Guatemala Active: Acatenango, Antigua and Lake Atitlán

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Antigua

   La Aurora International Airport, Guatemala City, to Antigua

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Repas du soir
   • Nuit : Antigua
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into La Aurora International Airport (GUA) in Guatemala City, where a driver meets you in arrivals for the drive west to Antigua, about 45 km and an hour to an hour and a half depending on city traffic. The road climbs out of the capital and drops into the Panchoy valley, with the cone of Agua volcano straight ahead. On the way you share the road with the camionetas, retired North American school buses painted in bright colours, which are Guatemala's local buses and fill the yard beside Antigua's market. Antigua was the Spanish colonial capital until the earthquakes of 1773 moved the government away, and its grid of cobbled streets, low painted houses and ruined churches is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Check in to your central hotel and rest; Antigua sits at about 1,500 m, so take the first afternoon slowly and drink plenty of water. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group to walk through the week, including the gear check for Acatenango, and then we sit down together to a welcome dinner nearby.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at La Aurora International Airport (GUA)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner in Antigua

   Temps libre : Free until the evening briefing

   Activité : Antigua is at about 1,500 m. An easy first day helps you adjust before the climb.

   

2. Jour 2 : Antigua on foot, and the gear check

   A walking day in Antigua

   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Antigua
   Détail du jour 2

   We start walking at about 8 am, when the streets are quiet and the light is clear on the volcanoes. Your guide takes you under the yellow Santa Catalina Arch, to the carved facade of La Merced, around Parque Central and the cathedral, and into the San Agustín church ruins, where a small museum now sits among the fallen vaults and excavated burials. We finish at the Cerro de la Cruz viewpoint for the classic view of the town grid with Agua behind it. A gentle walk at altitude is also the best preparation for tomorrow. After a sit-down lunch in town, the Acatenango operator fits your borrowed gear (warm jacket, hat, gloves, poles and headlamp) and briefs you on the climb, so anything missing can be bought in town today. The rest of the afternoon and the evening are free: pack light, eat early and sleep well.

   Compris

   • Morning walk in Antigua with your guide: the Santa Catalina Arch, La Merced, Parque Central and the cathedral, the San Agustín church ruins and the Cerro de la Cruz viewpoint
   • Sit-down lunch in Antigua
   • Gear fitting and climb briefing with the Acatenango operator

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free in Antigua

   Activité : About 3 hours on foot on cobbles, with a short climb to Cerro de la Cruz.

   

3. Jour 3 : Up Acatenango to face Fuego

   Antigua to the La Soledad trailhead, then on foot to base camp

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Acatenango
   Détail du jour 3

   After an early breakfast we drive about an hour to La Soledad, the village trailhead at about 2,400 m, where you meet your licensed mountain guides and porters, who carry your pack. The trail climbs steeply through maize fields, then cloud forest, then high pine forest, and the volcanic soil is loose underfoot, so the pace is slow and steady with regular rests. Lunch is on the trail in the forest. Expect five to six hours of walking and about 1,100 m of ascent to reach camp at about 3,500 m by mid-afternoon. The camp faces Fuego across a saddle, close enough to hear it. As the light goes, its eruptions turn from grey ash plumes to glowing lava, and a hot dinner is served at camp. Shelters are tents or wooden huts with mats and sleeping bags rated below freezing; there are drop toilets and no showers. Bed early: the summit walk starts before dawn.

   Compris

   • Acatenango overnight climb with a licensed local operator and mountain guides
   • Porter for your personal pack
   • Warm gear on loan
   • Park and community fees
   • Trail lunch and hot dinner at camp
   • Fuego's eruptions after dark from camp

   Option plus facile : Instead of Acatenango, walk Pacaya: about 1.25 hours by road to San Francisco de Sales, then a guided walk of about 6 km round trip and about 450 to 550 m of ascent through pine forest and old lava fields to a viewpoint, with lunch included. Back in Antigua by mid-afternoon, with a night in the group hotel.

   Activité : The hardest day: steep, loose trail at altitude for five to six hours. Porters carry your pack, but you carry water and snacks. If you feel unwell, the guides bring you down.

4. Jour 4 : Sunrise on the summit, down to Antigua

   Acatenango summit and down to La Soledad, then Antigua

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Antigua
   Détail du jour 4

   At about 4 am those who want the summit set off with a guide by headlamp for the last stretch, about 1 to 1.5 hours on loose cinder to the 3,976 m crater rim. From the top, the sun comes up beside Agua, Fuego smokes just below you, and on a clear morning you can see the Pacific haze and the line of volcanoes running towards El Salvador. If you stay at camp, the sunrise over Fuego is still in front of your tent. We regroup for a hot breakfast, then walk down, about three hours and hard on the knees, to La Soledad and the van. By early afternoon you are back at the same hotel in Antigua where your bags have been waiting. A sit-down lunch, a long shower and a free afternoon follow: a massage, a café on Parque Central or simply sleep. Those who walked Pacaya have had a free morning and rejoin the group here.

   Compris

   • Pre-dawn summit walk to the crater rim of Acatenango (optional)
   • Sunrise over Fuego
   • Breakfast at camp
   • The descent with your mountain guides and porters
   • Sit-down lunch back in Antigua

   Activités en option

   • A massage in Antigua

   Option plus facile : Skip the summit and watch the sunrise from camp, then walk down with the group.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free in Antigua; in the evening your guide books a table for everyone who wants to eat together, so the Pacaya walkers and the climbers swap stories (dinner on your own account)

   Activité : The summit adds about 2 to 2.5 hours round trip from camp; the descent is about 3 hours on steep, loose ground. Poles help.

5. Jour 5 : To Lake Atitlán and San Juan la Laguna

   Antigua to Panajachel, then by boat to San Juan la Laguna and back

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Panajachel
   Détail du jour 5

   A later start after the climb. We leave Antigua around 8:30 am for Lake Atitlán, about 95 km and two and a half to three hours through Chimaltenango and over the highlands to Sololá, before the road drops in switchbacks to Panajachel and the first view of the lake, a deep caldera ringed by the volcanoes Atitlán, Tolimán and San Pedro. After a sit-down lunch we take a boat across to San Juan la Laguna, a Tz'utujil Maya town known for its weaving co-operatives, where the women show how cotton is spun and dyed with plants before it goes on the backstrap loom. Then a Maya spiritual guide, an Ajq'ij, receives us for a ceremony visit: a fire of candles and copal resin, prayers in Tz'utujil and time for questions. It is arranged through the community with their consent, and photos are only with permission. Boat back to Panajachel in the late afternoon; the evening is free.

   Compris

   • Drive from Antigua to Panajachel with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Panajachel
   • Boat to San Juan la Laguna and back
   • A weaving co-operative in San Juan la Laguna
   • A Maya ceremony visit with a community spiritual guide (Ajq'ij)

   Temps libre : Evening free in Panajachel

   Activité : The afternoon boat can be choppy when the Xocomil wind is up; life jackets are provided.

   

6. Jour 6 : Kayak at seven, then walk the north shore

   Panajachel by kayak, then by boat to Santa Cruz la Laguna and on foot to Jaibalito

   • En bateau
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Panajachel
   Détail du jour 6

   Lake Atitlán is usually glassy at dawn, before the Xocomil wind gets up around midday, so we are on the water at about 7 am. With a local kayak guide we paddle for about an hour and a half along the shore, with San Pedro volcano across the water and the light still low. After breakfast a boat takes us to Santa Cruz la Laguna, a Kaqchikel village climbing the hillside above its dock, where a local guide walks us along the path to Jaibalito, about an hour to an hour and a half of short climbs and descents through coffee plots and gardens, with the three volcanoes in view most of the way. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Jaibalito, beside the water. We are back in Panajachel by boat in the early afternoon, before the crossing gets rough, and the rest of the day is free: the market street, a swim or a sunset from the shore.

   Compris

   • Morning kayak session on Lake Atitlán with a local guide and equipment
   • Boat to Santa Cruz la Laguna and back from Jaibalito
   • Guided walk from Santa Cruz la Laguna to Jaibalito
   • Sit-down lunch in Jaibalito

   Option plus facile : Skip the walk and take the boat straight to Jaibalito for lunch; the kayak session is also optional.

   Option plus active : Carry on from Jaibalito on the path towards Tzununá with the local guide, about another hour, and take the boat back from there.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free in Panajachel

   Activité : Kayaks are stable doubles or singles; you need to be comfortable in water. The walk is about 1 to 1.5 hours on an uneven, hilly path.

7. Jour 7 : Back through Antigua and home

   Panajachel to Antigua, then La Aurora International Airport, Guatemala City

   • Environ 4 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 7

   A last breakfast by the lake, then we leave Panajachel at about 8 am and climb back out of the caldera to the highlands. It is about two and a half to three hours to Antigua, where we stop for a final sit-down lunch on your own account and a last walk round Parque Central, so the day's driving is broken in the middle rather than done in one push. From Antigua it is about 45 km and an hour to an hour and a half to La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City, arriving in the mid-afternoon. In total today is about 140 km and about four hours on the road. Your guide sees you to the terminal and checks your flight before saying goodbye. If your flight leaves earlier in the day, we skip the Antigua stop and drive straight to the airport, or you can add a night in Antigua or Guatemala City at the end.

   Compris

   • Drive from Panajachel to Antigua with your guide
   • Time in Antigua for lunch
   • Drop-off at La Aurora International Airport (GUA)

   Activité : Book a flight leaving after about 4:30 pm to include the Antigua stop.

Faune et météo : November to April is the dry season: clearer mornings on the volcanoes and fewer trail closures, but camp nights on Acatenango can drop below freezing. On Lake Atitlán the Xocomil wind usually rises around midday, so we paddle and cross early.

• Antigua2 nuits
• Acatenango1 nuit
• Antigua1 nuit
• Panajachel2 nuits