- Summary
- Immigration Declaration Required
- ATMs in Guatemala
- Spanish Crash Course
- Guatemala City
- Antigua
- Panajachel
- Flores / Tikal National Park
Country in Central America just south of Mexico that uses the Guatemalan Quetzales currency.
Skip Guatemala City and go straight to Antigua if you can as that's where the tourism and attractions are, or perhaps a one night stopover just for travel purposes.
You will need to complete a "DJRV" Regional Traveller Affidavit which is basically just a customs declaration on the goods you are bringing in to the country - your personal clothing, laptop etc and up to $10,000 are exempt.
This will be emailed to you and must be presented to a customers officer after immigration control, so there was a huge queue to get out of the baggage reclaim area after immigration control at Guamatala City's La Aurora airport - they actually check this and may direct you to a full baggage scan like usually only done on departure.
You can fill it in in advance at this website, which will save you time having to do it at one of the kiosks upon arrival:
https://en.portal.sat.gob.gt/portal/declaracion-jurada-regional-de-viajero/
Cajero BI (Banco Industrial) is the best I've seen, charging Q32 ($4) withdrawal fee.
Do not use ATM 5B - they charge Q65 ($8).
Most people in Guatemala speak little to no English, and even many restaurants don't have English menus, so it helps to know a bit of Spanish to get by, as you will struggle if relying on Google Translate for every little thing.
See the Spanish Crash Course page.
The capital - it's not very big, there isn't much in the way of attractions to see here - the real novelty is the nature outside of the city, so most people don't spend more than a day or two here on stopover to Antigua, Panajachel or Flores / Tikal National Park.
You'll probably want to stay someone between zone 1 and zone 4, which is walkable - about a half hour from zone 1.
Zone 9 is a bit further to the south, perhaps nearer an hour walk, but there is the nice Avenida La Reforma which has a central green corridor running north to south with monuments along it.
Afternoon traffic was heavy, it took me nearly an hour in the taxi from La Aurora airport - what should be a 20 minute drive according on Google Maps.
There are some others like Yango but I haven't used them.
There are a handful of nice architectural buildings, but that's about it.
- Palacio Nacional de la Cultura
- Plaza de la Constitución
- Iglesia San Francisco
- Palace of the National Civil Police
- Mr Taco - good and cheap - 3 tacos or 2 gringas for 35-40 GQT ($5). They have a good selection of toppings, from chilli sauces to onions to tiny pineapple cubes to finely chopped salad. This seems like a chain so you may be able to find others, this is the one I know is good. Their Jamaica water (sweet hibiscus drink) is good too. Even the street food in the centre was more expensive. This place was so good that I ate there every day I was in Guatemala City, and even ran out at 1am for one final hurrah before it closed at 2am. I recommend the asada (beef) tacos or gringas for Q40 and then load them up with onions, pineapple, salad and drenched in lime for maximum flavour and filling - make use of the free toppings! Counterintuitively, the orange chilli sauce is more spicy than the red one, and the finely chopped salad topping is even more spicy than that due to the green chilli pieces in it. Has wifi
- San Martín • Zona 4 - probably the best coffee shop / restaurant / bakery in the area - full and buzzing with locals. This is a chain across the city, and it shows with how polished the menu and delivery is. If the other ones are this good, they are well worth a stop. This one is a bakery at the front and a large restaurant at the back. It has a surprisingly good menu selection of both food and drinks, reasonably priced. Drinks include lots of variations of coffees, juices and milkshakes with both ice cream and milk varieties, good burgers, pastas with chicken and shrimp and tequila reduction, pizzas and lighter "pinsa" variations of pizzas, salads, soups, and very tempting selection desserts from the bakery. Get there 3-6pm for a cake and coffee for only Q29 deal. The Centenaria burger was exquisite - a good quality thick burger with bacon, salad, and a sweet sauce of Ron Zacapa Centenario rum (this sauce must have lots of sugar in it to taste so good). If this isn't the best burger in Guatemala City I'd be surprised. This is what I wish Jack Daniels Texas burgers were in other places. The papas fritas is an extra Q3 and are freshly baked thin crisp chips which I loved dipping into that sweet Ron Zacapa Centenario extra side sauce. This was totally worth the Q75. The vanilla milkshake (ice cream base) had just the right amount of sweetness, not too sweet as it first appeared when I saw it arrive with the rim of tiny candies glued with syrup and whipped cream on top - this was worth the Q36. To top it all off, the pineapple strudel was only Q8 ($1), I just had to, and it was also good. Overall all of this was all completely worth the damage and I'd do it again. Forget your diet, be good tomorrow, when presented with these options, live for today's food. Wifi 83/81 Mbit/s
TODO:
- Hwasanjung - Korean fine dining - 3, 5 or 8 course menus for 150 / 250 / 395 GTQ ($20 / $33 / $50) - expensive by local standards considering your can eat for Q40-80 ($5 - $10) at places like Mr Taco
Antigua would normally be a 1-2 hour drive from Guatemala City.
However, I encountered heavy traffic between 10am-12pm so it took 3 hours, arriving just after 1pm.
The best option is to arrange a tourist shuttle from your accommodation for 100GQT ($13).
You can go on an autobus for something in the region of 40GQT ($5) but this is apparently a hassle (and you'd have to take a taxi to the autobus collection point).
Taxis in Antigua would be similar to Guatemala City, but while I saw lots of InDrive cars on the map, I didn't see any Uber ones.
I'm not even sure where you'd take a taxi to here to be honest, Antigua itself is small enough to walk around, perhaps to some attractions outside of the city.
- Hector's Bistro - probably the best cafe restaurant in Antigua, very good menu, get there before 5pm for the cheaper day cafe menu. Has a large internal courtyard as well as gentrified internal cafe seating with good artwork on the walls. In the evenings has live music. Excellent place for dinner or drinks. The steak half sandwich with sweet potato fries was everything I hoped it would be in terms of quality and size for 105GQT as of Dec 2025. Has wifi
- Mr Taco - in the courtyard of the LemonTree hostel so not obvious to find as it's not directly on the street, but worth the find. It's different to the one in Guatemala City, 50% more expensive but good quality and flavour. The tacos are ordered in a group of four. The "land & sea" tacos for Q65 are mixed shrimp and pork with finely chopped onions and pineapple chunks, and a slightly sweet sauce to drizzle on as you see fit. They will also give you a more spicy sauce if you want it. The birria (stewed pulled beef) taco for Q45 is very good too. Has wifi
- Steak House El Cafetal - excellent and affordable menu, especially for mains. There is a custom burger composition menu too, and both small affordable and large medium priced steaks. There are only 2 desserts. The tortilla soup with shredded chicken was good, especially for Q25, and the churrasquito de vacio steak meal was decent, especially for its price of only Q59. The dessert of 3 fried plantains in a slightly sweet mole of spices was decent, but I could skip it, but then for only Q20 why would you want to, it's a decent little calorie and flavour boost to top off the meal if you need recovery calories. Wifi 16/4 Mbit/s
- Tacorazon - surprisingly good tacos, and came with 2 different colour tortillas. Go for Taco Tuesday 2 for 1. I recommend getting some of them chicken and some of them pork, as both were good. The homemade tortilla chips and guacamole are good too, the chips are dark and crunchy. Overall very good quality, although not that cheap unless you go on a Tuesday. WiFi 44/45 Mbit/s
- Toko Baru - the beef rendang curry was reasonable, especially for the price (Q59), although not as good as what you'd get in Indonesia of course. The jamaica water was typically sweet, and came in a jarge jug glass - could skip that next time. No wifi
- San Martín Antigua Guatemala - same chain as the one in Guatemala City, good menu and reasonable prices
- Saúl Bistro Antigua - same chain at the one in Guatemala City, good menu, bit pricey
- Doña Luisa Xicotencatl - cheap eats cafe, beef toasted sandwich with a side of grated carrot, raisins and almond flakes was ok for Q40. The blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream was a good sized portion, but the same type of low brow stuff you’d get in Sainsbury’s in England with the pie being deep but having a sugar crystal top - it’s ok, as long as you’re not on a diet or watching your sugar intake. I obviously wasn't as I snorted it and destroyed the whole thing. Hey, there is a reason this place is cheap. No wifi
- Ta'Cool Taco Shop - Q100 (£10) for a steak burrito in Guatemala - you know you’re in a tourist place as this is Western priced - you need the “burrote” - slang for a bigger burrito - just to be normal size. For desserts, neither the flan (Q39). nor chimichangas (Q37) were not worth the damage to your body - the latter was mostly cream and little strawberry. There was also a miscommunication the first where I asked for just strawberries and cream, like that excellent one I had recently in Mexico City, but they brought me the chimichanga dessert regardless - english not great. Wifi 144/138 Mbit/s near entrance or 92/95 Mbit/s at the back
- Reilly's Antigua - bar area with locals and expats
TODO:
- La Casa de las Mixtas - cheap cafe, closes at 3pm and doesn't open at the weekends
- Masil Antigua - 4.9 Korean, moderate prices
- Sobremesa - 4.6 Italian with nice desserts, good meny, bit pricey
- Cactus Antigua - 4.6 Mexican
- Pappys BBQ - 4.6 American style BBQ
Panajachel is known for Lake Atitlán and the San Pedro, Tolimán and Atitlán volcanoes.
This is a 3-4 hour drive from Guatemala City.
From Guatemala City or Antigua the options are similar to Antigua above, arrange a tourist shuttle via your accommodation or local tourist activities shop.
I paid Q130 in Dec 2025, but the return journey I was quoted Q170 by my accommodation and Q125-150 by the travel shops.
There isn't much in the small town itself, you pretty much come for the lake or surrounding mountains or volcanoes.
So only stay as many days as you intend to do activities or lounge by the pool.
Activities will typically set you back between $50-130 per person for 1-2 hours.
- The Little Spoon - excellent cafe restaurant with a bar on the top floor, but get there early as it closes at 9pm. The menu breakfast menu is very gentrified but even the lunch/evening menu is good. The burrito bowl for Q60 is very worth it, and the chicken burger for Q45 is also worth it. The chai smoothie is the closest thing to a perfect milk based smoothie I've ever had. They have an online payment method with 3% overhead but the QR was slightly misaligned off the ipad page so take cash just in case. Wifi 29/10 Mbit/s
- Dao Thai - all dishes were Q60 as of Dec 2025, good value and big portion sizes. The ginger beef had lots of beef, I was stuffed. Cash only. No wifi
- Restaurante Lena’s Atlantis - bar restaurant with loud music in the evenings. More expensive than other places, but open late if you've missed them. The medallones de lomito atlantis 300g steak was ok for Q120, it comes with fries / baked potato / rice and steamed vegetables, as well as tortillas. The strawberry milkshake with milk was decent, a little sweet. Has wifi
TODO:
- El Ultimo Refugio - they closed early at 9pm the first time I tried to go there, despite Google Maps saying 10pm, and trying it a second night it was already locked up dead by 8pm
Tikal National Park is a jungle containing the ancient Mayan city of Tikal.
TODO