A Tour of Antigua, Guatemala in Photos

When Expedia reached out to me earlier this summer to ask about my interest in visiting Guatemala with them and Visit Guatemala, I jumped at the opportunity (read my post about visiting Tikal National Park here). Guatemala after all has been at the tip-top of my Latin American wish list for years. This has been in part because of my obsession with Central America, but more specifically because of my intrigue about Mayan culture. Okay, so perhaps the amazing chocolate and rum also had something to do with it. And all of these things seemed to converge in the Guatemala city of Antigua.

I’m going to just come right out and say that after experiencing it for myself, I feel like Antigua, Guatemala is the most charming, surprisingly diverse Latin America city I’ve visited. In a given day travelers to Antigua could hike a volcano (in my case, Pacaya Volcano), go to a coffee farm, visit a winery, buy Guatemalan chocolate from a chocolate museum, barter for Mayan textiles at a market, and belly up to the bar of La Casa del Ron to enjoy a glass of locally produced (and world-famous) Ron Zacapa rum.

And all of this is amidst cobblestone streets and brightly-colored colonial architecture located below towering volcanoes that surround Antigua. This isn't something you can find just anywhere.

Honestly, I think it’s impossible to visit Guatemala and not spend at least a couple days in Antigua. And with pretty constant 80-degree weather year-round, there’s really not a bad time of year to visit. Just pick up a little Spanish to get by, and if you want an insider, then look up my friend César Chilel, a local tour guide, who’s one of the best tour guides I’ve ever had (and who took the photos below that I'm in).

Meanwhile, see a few of my favorite photos below from touring around Antigua, Guatemala.