Restaurants
Getting from Guate to Antigua
There are public buses for 3,25 Q.
There are more expensive tourist minibuses at 7 US$.
Hotels
Casa de Santa Lucia is a personal favourite, but I got one more recent negative report, probably because there was no water, and this irritated a bit. Price is now 60 Q for a double room with bathroom. The place is near to the busstation (200 m), very clean and cosy around a small courtyard with wooden furniture. There's no breakfast (8/98).
Apparently the place became so succesfull that the owner has made more of these places. The LP guide mentions 3 of them, but now there's a fourth one (Casa Santa Lucia nr. 4) which is new and very clean (1/99). It's built in a colonial style with rooms around a small courtyard. There are 3 levels with in total about 25 rooms. It's at 50 m from the busstation, they charge 70 Q for a double with hot water.
Posada de Refugio charges 40 Q for a room without or 50 Q with bathroom. They have breakfast for 7,5 Q (small portions) (8/97).
Posada Merced is recommended. It's clean and cosy, They charge 70 Q for a double with bathroom and hot water (8/98).
Hospedaje Landivar, 5 Calle Poniente nr 33, close to the busstation. Rooms are clean. Double with bath 60 Q, no breakfast (11/98).
Hotel San Jeronimo is new in the business at 400 m from the busstation. they charge 25 Q for a room without bathroom (4/99).
There are plenty of restaurants to choose of. There's even a Burger King catering for the many Americans following a Spanish language course here.
Café Condesa, 5a Av. Norte at the Parque Central is cosy and good and has good pastries and breakfast. Only in the morning and at noon, they close early in the evening (7 pm).
Dona Luisa, 4a Calle Oriente nr 12 also serves good breakfast.
Asjemenou at the Calle Poniente nr 4 is well known for its pizza, another report didn't like it that much.
La fondo de la Calle Real: popular but not really good (11/98).
This is info from Elyse Chance (6/2000)
There are many internet cafes and centers in Antigua, but my favorite is Orion Internet Center at 6a. Avenida Norte No. 11 'A', a central location that's easy to find. Their connection speed is the most consistent, their keyboards the best, and they have good quality monitors.
Services include email, phone, color/b&w printer, and scanner. Knowledgeable and friendly staff (not necessarily true at other internet service locations around town).
Cost is same as others, 12Q per hour.
Note that during rainy season, afternoon tormentas (rainstorms) cause frequent power outages, a real annoyance if you're online.
Cafe 2000 on 6a. Avenida Norte shows recent U.S. movies nightly, in English with Spanish subtitles, on a big-screen tv. No charge, just buy food or drink (I bought only one Coke for entire movie The Sixth Sense in May 2000).
Restaurante Welten, bar-heladeria located at 4a. Calle Oriente No. 21 (a wealthy long-time resident told me it's the best, and most expensive, restaurant in Guatemala). The food is excellent, both fine food and "typical" Guatemaltecan fare. Prices are extremely reasonable -- large whole fish, prepared in "typica" style, with soup, salad, dessert, and wine cost $35 per person (June 2000).
Frida's Mexican Restaurant & Bar -- rightfully renowned for its guacamole and margaritas. A hangout for college-age students and tourists.
Practicalities
Convenient ATMs around town banks (most are located near Parque Central) will cash travelers checks and also will do cash advances on credit cards, are open until 7:00 at night (no, they don't close midday for siesta).
Telephones: many signs around town offering phone service, but even with U.S. phone card, there's still a charge (after asking around, I found telephone service that would accept MCI card in order to call 800 number in U.S., using MCI card, I was charged "only" 2Q per minute, payable in cash).
Travel to other towns and ruins around Guatemala is easily arranged from Antigua.
Shuttle to/from Guatemala City airport costs $7-$10 one way, depending on time of day and number of passengers (private shuttles cost up to $30 each way).
Travel agencies
There are several agencies in Antigua offering trips to almost everywhere:
- Tikal of course: Two-day trip to Tikal ruins (a must-see) and Flores (the town located on Lake Peten Itza, from which day trips to Tikal are arranged) costs $150-$200 per person, based on number of persons in group. Our group of six paid $160 each for Tikal Jets r/t Guatemala C
ity-Flores, shuttles r/t Antigua-airport, one night Flores hotel (Villas del Lago, located on the lake), and shuttle r/t Flores-Tikal (6/2000).
- Copan
Have a look at the website of Vision at http://www.cyberwebsite.com/vision for some practical info on the trips they offer (prices are mentioned).
Developing of pictures
Pictures can be developed at an Agfa shop at 5a Av. Sur. Quality is OK, price is about 60 Q for express service (1 hour) (11/98).
Spanish language courses
Spanish language courses are big business in Antigua (and a bit less in Xela). There are at least 50 "academias de Espanol" offering courses. The courses always offer an individual teacher, so the contact with the teacher is very important. You'll get between 4 to 7 hours of courses. Prices are between 50 to 90 US$ a week + 45 to 50 US$ for staying at a family.
They also offer accomodation with a Guatemaltese family. This includes 3 meals a day except on Sundays. However, some families offer accommodation for several pupils, so at the end it's possible you speak more english than spanish. Also food is not always good quality.
You can find a list of schools at the Vision website http://www.cyberwebsite.com/vision. You could also check out the "Antigua Journal" website. They are sponsored by Spanish Schools which have advertisements on their site. They are of course advertisements, but they can give you an idea of what to expect.
This is info from Elyse Chance (6/2000)
Spanish Language Schools -- the oldest, and best, is Proyecto Linguistico Francisco Marroquin (named for the first Bishop of Guatemala).
A non-profit organization run by a group of Maya Indians, with 27 years of experience, they offer Foreign Service Institute-style exam (the only school in Latin America to do so) and certification.
Offers instruction in Spanish and Maya languages a serious school for serious students.
Administrator is Pamela, a British woman who has worked there, as a volunteer, for 18 years.
Call her to arrange private shuttle pickup at airport when you arrive.
Cost was $200 per week, including home-stay, May 2000. Tel/fax 502-832-2886, 832-3777 web site is http://www.plfm-antigua.org/default.htm, email plfm@infovia.com.gt
Family-stay programs at Spanish language schools ($50-$65 per week, arranged through the schools beforehand, with payment directly to the school) are part of the "total immersion" concept of language instruction offered in Antigua, and include three meals daily Monday through Saturday, so students must fend for themselves on Sundays.
Cafe Condessa on the Parque Central has excellent Sunday brunch until 2:00, including typical American breakfast.
What to do
Antigua is simply a nice city where you'll have a good time exploring the narrow streets, churches and squares. I won't go into details, you can find everything in any guidebook. The Casa Popenoe was recommended in 1 report (10 Q, 12/97). There's a market on Thursday. Be careful after dark.
San Antonio Aguas Calientes was nothing special. If you want to go to the market on Sunday morning, don't go too early since it starts late.
You will get plenty of offers to visit the Pacaya volcano which recently erupted again. I did it in 1994, but it was only after I came that I heard it's pretty dangerous to do the trip. It 's definitely worth it, but it's up to you if you want to take the risk. Prices are 10 to 15 US$ (A report from 4/99 said he only paid 8 US$). Make sure you have a private bus to go there, not a public bus. It takes 2 hours by bus, then 90 minutes to walk up to the base of the volcano, and then a very hard 30 minutes climb up to the cone of the volcano. It's hard because you slide down in the sand with every step you take. The trip is beautiful, but we didn't see the lava because of the fog, and this regularly happens. Take a flash light for the return, warm clothes food and water.
The tourist office has a tour in the neighbouring villages to look at weaving for 75 Q (4 hour trip).
You can buy secondhand books at the Jadeshop, 4a Calle Oriente.
Getting out of Antigua
Public bus to Guate is 3,5 Q (1/'00)
Going to Panajachel is possible by public bus. There is 1 first class direct bus a day leaving at 7 am at the Texaco station, 4a Calle Poniente (25 Q till Solola (1/99)), otherwise you need to change buses at Chimaltenango, just stand along the road and wait for the bus from Guate. You'll make a stop at Los Encuentros. There's also a tourist bus which takes 2 hours.
If you want to go to Chichi on a market day, you can go there with a tourist bus in 2 1/2 hours and return the same day. However, I advise against this since you'll miss the Atitlan lake this way.
Go to Atitlan
Article Comments:
| 06/20/2006 |
| Denise (1) |
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I suggest you DO NOT eat at Frida's. Yes, the food is great, but the staff and management was EXTREMELY RUDE to us. They took advantage of the fact that we weren't fluent in spanish and tried to charge us for items we didn't order (our bill was twice what it should have been), but were added to our appetizer and entree'. After arguing for 20 minutes, they told us that 'they didn't like our kind of customer anyway'. This negative experience not only turned me off of this restaurant, but Guatemala as a whole.
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| 04/11/2006 |
| Roger (1) |
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I am interested in getting from San Salvador to Antigua on Good Friday 04/14. Any ideas? Pullmautur is not operating...
Please help!
Thanks,
Roger.
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| 03/20/2006 |
| andre racine (5) |
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I am a Canadian living in Guatemala the last 8 years, married to a Salvadoranean and we operate a Restaurant in Antigua called Cafe Luna if anyone wants to come by and meet us. We also have a tour bus that leaves Antigua every other day to San Salvador ... about 3.5 hours travel including the border crossing. We are registered with INGUAT and Corsatur and can show you all the best of Antigua and El Salvador.
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