save a lot of money. After a long, but nice shuttle ride, we arrived in the extremely hot Flores. We just went straight to our hostel and tried not to die of the heat.
We spent the next day exploring the town! It is such a cute town, with most of the walls and especially doors painted in funky colours. The whole city centre is on an island, so it’s not that big and you can walk through the whole town in an hour. Less, if like us you want to avoid the steeper streets in the middle because it’s just too hot. We stayed in a hostel outside of the city center, so we just took a tuk tuk to get there and then walked around. We had lunch at Maracuyá, which is a great recommendation if you want to find some good food with vegetarian options in a really cute place.
We had another day in Flores, because our next trip could only start a day later. I wouldn’t say this is necessary, since the island is so small and there’s not really that much else to see. There are really nice places to chill though, so you could just hang out and swim. Although it is still debated whether or not there are crocodiles in the lake…. I was sick this day, so I just stayed in bed with the fan on.
We planned to go to El Mirador the next day, but if you’re not going there, I would recommend booking a sunrise tour of Tikal. The Mayan temples are really impressive, you can’t go to Guatemala and not see them. Since we did El Mirador, we didn’t go to Tikal. But we did get a lot of recommendations from other travellers, saying it was really cool to see. Sunrise is recommended, as the heat hasn’t come in as much and there aren’t as many tourists.
On day 19 we woke up extremely early, as it was time for our 5-day trip to El Mirador! I was still sick, so I suffered all the way through the first day, even throwing up in the middle of the jungle and then hiking another 5 kilometres. But the strong will persevere, because the next day I was a lot better! Turned out it was totally worth pushing through, cause this was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. If you have the time and physical condition, definitely consider this trip. And book with Dinastía Kan, as they are the only organisation offering this while still respecting nature and fighting deforestation. Want to know more about the trip? Read my article about El Mirador for all the details! LINK
Because we needed to travel back south anyway, we decided to travel to Rio Dulce the next day. The town itself isn’t that nice for tourists, but it is a really nice place to relax and recover from the trip we made. Most people choose to go to Livingston, which is supposed to have really nice caribbean vibes. We only had 2 nights and had to leave early, so we decided to stick to our hostel. All the hostels here are in the water and you need to take a boat to get there. Most hostels organize this for you. This means you really get your own little paradise at the hostel, a perfect place to relax, swim and read your book. The new hunger games book just came out, so we just binge read it the whole afternoon after we arrived.
As we didn’t have the time to go to Livingston, there was not really that much to do in Rio Dulce. We did visit Castello de San Felipe, which is a fort close to the city. Recommended by our hostel, we took the boat and then walked to a really sketchy bus place underneath a bridge, where we waited in a bus to take us to the fort. After a bit of waiting, they took us to the fort and had a nice time exploring this and the park around it, which is again a really nice place to chill. This seems to be the common theme here. If you really want to see and experience a lot, this might not be the greatest place for you, but if you need some days off to explore more lowkey, I would recommend Rio Dulce.
And unfortunately, that was the last day of our trip in Guatemala. From Rio Dulce, you can easily get the shuttle back to Guatemala City to fly back home. Or you can get the shuttle to Honduras, if your travels don’t end here. Personally, I went back to San Pedro, because I decided to learn some more Spanish. More on that in this article. While there are some activities that are left out, I feel like this itinerary gives you a complete overview of Guatemala, including beautiful towns, exploring nature, fun day trips and learning about Mayan culture. For us this was also a nice balance between active days and relaxing days. If you have less time, I would recommend skipping Rio Dulce first, since it is not a place unique to Guatemala. If you have more time and want some more adventure, I would recommend the three day trek from Xela to San Pedro, as I’ve heard a lot of good things about it. There are also 36 other vulcanos you can climb if you like the Acatenango… Or you can choose to go to the beach town of El Paredon to surf or just lay on the beach. The options are endless. Though in my opinion, I would not change a thing about the itinerary we chose.
