Soaking up Antigua

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
3
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
6
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
5
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
3
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
4
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
7
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
52 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
355th/454
Top 80%
continent
North America
country
Guatemala
Length of time
1-2 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$100 (typically $50 - $150)
Time of year visited
May
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐

Summary

Great history – Antigua was the former Spanish colonial capital of Guatemala from 1543 to 1776, so it is steeped in tradition – traditions they work hard to maintain through, for example, not allowing modern day commercial branding to deface the facades of the beautiful buildings.

Great vibe – there are a series of markets selling local goods and plenty of international visitors not just from tourism, but also as many people travel to the host of language schools located here.

Nice place to stop and recharge your batteries after travelling or hiking nearby.  One day enough though.

If you’re keen for an easy hike and half day trip, you can head up to the Pacaya Volcano.  Unfortunately, the weather was poor the day we went, which meant we couldn’t really see much, but being able to see the lava flowing near(ish) was very very cool.

Highlights

IMG_5927-aspect-ratio-900-675

#1 Wandering through the well preserved streets, soaking up the feel for the place and with the backdrop of the surrounding mountains

IMG_5924-1-aspect-ratio-900-675

#2 Walking through some of the wonderful churches and other beautiful buildings that are dotted all around the centre

IMG_5983-aspect-ratio-900-675

#3 Checking out the local markets with all sorts of tat to buy

IMG_5999-aspect-ratio-900-675

#4 The hike up to the Pacaya Volcano rewards you with sights of the flowing lava just under the recently solidified rock. Very very cool

Travel Tips

Really recommend staying at Casa Santa Rosa Hotel – gorgeous small gardens and traditional feel  to the place, very friendly and helpful staff, and walking distance into the main square.

Restaurants:

  • The Cactus Taco Shop was great
  • Casa Troccoli is worth visiting just for the place itself, let alone the food.  Make sure you sit in the front area rather than round the back

For the Pacaya Volcano, you need to be lucky with the weather as I’m sure the views on a good day are spectacular.  My other tip is see if you can hire a private guide as the group tours feel particularly commercialised.

Be sure to check out Lake Atitlan, a 2 hour drive away and one of the most beautifully idyllic places I’ve seen in  the world.  More details for a trip there see 3 days by the simply stunning Lake Atitlan.

If staying a bit longer in Guatemala, see my Itinerary for 10 wonderful days in Guatemala and generally for useful tips for your time there.

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *