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| *Travel Tips>>>Guatemala Travel Tips |
Has anyone traveled to/through Guatemala? |
Travel Info How was it? Any good/bad experiences? I hear it's a pretty cheap vacation with lots of freedom in the countryside. But the government has a lot of warnings posted. Travel Tips I have lived in Gua City for four years. As some of the others have said, if you take precautions as you would in any U.S. city, you should be okay. If you are visiting highlands (G. City, Antigua, Atitlan, etc.) you need a sweater or light jacket at least in the evenings all year (over 5,000 ft. elevation avg) and rain gear for March through October. Winter months are dry, but move the jacket to daytime and have something warmer for night. (Most of the local type hotels will not have central heat/air... U.S. chains do have) If you try to not look like a tourist (shorts, etc), it will help on the security issue and maybe on some of the market prices. (There are a lot of European ancestry that are Guatemalan or that have lived here for years, so no one can tell for sure what you are until you speak (G. City, Antigua, Atitlan, etc.) or wear "tourist clothes". (Unfortunately, there not many African ancestry that live in the central pat of the country, but as there IS a large population on the Carribbean side, the same advice applies for this case also.) In the capital, stay with one of the U.S. chain hotels (Marriott, Radisson, Holiday Inn, etc). In Antigua, I recommend the local style hotels such as La Quinta de las Flores (my favorite),Casa de los Suenos, or Lion's Inn (expensive B&B). Casa Santo Domingo or Hotel Antigua are worth sightseeing visits, but you get a much better "feel" and ambience in the smaller hotels. (While walking around, just pop in to any of small hotels that have their doors open, just to see their courtyards.) Atitlan is one of the most beautiful lakes in the world and most of the cities, like Panachel ("Gringotenango") should be about as safe as Antigua. The Maya ruins in Tikal are worth a visit (You probably already know Temple 4 because it was an Ewok temple in Star Wars), as is Rio Dulce area (try to find Finca Paraiso if you go there -- a great surprise awaits you if you go... hint: walking shoes and a swim suit). There are tours of Volcan Pacaya for the adventurous, but both coasts have rather poor beaches. (You can get to a Carribbean white sand beach on a water taxi in Livingston, and the Pacific Coast black sand beaches are rather treacherous (currents, depth) for swimming. I haven't been to Monterrico yet, but I hear that it is one of the better beaches. However, it is no Cancun, so you better be prepared to entertain yourself or have a really lazy time if you spend more than a couple of days there. (Sea level areas ARE typically tropical hot all year) Lastly, speaking of entertainment, there is a surprising array of cultural events (music, art, museums, etc.) especially in Antigua and G. City. Again, if you plan on this, have something nicer than "tourist clothes" if you would like to attend. (business attire recommended if you attend anything classical) I hope this helps. Guatemala has a lot of potential and it is truly one of the hidden jewels of the world. Just be careful. Others Pretty cheap yeahh ! But you don't want to be kidnap do you ? When I was there it was a private tour courtesy of Uncle Sam.... we were all very well armed....lol.But it is a beautiful place and very low cost for just about everything. The bad... Guatemala was fine but I have enjoyed travelling in other countries more. My main criticism is that I didn't feel safe much of the time, particularly in Guatemala City itself or in areas just off regular tourist spots. The good... Antigua de Guatemala is a good city to hang out in with plenty of "colonial charm" and there's some mountain biking and hiking nearby. Tikal in the north west is also fantastic, if a little hard to get to. The cost... Overall, backpacking was fairly cheap but, again, sometimes not very safe. If you wanted to go up a level in terms of comfort to be more secure I got the impression it wouldn't be that cheap as there were few "mid-range" options. Backpacking trip through Mexico, Guatamala and Honduras in 1999 Guatemala is a cool to travel, i lived there for 10 years and just moved to florida. Guatemala is a very cool place to go to, but as always you must be careful going from place to place, the main problem is security issues, but this should not scare anyone, it depends where you want to go and how your going to get there. Just don't wonder by yourself, make sure to visit areas that are common to turists like the city of Antigua,Guatemala, this city is cool and it takes like 40 minutes to get there from the city or you can do some research online and find a hotel in Antigua, one hotel which is the best is a hotel called "Casa Santo Domingo", you can find this online by typing these words. Antigua is pretty much safe and you can go around at night without problems, just make sure you are not by yourself. In Antigua there is tons of things to explore and do, also you can arrange any trips or tours to any place in the country like going to the ruins of tikal which you can go there by bus or plane, i would say getting there by plane is fast but either one is fine. If there is any question because this im just starting to tell you how guatemala is. my email is zacharakisrc@yahoo.com I would recommend a trip to Guatemala to everyone. It is a country on the rise, but hindered by high crime. I was like you and got nervous about the travel warnings, but I've never had an issue the two times I've been. I spent 3 weeks there last year and will return later this year. If you use common sense you will be fine. The bad part of the trip is it takes a little while to get from one place to another (high volume of traffic up and down mountains). Try to plan your trip in the winter, as summer is the rainy season and mudslides and washouts of roads are common making travel even more difficult. The good is the natural beauty of the country at a great price. If you hang out in tourist areas, you will pay roughly the same as if you were in the U.S., but if you find somewhere to stay in a local hotels run by a family you will enjoy your trip much more. They are cheap (about $10 or less a night.) Stay somewhere on Lake Atitlan. Semuc Champey is an absolute must see. It is gorgeous and you can stay in a hotel in a nearby town. If you want to go to Tikal, you can fly out of Guatemala City for about $130.00 or you can take the long drive up, but the roads there can be more dangerous (bandits). Lago Izabel, in the Rio Dulce region, is a beautiful lake too. I stopped in a small town and rented an innertube for my kids from a local boy who charged $1.00 for the day. It's hard to find a place that is as beautiful and inexpensive as Guatemala. |
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