Guatemala to Costa Rica: the Central American volcano trail

Arrive in Antigua

La Aurora International Airport, Guatemala City, to Antigua

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Antigua
• Environ 1 h de route

Après-midi

A driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the drive of about 45 km west to Antigua, roughly an hour, more when afternoon traffic leaves the capital. Antigua sits at about 1,500 m in a valley ringed by three volcanoes, Agua, Fuego and Acatenango, and Fuego often puffs ash in the distance. It was the Spanish colonial capital until the earthquakes of 1773, and its cobbled grid of painted houses and ruined churches has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.

Soir

In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the eighteen days ahead: the five countries, the five land borders, which three days are long and why, and what to keep in your day bag. Then we walk to a welcome dinner of Guatemalan dishes such as pepián, a spiced stew.

Compris

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

Up to Lake Atitlán

Antigua to Panajachel on Lake Atitlán

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

Matin

We leave Antigua at about 9 am, once the morning traffic has cleared, and climb west on the Pan-American Highway through pine woods and maize fields, about 115 km and two and a half to three hours. Above Sololá the road tips over the rim of the caldera and the whole of Lake Atitlán opens up below: deep blue water at about 1,560 m, held in by the cones of San Pedro, Tolimán and Atitlán.

Après-midi

We stop at the viewpoint before winding down to Panajachel, the lake's main town and our base for two nights, in time for a late sit-down lunch near the water. The afternoon is free and deliberately slow after the flight. Walk the lakeshore path, browse the stalls on Calle Santander for woven belts and huipils, or sit by the water while the light goes gold on the volcanoes.

Soir

Your guide suggests places for dinner and explains why tomorrow's boat leaves straight after breakfast.

Compris

• Drive to Lake Atitlán with a stop at the Sololá viewpoint
• Sit-down lunch in Panajachel

By boat to the lake villages

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

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

Après-midi

Boats go out in the morning on Lake Atitlán, because an afternoon wind locals call the xocomil often whips the water into chop after midday. So we board our own boat at the Panajachel dock after breakfast. The crossing to Santiago Atitlán takes about half an hour, with San Pedro and Tolimán rising on either side. In the largest Tz'utujil town on the lake we walk up through the market to the 16th-century church of Santiago Apóstol and its memorial to Father Stanley Rother, the American priest killed here in 1981, then visit the house where a religious brotherhood keeps Maximón this year; the folk saint moves to a new home every year. A short hop across the bay brings us to San Juan la Laguna, where women's cooperatives dye cotton with plants and weave on backstrap looms, and we watch a demonstration. Lunch is in San Juan, and we are back in Panajachel by early afternoon, before the wind. The rest of the day is yours.

Compris

• Private boat on Lake Atitlán
• Santiago Atitlán with your guide: the church of Santiago Apóstol and the Maximón house
• Weaving cooperative demonstration in San Juan la Laguna
• Sit-down lunch in San Juan la Laguna

Activités en option

• Sunrise hike up the Indian Nose (Rostro Maya) with a local guide, about a 4 am start

Back to Antigua on foot

Panajachel to Antigua, then a walking afternoon

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Antigua
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

The lake is often glassy at first light, so the early hour is yours for a walk or a kayak along the shore.

Après-midi

We leave Panajachel at about 8:30 am and drive back east, about two and a half to three hours, to Antigua for a sit-down lunch. In the afternoon your guide walks you through the old capital: the arcaded Palace of the Captains General on the Parque Central, the cathedral front with the roofless ruins of the older church behind it, the yellow Arch of Santa Catalina, built so cloistered nuns could cross the street unseen, and La Merced, its facade covered in white plaster ornament. Inside the ruined church of San Agustín, now a small museum, you see how archaeologists dug through the earthquake rubble to the floors and burials below.

Soir

Before sunset we climb the steps to Cerro de la Cruz, about 20 minutes up, for the view over the tiled roofs to Volcán de Agua. The evening is free; tomorrow starts early.

Compris

• Sit-down lunch in Antigua
• Guided walk of Antigua: the Parque Central, the cathedral ruins, the Santa Catalina arch, La Merced and the San Agustín church museum
• Cerro de la Cruz viewpoint before sunset

Long day 1: across the border to Copán

Antigua to Chiquimula, the El Florido border and Copán Ruinas, Honduras

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Copán Ruinas
• Environ 6 h de route

Soir

This is the first of three long days in a row, and the reason is geography: no flight joins Antigua and Copán, and a stop halfway would add another one-night hop and a slower border morning. So we leave at 7 am, one of five starts before 8 am on the trip, each named, and break the road into legs. We skirt Guatemala City and follow the Motagua valley east, with a coffee stop and a sit-down lunch in Chiquimula, about 280 km and six hours of driving in all. A mountain road then climbs to the El Florido border. Your guide collects passports and walks the group through: the Guatemalan exit stamp, a short walk across, then the Honduran desk, where officers take a photo and fingerprints and a small entry fee is charged, which we pay. It usually takes 30 to 60 minutes. Our vehicle, or a partner vehicle that meets us on the Honduran side, takes us the last 12 km to Copán Ruinas, a small town of cobbled streets at about 600 m. The evening is free on the plaza.

Compris

• Drive to Copán with coffee and lunch stops
• Sit-down lunch in Chiquimula
• El Florido border crossing with your guide (border 1 of 5: Guatemala to Honduras), entry fee paid by us

Long day 2: Copán at opening, then El Salvador

Copán archaeological park, then El Florido, Esquipulas and the Anguiatú border to Suchitoto, El Salvador

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Suchitoto
• Environ 6 h de route

Après-midi

At about 11 am we leave, cross back into Guatemala at El Florido and drive to Esquipulas for a sit-down lunch beside the white Basilica of the Black Christ. About 45 minutes on, at Anguiatú, we leave Guatemala and enter El Salvador, usually a quick check under the CA-4 agreement.

Soir

From Metapán it is about three hours to Suchitoto, about 270 km of driving today, arriving in the evening, at about 7 pm, for a late dinner on the plaza.

Compris

• Copán archaeological park entry with a local guide at the 8 am opening
• El Florido border back into Guatemala (border 2 of 5)
• Sit-down lunch in Esquipulas, with a stop at the Basilica
• Anguiatú border into El Salvador (border 3 of 5)
• Dinner in Suchitoto

Long day 3: by boat across the Gulf of Fonseca

Suchitoto to La Unión, boat across the Gulf of Fonseca to Potosí, Nicaragua, then León

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : León
• Environ 6.5 h de route

Matin

We leave Suchitoto at about 6 am, after an early breakfast as the sun comes up over Lake Suchitlán, and drive about 200 km, roughly four hours, east to the port of La Unión, where your guide takes the group through Salvadoran exit formalities. A boat chartered for our group, sailing late morning rather than at the 7 am time of the shared transfers, carries us across the gulf, about two to three hours past the volcanic islands that El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua share, with Cosigüina volcano ahead.

Soir

At Potosí we clear Nicaraguan immigration and sit down to a late lunch of fish, then drive about two and a half hours, roughly 130 km, through Chinandega to León, arriving in the early evening.

Compris

• Salvadoran exit at La Unión and Nicaraguan entry at Potosí with your guide (border 4 of 5), Nicaraguan tourist card paid by us
• Private boat across the Gulf of Fonseca
• Sit-down lunch in Potosí

Cerro Negro early, León cathedral by afternoon

León to Cerro Negro and back, then central León

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : León
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

Cerro Negro is a bare cone of black basalt gravel that first erupted in 1850 and last in 1999, one of the youngest volcanoes in Central America, and by late morning its gravel is too hot to enjoy. We leave León at 7:30 am, about an hour on a road that turns to dirt at the end, and climb with a local guide for 45 minutes to an hour, carrying water. From the rim, about 700 m above sea level, you look into the steaming crater and along the Maribios chain of volcanoes towards the Pacific. Most walk down the scree; some slide down on a board.

Après-midi

We are back in León for a sit-down lunch and a rest through the hottest hours. Mid-afternoon your guide walks you to the cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the poet Rubén Darío is buried, and up onto its white roof among the domes, shoes off, then past the carved yellow front of La Recolección and the revolutionary murals near the plaza.

Soir

The evening is free in León's bars and street food.

Compris

• Cerro Negro with a local guide: the climb to the crater rim and the walk down
• Sit-down lunch in León
• Guided walk of central León: the cathedral and its rooftop, La Recolección and the revolutionary murals

Activités en option

• Volcano boarding down Cerro Negro with a board, suit and goggles from the local operator

Masaya market, then Granada

León to Masaya, then Granada

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Granada
• Environ 3 h de route

Après-midi

Its craft market, inside a walled 19th-century market building, sells hammocks, pottery, carved wood and leather, and you have an hour to browse before a sit-down lunch. From Masaya it is about half an hour to Granada, our base for two nights, which we reach by mid-afternoon. Founded in 1524, Granada is one of the oldest cities built by Europeans on the American mainland, and its grid of colourful colonial houses runs down to Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America.

Soir

The rest of the afternoon and the evening are free. La Calzada, the pedestrian street of cafes and restaurants, is a short walk from the hotel, and the lakeshore is at its end, a good place for the sunset.

Compris

• Masaya craft market
• Sit-down lunch in Masaya

Granada, Las Isletas and Masaya Volcano at dusk

Central Granada and Las Isletas, then Masaya Volcano National Park and back

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Granada
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

Late morning a small boat takes us out among Las Isletas, the wooded islets thrown into the lake by an ancient eruption of Mombacho, past fishermen's houses, herons and cormorants.

Après-midi

Lunch and the afternoon are yours. At about 4:30 pm we drive half an hour to Masaya Volcano National Park and up to the rim of the Santiago crater as the light goes.

Soir

When the volcano is active the crater glows red after dark; when the rangers close the rim because of gas, we watch the sunset from the Catarina viewpoint instead.

Compris

• Guided walk of Granada: the Parque Central, the cathedral, the La Merced bell tower and the Convento San Francisco statues
• Boat trip through Las Isletas
• Masaya Volcano National Park entry and an evening visit to the Santiago crater rim

By ferry to Ometepe

Granada to San Jorge, ferry to Moyogalpa, then Charco Verde

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Ometepe
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we drive about an hour and a half south to San Jorge, the port on the western shore of Lake Nicaragua. The ferry to Moyogalpa takes about an hour, and from the deck you watch Ometepe grow: two volcanoes joined by a low neck of land, the steep cone of Concepción, about 1,610 m and still active, and the lower, forested Maderas. The island is a UNESCO biosphere reserve of plantain and rice farms, small villages and roads where horses share the way with cars.

Après-midi

An island van meets us, and after a sit-down lunch we settle into our lakeside hotel for two nights. Late in the afternoon we take an easy walk at the foot of Concepción around the lagoon at Charco Verde, a small reserve where howler monkeys and white-faced capuchins are often seen, and end at Punta Jesús María, a sandbar running out into the lake, to watch the sun set behind the mainland.

Soir

The evening is free.

Compris

• Ferry from San Jorge to Moyogalpa
• Sit-down lunch on Ometepe
• Charco Verde reserve walk at the foot of Concepción
• Sunset at Punta Jesús María

The Maderas side of the island

Round Ometepe to the slopes of Maderas and the Ojo de Agua spring

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Ometepe
• Environ 2 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal at a farm restaurant on the slope.

Soir

In the afternoon we stop at Ojo de Agua, a spring-fed pool shaded by trees, for a long swim in clear, cool water, and you are back at the hotel by about 4 pm for a free evening by the lake. Pack tonight: tomorrow brings the last border.

Compris

• Guided walk on the lower slopes of Maderas, with pre-Columbian petroglyphs
• Sit-down lunch on the Maderas side of the island
• Ojo de Agua spring entry and time to swim

Over the last border to Rincón de la Vieja

Ometepe ferry to San Jorge, the Peñas Blancas border, then Liberia and Rincón de la Vieja

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Rincón de la Vieja
• Environ 3 h de route

Après-midi

A Costa Rican van meets us on the far side, and after a sit-down lunch in Guanacaste we drive about 100 km past Liberia to a lodge near Rincón de la Vieja National Park.

Soir

The afternoon ends in volcanic hot springs in the dry forest, with dinner at the lodge.

Compris

• Ferry from Moyogalpa to San Jorge
• Peñas Blancas border crossing with your guide (border 5 of 5), Nicaraguan exit fee paid by us
• Sit-down lunch in Guanacaste
• Hot springs entry near Rincón de la Vieja
• Dinner at the lodge

Mud pots at Las Pailas, then round Lake Arenal

Rincón de la Vieja National Park, then Liberia, Tilarán and Lake Arenal to La Fortuna

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : La Fortuna
• Environ 4 h de route

Après-midi

By about 10:30 am we are back on the road for a drive of about four hours, which is why the walk comes first: south to Cañas, up to Tilarán and along the winding north shore of Lake Arenal, with a sit-down lunch by the lake halfway. As the road nears La Fortuna, the cone of Arenal comes into view if the cloud allows. We arrive in the late afternoon at our base for two nights, in walking distance of town.

Soir

The evening is free.

Compris

• Rincón de la Vieja National Park entry and the Las Pailas loop with your guide
• Sit-down lunch on the shore of Lake Arenal

Arenal at opening, the waterfall and the hot springs

La Fortuna to Arenal Volcano National Park and La Fortuna Waterfall

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : La Fortuna
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

Its summit is often in cloud by late morning, so we are at the gate of Arenal Volcano National Park when it opens at about 8 am. A licensed naturalist walks us through regrown forest and over old lava flows, now covered in ferns and shrubs, to a viewpoint over the volcano and Lake Arenal, about 3 to 4 km on mostly gentle trails, with a telescope for toucans, howler monkeys and coatis.

Après-midi

We are back in town by noon; lunch is your choice and the early afternoon is free. Mid-afternoon we drive about ten minutes to La Fortuna Waterfall, roughly 70 m high, dropping into a forest pool. A viewpoint sits at the top; the pool is about 500 steps down, and you can swim.

Soir

As the light goes we drive to one of the hot spring parks around town, where water heated by the volcano runs through pools in gardens, and dinner is included there.

Compris

• Arenal Volcano National Park entry and a guided walk with a naturalist
• La Fortuna Waterfall entry
• Hot springs entry with dinner

Across Lake Arenal to Monteverde

La Fortuna by van and boat across Lake Arenal, then up to Santa Elena (Monteverde)

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Monteverde
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

After breakfast a short drive takes us to a dock near the Arenal dam, where a covered boat carries the group and our bags across the water, with the volcano behind us when the sky is clear. Lake Arenal is a reservoir, the largest lake in Costa Rica, formed when the dam was finished in 1979. On the far shore our van meets us for the climb into the Tilarán hills, the last stretch on a winding, partly unpaved road, to Santa Elena, the village beside the Monteverde reserves at about 1,400 m and noticeably cooler than the lowlands.

Après-midi

We arrive around midday; lunch and the afternoon are yours to settle in or walk the village.

Soir

At dusk we go out with a naturalist on a two-hour night walk in a private reserve, torch in hand, looking for tree frogs, tarantulas, sleeping birds and, with luck, a sloth.

Compris

• Boat across Lake Arenal
• Guided night walk with a naturalist in a private reserve

Inside the Monteverde cloud forest

Santa Elena to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, then a hanging-bridges park

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Monteverde
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve opens at 7 am, and birds are most active in the first, quietest hour, so we are at the gate with breakfast served early. With a licensed naturalist and a telescope we walk about 3 km of trails under trees thick with mosses, bromeliads and orchids, listening for the metallic call of the three-wattled bellbird and looking for the resplendent quetzal, seen most often from about February to April. The reserve was founded in 1972, with land from the Quaker families who settled here in the early 1950s.

Après-midi

We come back to Santa Elena for a sit-down lunch together. In the afternoon we walk the hanging bridges at a canopy park nearby: trail and suspension bridges at treetop height, which show the cloud forest from the level where most of its life happens. If cloud or rain closes in, your guide swaps the morning and afternoon.

Soir

In the evening we sit down to a farewell dinner, on the last night, five countries after Antigua.

Compris

• Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve entry and a guided walk with a naturalist
• Sit-down lunch in Santa Elena
• Hanging-bridges walk at a canopy park
• Farewell dinner

Down to San José airport

Santa Elena (Monteverde) to Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO), near San José

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Matin

Breakfast is early so the morning has no rush. We leave Santa Elena at about 8:30 am and wind down out of the hills to the Pan-American Highway, then up into the Central Valley by Route 1 and the Route 27 toll road, or the Route 1 Central Valley road, depending on traffic, about 150 km and three and a half hours of driving with a coffee stop, to Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO), which sits just outside San José at Alajuela. We aim to reach the airport by about noon, so book a flight home that leaves after about 3 pm.

Soir

Your guide sees you to check-in and says goodbye there, eighteen days, five countries and five land borders after the welcome dinner in Antigua. If you would rather stay on in Costa Rica, for the Pacific beaches, the Caribbean coast or a night in the capital, tell us when you book: we can drop you at a hotel in San José instead and arrange extra nights, transfers and day tours. Lunch today is your own.

Compris

• Drop-off at Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)