Ten things to do in Antigua

Antigua is a small colonial city surrounded by volcanoes about an hour drive from Guatemala City. Antigua is a picture perfect city with its cobbled streets, colourful buildings and historical churches all with the back drop of a volcano to make it an insta worthy city.

It is my favourite place in Guatemala and maybe it shouldn’t be due to the high volume of tourists and that is very westernised but I loved it. Each building is a cookie cutter colonial building painted in vibrant colours. Simply put, the first word the springs to mind when you visit Antigua is cute.

It has a vibrant bar scene, good restaurants and great artesian markets. It is relatively cheap but more expensive compared to San Pedro or Xela. Anituga has good bus connections to other parts of the country and internationally to El Salvador, Mexico, Hondouras and Nicaragua.

Antigua is heaving with backpackers and has so many great options to sleep, eat and party.

Ten things to do in Antigua:

1. Visit the Arco de Santa Catalina. The backdrop to this famous arch is a volcano which can be seen on a clear day. Best time to go is early in the morning on the weekend when the streets are closed to vehicles.

2. Climb cerro de la Cruz. This viewpoint gives a fantastic view of the city, including an unobstructed view of volcano Agua on a clear day. It’s an easy climb to this view point with a cross.

3. Wander around the cobbled streets of Antigua with your camera. The coloured buildings and colonial churches make Antigua a photographers dream.

4. Go to a rave in an abdoned pool. This is only on Saturday nights so plan accordingly. The pool party starts at 1am and goes on until 10am. It’s about a 20 min drive outside of Antigua city centre. The cheapest way to get there is a chicken bus or an Uber. If you like a good after party this is the best of the best.

5. Visit the mercado and do some dumpster diving in the second hand section. The mercado in Antigua is bustling from 9am until 7pm. You can get anything from chicks and puppy’s to second hand levis and fried chicken and fries for $1. They have great deals on fake North face bags and you can get some super deals on second hand Nike gear and other branded clothes if you’re lucky.

6. Visit Iglesia de La Merced-

7. Visit the religious structures and remaining ruins. Santo Domingo Church and Monastery is a ruined monastery. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1773.

8. Visit the chocolate museum- Guatemala is the birth place of chocolate and at the Choco Museum you can learn about making chocolate and how it has changed over the years. You can learn how chocolate is ground into a paste its origin of the cacao bean. You can buy some chocolate gifts after in the gift shop.

9. Have your breath taken away by a volcano– literally. From Antigua you can easily climb volcano Pacaya in a morning. It’s an easy hour and a half climb up this still active volcano. You can roast marshmallows on the still hot rocks and see real lava. This is the most popular as it’s the most accessible volcano. If you’re looking for a challenge and are relatively fit, volcano Acatenango is an overnight hike to the summit of the second highest volcano in Central America. This is a very challenging hike but the views are incredible and we’ll worth the climb. I’ve written a separate post for anyone tempted to take on Acatenango.

10. Take Spanish classes– Antigua has an abundance of cheap hostels and Spanish schools. Some Spanish schools can also organise home stays with a Guatemalan family.

Where to stay

Maya Papaya– the first time I was in Antigua I stayed here. Its a very cute and more of a boutique hostel. It has a lovely courtyard with a bar, a good kitchen, a library come dining room and a comfy sofa with Netflix. Perfect for relexing after a tiring volcano hike. It’s not a party hostel so it is harder to meet people. The dorms have male and female bathrooms, privacy curtains and the nicest sheets I’ve had yet in a hostel. People do wake up early here to do the volcano. They do a great free breakfast too.

Bigfoot Hostel– The next time I came back to Antigua I stayed in Bigfoot Hostel. It is more of a party hostel. They play music during the day quite loudly but it turns off at 10pm so isn’t an issue trying to sleep. They’ve a good bar and serve great food. It’s good for meeting people and on Saturdays they have ladies night 7-9pm.so girls drink free for two hours. We made sure we got our moneys worth then. They serve a good free breakfast too.

Where to drink and dance

• The Lucky Rabbit is hopping on a Saturday night. Like most bars it shuts at 1am but it’s a great warm up for the infamous pool party.
• The Snug– a small Irish bar that’s always packed with tourists and expats.
• Cafe Sky– nice rooftop bar to watch the sunset.
• Lava bar– really good atmosphere up here and they have happy hour 6Q drinks from 6-7pm.