Guatemala Speed Run-5 Day Itinerary
Day One
I landed in Guatemala City around 12am, took a little nap there, and then left around 5:30am to get to the bus stop. I took a camioneta to Antigua, (aka chicken bus) which is the local public transit.
If you would like to do the same, order an Uber Moto or a normal Uber from the airport to La Estacion El Trebol. Tell the driver "Yo quiero la camioneta directa a Antigua" and they should know where to take you. If not, they will drop you off at the bus station and you can ask around for the bus to Antigua. ONLY get on the bus that says Antigua on the front. You will pay the driver once the bus gets past the city limit stops, and the cost for the full ride is 20 quetzales.
Depending on traffic, the camioneta can take 1-3 hours. Once I was in Antigua, I stopped at a little shop to get snacks and Hidrovida (Guatemala Pedialyte) as well as a pharmacy to get bug spray and sunscreen. At 9am my tour guide picked me up to go hike Acatenago!
I booked my tour here ^ through Get Your Guide, and the group of Guatemalans who helped us hike were incredible. At around 10am we stopped to grab cold-weather gear, our meals, and re-pack our bags, then we set off for the trailhead.
We started hiking at 12pm, and I finished around 5:30pm - at the very back of the group of around 20. This hike was HARD. Do not attempt unless you are physically fit. Summiting El Volcán Acatenango is difficult, even if you are young and fit.
When we arrived at base camp on Acatenango, the other active volcano next to it, El Fuego, was completely obscured by fog. Usually, if you chose to do the extra hike to Fuego, you continue hiking immediately after reaching base camp; however, due to the weather we decided to try again in the morning. We couldn't see the eruptions, but we could hear them like rolling thunder.
After a dinner of what was essentially buttered noodles, the fog started to clear around 9:30PM, so we jumped up to go see the volcano up close at night.
WARNING: THIS HIKE TO THE SECOND VOLCANO IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS. THE HIKE IS MOSTLY LOOSE VOLCANIC DUST THAT IS EASY TO SLIP ON, AND IT IS DONE IN PITCH DARKNESS WITH FLASHLIGHTS. ADDITIONALLY, GETTING THIS CLOSE TO AN ACTIVE VOLCANO IS A HUGE RISK, AS THE ERUPTIONS CAN AND DO REACH WHERE YOU WILL BE STANDING. IF YOU ARE NOT CAPABLE OF RUNNING DOWN AN ACTIVE VOLCANO IN CASE OF A LARGE ERUPTION, DO NOT ATTEMPT.
Anyway, It was beautiful and I highly recommend it if you are capable and willing to take the risk. Note that there is a reason this part of the hike costs an additional 200q in person and is not included in any GetYourGuide booking- its a little sketch.
Pro-Tip: Take altitude sickness medication with you to Guatemala, and take it before you do any hiking. I had it pretty bad and could feel my heart in my head the whole hike, then woke up in the middle of the night puking up my dinner. I felt immediately better upon descinding.
Day Two
We hiked back down in the morning which took much less time than going up, and we were finished by 11am. We then took a bus back to Antigua and were dropped off near this cafe around 1pm.
I had a small lunch and then searched for somewhere to stay the night because I had not booked a hostel or hotel yet, but found a place on Airbnb so I walked there instead so I could pay upfront in quetzales.
I checked in, took a shower, and relaxed for a sec after such a long hike and journey, then headed into the city and saw the following places:
And then I wanted to go to the art museum but it closed before I could get inside:
I decided to eat at Laurel Bistro for dinner and proceeded to have horrendous food poisoning all night because I forgot that I was not supposed to eat lettuce (because it is usually washed with tap water and easily carries bacteria) but it was on my tacos.
Day Three
I had food poisoning all night and most of the morning until I braved going to the nearest pharmacy to get medication. I took it every two hours and immediately felt better.
At around 11am I sat in the main park and enjoyed the vibes, then took a tourist bus linked below through GetYourGuide that took me to Panajachel at 12:30pm.
The tourist bus was so much nicer than the camioneta but also like 10x as much money. Upon arriving in Panajachel I looked for the boats that would take me to Santa Cruz La Laguna which is where I would be staying that night.
Go to the docks directly. Do not stop and tell people where you are going if they ask you, they will try to get a tip or charge you more money. Only tell the people where you are going once you get to the pier, and then they will point you in the direction of the correct boat. I was going to La Iguana Perdida for the night so I told them "Me voy a Santa Cruz" and the driver dropped me off at the dock in front of the hostel. Most rides around the lake will cost 25 quetzales.
Day Four
After a restful night, I had an early morning and met some other travelers over in San Marcos La Laguna to do some cliff jumping and swimming. If you want to see the beauty of Atitlan and are more of a nature person, skip staying in Panajachel, San Juan, or Santa Cruz. and just stay in San Marcos as it is the most beautiful part.
This dive platform is inside the San Marcos nature reserve and costs 20q to enter for the day. We stayed most of the day and then got pizza for a late lunch here which was so so yummy!
It happened to be community day at one of the more popular hostels in San Marcos, so we hiked up to it to do some acrobatics and hop in the sauna before taking the last water taxis back at 5:30.
I had family dinner at my hostel and then went to bed early again.
In Atitlan, the weather is sunny and the water is calm in the early morning, but in the afternoon and evenings the water is rough and it usually rains, especially in the summer, so its best to rise early and go to sleep early.
I stayed here for two nights and everyone was out of my 8 bed hostel by 8:30am every morning.
Day Five
Another slow day. I spent the morning packing and eating breakfast, then went down to the hostel on the other side of the docks who had their own private dock to jump off of.
We swam and read there for a bit until taking another water taxi back to Panajachel because the last tourist bus for Guatemala City leaves from Pana at 4pm. Again, I booked it INSERT LINK from GetYourGuide.
The shuttle got me to the airport at around 8:30pm and then I chilled out till my 1am flight back home and took a little nappy nap.
I hope you liked my Guatemala Speedrun and I hope it helps you plan your own trip to this beautiful country!
Feel free to check out my other guides in my bio!
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