Lonely Planet Guatemala

Paul Clammer

Description

Lonely Planet Guatemala is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Visit Tika's monumental restored temples, learn to speak Spanish while admiring picture-postcard vistas in Antigua or hike Lago de Atitlan's lakeshore trails -all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Guatemala and begin your journey now! Inside Lonely Planet Guatemala Travel Guide: Colour maps and images throughout Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - ancient Maya heritage, history, religion, education, sport, wildlife, literature, painting, music, architecture, handicrafts, environmental issues, cuisine, coffeeCovers Guatemala City, Antigua, Lago de Atitlan, Quiche, Baja Verapaz, Alta Verapaz, Copan (Honduras), El Peten, Tikal, El Mirador, Chichicastenango, Quetzaltenango, Nebaj and more The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Guatemala, our most comprehensive guide to the country, is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less travelled.About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travelers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves.

Sujets

• Guatemala

Informations

• Publié par: Lonely Planet
• Date de parution: 01 juillet 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 3
• EAN13: 9781788685337
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 44 Mo

Extrait

Guatemala

Contents

PLAN YOUR TRIP

Welcome to Guatemala
Guatemala’s Top 15
Need to Know
First Time Guatemala
What’s New
If You Like
Month by Month
Itineraries
Guatemala’s Ancient Ruins
Guatemala Outdoors
Regions at a Glance

ON THE ROAD

GUATEMALA CITY
Sights
Activities
Tours
Sleeping
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Getting There & Away
Getting Around
ANTIGUA
Sights
Activities
Tours
Sleeping
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Getting There & Away
Getting Around
Around Antigua
Jocotenango
Ciudad Vieja & Around
San Cristóbal El Alto
San Juan Comalapa
THE HIGHLANDS
Lago de Atitlán
Panajachel
Around Panajachel
Santiago Atitlán
San Pedro La Laguna
San Juan La Laguna
San Marcos La Laguna
Jaibalito
Santa Cruz La Laguna
Tzununá
Quiché
Chichicastenango
Santa Cruz Del Quiché
Uspantán
Nebaj
Chajul
Acul
Western Highlands
Quetzaltenango
Around Quetzaltenango
Huehuetenango
Around Huehuetenango
THE PACIFIC SLOPE
Tilapita
Coatepeque
Retalhuleu
Around Retalhuleu
Champerico
Tulate
Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa
La Democracia
El Paredón
Escuintla
Iztapa
Monterrico
Cuilapa
Lago de Amatitlán
CENTRAL & EASTERN GUATEMALA
Alta & Baja Verapaz
Salamá
Biotopo del Quetzal
Cobán
Lanquín
Semuc Champey & Around
Chisec
Raxruhá
Parque Nacional Cuevas de Candelaria
Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas
El Oriente
Río Hondo
Chiquimula
Ipala
Volcán de Quetzaltepeque
Jalapa
Esquipulas
Quiriguá
Copán (Honduras)
Copán Ruinas
Copán Site
Caribbean Coast
Lago de Izabal
Puerto Barrios
Lívingston
EL PETéN
Sayaxché
Around Sayaxché
Flores & Santa Elena
San Miguel & Tayazal
San José & San Andrés
El Remate
Melchor de Mencos
Tikal
Uaxactún
Yaxhá
Parque Nacional Laguna del Tigre
El Mirador

UNDERSTAND

Understand Guatemala
Guatemala Today
History
Guatemalan Way of Life
Maya Heritage
Arts & Architecture
Land & Wildlife

SURVIVAL GUIDE

Directory A–Z
Accessible Travel
Accommodations
Children
Electricity
Embassies & Consulates
Food
Health
Insurance
Internet Access
Language Courses
Legal Matters
LGBT+ Travelers
Money
Photography
Post
Public Holidays
Safe Travel
Shopping
Telephone
Time
Toilets
Tourist Information
Volunteering
Women Travelers
Work
Transportation
Getting There & Away
Getting Around
Language
Behind the Scenes
Our Writers
Welcome to Guatemala

Central America’s most diverse country captivates travelers with its extraordinary landscapes and a civilization-spanning culture that reaches back centuries.

Land of the Maya
The dizzying pyramids of Tikal are Guatemala’s most famous tourist drawcard. And what’s not to love about this mighty monument to Central America’s greatest civilization? But those who stop to ask whatever happened to the Maya are sometimes surprised by the simple answer: nothing. Maya culture continues to evolve today.
The Maya villages in the highlands, where locals still wear traditional dress, are the most visible indicators of this centuries-old culture. But look closely when you’re visiting an archaeological site and you’ll see altars with modern offerings to ancient spirits.

Colonial Influences
The Spanish left behind plenty of footprints from their colonial conquest of Guatemala, the most visible being the frequently stunning architecture. The best are dotted around Antigua, the old capital, with its neat plazas and crumbling ruins. From the grandiose coffee-boom buildings of Quetzaltenango, to Guatemala City’s stately cathedral, to the churches and municipal buildings clustering around central squares in even the smallest towns, Guatemala bears the marks of its European encounters in vivid brick and tile.

Natural Highs
With barely 2% of its landmass urbanized, it’s not surprising that Guatemala offers some superb natural scenery. National parks are few but impressive, particularly in the Petén region, and the lush canyons of the Río Dulce make for an unforgettable boat ride. The natural beauty of the volcano-ringed Lago de Atitlán has been captivating travelers for centuries, and you can get high in the Cuchumatanes mountains or below ground in the cave-riddled Verapaces. The swimming hole that launched a thousand postcards, Semuc Champey, has to be seen to be believed, and you can dip your toes in both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Adventure Awaits
Active souls tend to find their agenda very full once they get to Guatemala. Stunning trekking routes through the jungles and up volcanoes, world-class white-water rafting, miles of caves to explore, and what seems like a zipline strung between every two trees in the country are just the beginning. Like to take things up a notch? How about paragliding around the high-altitude Lago de Atitlán? You might even luck onto some good swell on the surfer-friendly Pacific coast. Or you could just find a hammock and languidly consider your options. Your call.

The Río Cahabón flows through Semuc Champey | PIERO M BIANCHI/GETTY IMAGES ©

Why I Love Guatemala
By Paul Clammer, Writer
It’s the smallest moments that leave the deepest impression. A friend took me to San Andrés Xequl and showed me a church built on top of an old Maya temple. Next to it, three locals stood at a blackened altar burning incense and reciting prayers in K’iche’. The offerings were to the old Maya gods, and the prayers told the conquistadors, ‘We are still here.’ And as they finished, crossing themselves and checking their cell phones, they reminded us how Guatemala’s culture has deep roots and will always assimilate what it needs to take its people into the future.
For more, see our writers
Guatemala’s Top 15

Tikal
The remarkably restored Maya temples that stand in this partially cleared corner of the jungle astonish for both their monumental size and architectural brilliance – as an early morning arrival at the Gran Plaza proves. Occupied for some 16 centuries, they’re an amazing testament to the cultural and artistic heights scaled by this jungle civilization. A highlight is the helicopter-like vantage from towering Temple IV on the west edge of the precinct. Equally compelling is the abundance of wildlife, which can be appreciated as you stroll ancient causeways between ceremonial centers.

ROB CRANDALL/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Antigua
With mammoth volcanic peaks and coffee-covered slopes as a backdrop for the scattered remnants of Spanish occupation, the former capital of Guatemala makes an appealing setting for learning Spanish, and a globally varied population comes to Antigua to study at one of the many quality institutes. Nowhere else in the country packs in such a great culinary and nightlife scene, along with fabulous souvenir shopping in the markets, a sweet little central plaza replete with bubbling fountain, and picture-postcard vistas around every corner.

ELADIO RODRÍGUEZ MARTÍN/500PX ©

Top Experiences
Chichicastenango
‘Chichi’ is a vivid window on indigenous tradition, an ancient crossroads for the area’s K’iche’ Maya– speaking inhabitants, and a spiritually charged site. At Santo Tomás church in the center of town and the hill of Pascual Abaj on its southern edge, Maya rituals blend with Christian iconography to the point where it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. The enormous and colorful twice-weekly market is a fabulous place for souvenir hunting, though – particularly if you’re after finely woven textiles or carved wooden masks.

Market | CATALIN MITRACHE/500PX ©

Top Experiences
Lago de Atitlán
Possibly the most beautiful destination in Guatemala, Atitlán elicits poetic outbursts from even the most seasoned traveler. This blue mirrored lake is ringed by volcanoes and its shores are studded with villages such as Santiago Atitlán, with its thriving indigenous culture, and San Marcos, a haven for seekers who plug into the lake’s ‘cosmic energy.’ Plus there are enough activities – from paragliding and kayaking to hiking the glorious lakeshore trails – to make a longer stay highly attractive.

View of Volcán San Pedro from Lago de Atitlán | CULTURA RM EXCLUSIVE/BEN PIPE PHOTOGRAPHY/GETTY IMAGES ©

Top Experiences
Volcanoes
Sacred to the Maya and integral to the country’s history, Guatemala’s volcanoes dominate the skylines of the country’s west, and are one of its emblematic features. You can gaze upon their domed beauty from the comfort of a cafe in Antigua or on Lago de Atitlán, or get up close and personal by climbing (at least) one. Favorites include the lava-spewing Pacaya, Tajumulco – Central America’s highest point – and San Pedro, with its sweeping views over picturesque Lago de Atitlán.

Volcán Pacaya | MEGHAN LEBLANC/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Sweet River
The Río Dulce (literally, ‘sweet river’) connects Guatemala’s largest lake with the Caribbean coast, and winding along it, through a steep-walled valley, surrounded by lush vegetation, bird calls and the (very occasional) manatee is Guatemala’s classic, don’t-miss-it boat ride. This is no tourist cruise – the river is a way of life and a means of transportation around here – but you get to stop at a couple of places to visit river-dwelling communities and natural hot springs, making for a magical, unforgettable experience.

OLIVIER TABARY/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Quetzaltenango & Around
Its blend of mountain scenery, highlands indigenous life, handsome architecture and urban sophistication attracts plenty of visitors to Quetzaltenango – ‘Xela’ to most everyone. Come here to study Spanish at the numerous language institutes, or make it a base for excursions to such excellent high-altitude destinations as Laguna Chicabal, a crater lake/Maya pilgrimage site, or the Fuentes Georginas, a natural hot-s