Antigua
Guatemala
Cobbled baroque streets ringed by three volcanoes
Photo by Rodrigo Escalante on Unsplash
Photos by Manuel González Asturias, SJ, Arturo Rivera, Alexander Schimmeck and Nathan Cima on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Guatemala
November to April
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 220mm in Jun
Where it is
14.56°N, 90.73°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Photograph the Santa Catalina Arch at dawn
- Hike Acatenango for the Fuego eruptions
- Climb to Cerro de la Cruz
- Tour a coffee finca
- Take a Spanish course
- Day trip to Lake Atitlan
Antigua travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Guatemala
Very cheapQuetzales are needed for markets, tuk-tuks and small restaurants. Banks give better rates than hotels. US dollars are accepted at tour agencies but at a poor rate.
ATMs & cards
Use Banco Industrial, BAC or Banrural machines, preferably inside a bank or a guarded shop. Withdrawal limits are low and fees around Q30. Avoid street machines after dark.
Avoid these
- street machines after dark
- ATMs in tourist shops off the main square
Use these instead
- Banco Industrial
- BAC
- Banrural
Withdrawal limits are low and fees around Q30. Use machines inside a bank or a guarded shop during opening hours.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Guatemala
Reasonably safeAntigua itself is one of the safer towns in the region and comfortable to walk by day. Take a licensed shuttle rather than public buses between towns, and only climb Acatenango with a reputable operator — the overnight hike is demanding and cold.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (4 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Antigua Guatemala — the whole colonial grid
Worth more attention
- Cerro de la Cruz — without the tourist police escort, which is free and runs on a schedule
- Chicken buses to the capital, which are robbed
- Volcán de Fuego tours, which camp beside an active volcano — check the operator
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Guatemala visa rules
No visa neededup to 90 days
The 90 days are shared across the CA-4 area — Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua count as one. Crossing between them does not reset the clock.
Other passports
Visa required in advance
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Guatemala
LimitedRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Rabies for rural or long stays
Getting treated
Antigua has private clinics adequate for everyday problems; anything serious means Guatemala City, where the private hospitals are decent. Public facilities are poor. Evacuation cover is worth having.
Do not drink the tap water. Altitude in the highlands is mild but noticeable. Volcano tours are unregulated — check the operator.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodPepian, a rich seeded stew, is the national dish. The market on the west side is where locals eat for a few quetzales. Guatemalan coffee is world class — buy it from a finca, not a souvenir shop.
Nightlife
A colonial town where the bars are in ruined convents and the whole place is asleep by one.
- Calle del Arco — the arch street, and the bars on it
- Parque Central — the square, and the evening around it
Closing: 01:00 by ordinance, and it is kept.
A beer in a bar: Q15–30
Getting around
Easy- UberWorks here
- inDriveWorks here
- BoltNot here
Uber Guatemala City and Antigua
- From the airport
- Guatemala City airport to Antigua Q250–350, an hour away
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper than the airport taxis and far cheaper than a hotel shuttle.
Time zone and your working day
America/Guatemala — 2 hours behind you
6 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 11:00–17:00 your time, 09:00–15:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 11:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 11:00–19:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Guatemala
Why these are Guatemala's numbers and not Antigua's
Home broadband — Fair. Video calls and streaming for one or two people — fine for a holiday, thin for a household working. Broadband here runs at 77% of the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fair. Maps, calls and streaming; tethering a laptop works for an hour, not a day. Mobile runs at 58% of the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Antigua, so these are medians for all of Guatemala. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Guatemala, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Spanish (Latin American)
- HelloHolaOH-la
- PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
- Thank youGraciasGRA-syas
- Yes / NoSí / Nosee / no
4 more phrases
- Excuse meDisculpedees-KOOL-peh
- How much is it?¿Cuánto cuesta?KWAN-to KWES-ta
- The bill, pleaseLa cuenta, por favorla KWEN-ta
- Cheers!¡Salud!sa-LOOD
The c and z are said as an s here, not the Spanish "th" — gracias is GRA-syas.
Religion
Catholic and Evangelical, with Maya tradition
Roughly split between Catholic and Evangelical, with Maya spirituality practised openly, sometimes in the same building. Ask before photographing ceremonies.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Greet with buenos días and a handshake
- Ask permission before photographing indigenous people; many object strongly
- Dress modestly, particularly in highland towns and churches
- Take shuttles rather than public buses between towns
Don't
- Do not photograph children under any circumstances without a parent’s clear permission — this is a serious sensitivity
- Do not drink the tap water
- Do not discuss the civil war casually; it is recent and personal for many families
- Do not haggle aggressively with artisans over small sums
Where to stay in Antigua
No Holistay rentals in Antigua yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Antigua on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into La Aurora, Guatemala City GUA
1hfrom the airport· 22 km as the crow flies
An hour by shuttle.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
