Antigua, Guatemala Travel Guide

By Francesca Felix | March 27, 2019

Picture this: cobblestone-lined streets, colorful, textured walls, bougainvillea bushes flowing over every corner and beautiful, old ruins to explore. We just traveled to the most picturesque little town that is Antigua, Guatemala for our first time and I couldn’t wait to get home to write a little travel guide for you guys!

This place reminded me so much of San Miguel de Allende (read about San Miguel and travel guide here), but instead was surrounded by Volcanos and had an even more rugged vibe. More ruins and fewer tourists.

My friend, Brogen Jessup and her (now) hubby invited their closest friends and family to go witness their marriage in this beautiful place. I had never been before and was excited to get to know somewhere new. It was a short and sweet trip, but I was able to capture some photos and put together enough information to share this Antigua, Guatemala travel guide.

I wish I had more lifestyle shots to share, but it was such a whirlwind of a trip and John was already feeling overwhelmed as he was the officiant to the wedding. Shout out to him for putting up with me on this trip! The fact that we managed to gather so much content and also be present at the wedding festivities is amazing! Getting food poisoning on the last day did not help at all! PSA: don’t just walk into a random smoothie shop off a beaten path without googling first! Don’t worry, I’m 100% better now. The good news is I had a good time and the wedding was absolutely beautiful! If you are curious about the wedding you should really keep an eye on @brogenjesssup on Instagram as she has been sharing a lot of fun BTS video and pics. It was REALLY an amazing wedding.

Ok, enough rambling, let me share with you all the information I have on this awesome place:

Things to do :

Hike up the Volcanoes

Check out the local coffee and chocolate factories

Walk to the local artisan markets and see the gorgeous textiles

Wander around and see the ruins (which is what John and I did mostly).

Jade Factory

ATV tours

Zip Line over Guatemalan nature

Take a cooking class and learn Guatemalan cooking

A few stand out spots we noted:

We love exploring local food joints whenever we travel. These are the places that we loved. Just FYI though, don’t drink the tap water (I’m sure you already know this) and try and stay away from fruit and veggies and local spots. Just for your own piece of mind, google these places, read all the reviews and make sure you feel comfortable with them before going! I made sure to research before trying them out.

Fridas:

Amazing Mexican food located right under the famous Antigua Arch.

Cafe No Se:

A tiny Mezcal Bar, lit by only candlelight.

Cafe Condesa:

Best Guatemalan breakfast!

Arrin Cuan

Highly recommended by locals and tourists alike. This place was super charming.

We had breakfast here but supposedly the dinner is delicious!

Where to Stay:

John and I stayed a few days in an Airbnb to save some money and then did a few days at a hotel. The Airbnb was super safe and extremely affordable ($30). The hosts were kind and welcoming and the place was cleaned every day. The only issue with the Airbnb (which was a big one) was that the bathroom was absolutely tiny and right next to the bed with no window. This was a problem especially because Guatemalan plumbing is not the same as we are used to in the US. We had to deal with a couple of intermittent sewage odors. Paying a little bit more for a hotel on the last days was a good choice to rest in a large plush bed before traveling back home. The hotel we stayed at was Porta and its super cute, safe, and has a great beautiful pool. Its sister hotel is Pensativo, which is where all the rest of the wedding guests stayed. They are both beautiful great hotels! If you need info on the Airbnb, feel free to email me, dm me on Instagram or comment below.

What to wear:

If you ever plan to travel to Antigua, make sure to take only comfortable shoes because all the streets are cobblestoned. It’s a very catholic conservative town so keep that in mind when putting outfits together.

I tried to keep it very comfortable since we were going to be exploring and walking around a lot. I also took some outfits for the wedding events (one velvet maxi dress and a ruffly spell boho dress). I took three pairs of shoes: one translucent sandal to wear on nights out, gold woven flats to wear with dresses and white sneakers for those days of exploring around town and also for walking around the airport. I also packed midi skirts, high waisted stretchy pants and denim jeans to pair with white basic tees. The accessories I took were: gold hoops, gold layering necklaces and small crossbody bags.