Visiting Guatemala with kids offers so much. The people, the food, the experiences……
Guatemala also holds a very special place in my heart – I volunteered here as a 20 year old back in 2004 – my first adventurous solo travel trip. So when we found a worldschool hub on the shores of Lago Atitlan, we were going to snap up our space and build an itinerary around it. After spending 3.5 weeks in the country, here’s the ultimate Guatemala roadtrip.
Transport options: Getting Around
First things first, let’s talk transport! There’s are a few options: hire a car, fly from south to north or use the shuttle vans. Shuttle vans charge between $20-$50 per person depending how far you are going. For one person this is affordable, but for a family of 4 with small kids, the costs didn’t add up. Flying from south to north means you miss out on Semuc Champey and Coban, but it does save you some long driving days. So we opted to hire a car and drive ourselves.
Car hire isn’t cheap – but of you compared to the shuttle costs adding up it is probably not too dissimilar, but you have your independence, can stop for toilets, snacks, stretch of legs, and go at the kids pace if needed. The one way fees aren’t extortionate either so you could collect at Guatemala Airport, and drop it at Flores airport before then going to your next destination.
We picked our 4×4 truck up in Antigua and dropped it at Flores, with 4 days hire costing us $500 – we also had a friend with us so this was effectively split between 5 people which made it reasonable. It is worth noting that the car hire itself isn’t the expensive part, but it is the insurance options that are. We took out basic insurance as we have an annual car hire policy in place for any damage where our excess is reimbursed – this is often cheaper than paying the premium insurance at the rental place.
Now, what is driving like in Guatemala – it’s akin to Nicaragua. Some roads are like you will find at home. Others are like you are off-roading – especially if you go the wrong way like we did! Speed bumps are brutal. Potholes appear out of no-where, even on a good, fast road – so you must have your wits about you. But safety wise, it is fine. I probably wouldn’t risk trying out what it was like to drive in the dark at midnight, so we made sure we were always at our next destination before, or just after dark. What you are rewarded with is breath-taking views and complete independence on when and where to go.
To quickly cover the other transport options, you can book the shuttle vans very easily online, or in every town very easily. They generally depart early on, around 6am. Flying is from Guatemala City to Flores, so you will have to navigate your way back to the airport from your southern tour and costs start around $100 each way taking around 1 hour (the planes are small, not 737s!)
So here’s our roadtrip itinerary for 3 weeks in Guatemala – you could easily shave off a night in each place if you had less time, but 3 weeks will give you some amazing experiences.
Lake Atitlan (5 days)
After arriving into the airport, head straight to Lago Atitlan for travel recovery and a slower pace of life for your first few days in town. It takes around 4 hours to arrive in San Juan which is where we suggest basing yourself, and is where we joined our worldschool hub. Base yourself here and explore other areas of the lake via the speedboats that cross the lake all day.
San Juan is a colourful lakeside town offering plenty to explore from bee farms, to cotton making, to a couple of playgrounds by the lake or in the centre, to chocolate making. The streets are decked out with so much colour, some with hanging hats and umbrellas and lights at night. The main church is also beautiful.
From San Juan, there are several day trips which we all enjoyed. Visit the national park at San Roques for some swimming and cliff jumping. This is the only part of the lake we felt safe to swim in. We will let you do your own googling and decide whether swimming in the lake is a good idea in other areas – we felt it wasn’t worth the risk!
San Pedro is a town similar to San Juan but with more shopping and restaurants and also kayaks and SUPs available to rent – it’s only 10 minutes in a tuk tuk or 5 minutes on a lancha (boat) from San Juan. Panajachel is the main tourist town on the lake and we headed there for a day to find it very busy – but there were a few hotels you could pay to use the pool as a day-pass visitor. It’s the town where the day trippers from Antigua arrive into and this is why it is so much busier than the other towns.
We would also recommend doing the sunrise walk to Indian Nose – this was one of our most favourite experiences – the sun rises at 6am so it is an early start, but with only a 30 minute walk required from the drop off point, it is good for little legs at that time in the morning.
Antigua (5 days)
Antigua is a beautiful old colonial town 2 hours from Atitlan. The streets are cobbled and the buildings are awash with colour. It is overlooked by 3 volcanoes and has some beautiful churches and ruins to explore. We recommend climbing Volcan Pacaya with the kids as it is an easier hike (around 4 hours total) and there is marshmellow toasting on the top which was good bribery for getting up the hill. The kids enjoyed exploring and seeing the lava field too – and the smoke bellowing out is not something you see every day.
Other activities for Antigua which can’t be missed are the cemetery, the ruins of the old cathedral, la merced church (get a view of the Antiguan rooftops from the roof of this church), take a Spanish class, feed the pigeons in the main square and with the kids in tow, you absolutely can’t miss the McDonalds! (air conditioned soft play is hidden at the back!)
Semuc Champey (2 days)
After spending your time in Antigua, start your journey north to Semuc Champey. I’ll set your expectations now with a minimum 6-7 hour drive ahead of you. This is the most difficult place to get to – shuttle vans do go there, or at least they do to Lanquin, and then arrange a tour to Semuc. This is where having your own wheels is definitely an advantage and we promise it is worth the effort.
Semuc Champey is a natural wonder. There is limited accommodation nearby so most visitors stay in Lanquin which is just 20 minutes away along a brand new road. There are several accommodation options here and all will organise tours to Semuc for you if that is your preference (including transport). We opted to visit independently again. Entrance tickets are $7 per person, including children. After a 10 minute walk from the car park, you get to the pools. Semuc is 7 naturally formed limestone pools with the most clear turquoise-green water you will have ever seen.
The limestone cliffs towering either side offer an incredible setting and you will likely spend a minimum of 2-3 hours here. You can swim, jump, slide down the rocks and have the fish nibble your toes – and because it is so hard to get to, it wasn’t really busy at all. There is no food or drink inside the pools though so you will need to factor that into your days plans. There are a couple of small restaurants just outside the car park, and local girls selling water and fizzy drinks in the car park but that’s it. We entered at 10 and left at 1.30.
Other things to do at Semuc Champey / Lanquin aside from the famous pools are the caves of Lanquin, river tubing, the hike to the look out point and other hiking trails. This is why it is worth spending 2 days here.
Coban (2 days)
Coban is the largest city close to Lanquin – and it’s worth stopping here for a couple of days to further break up your journey north. From Semuc Champey it is a beautiful drive of around 90 minutes-2 hours depending how often you stop for photos of the stunning scenery. Coban itself is pretty non-descript, but you can pick up supplies easily if needed and use it as a base for exploring the nearby coffee farms, orchid farms or chocolate museums. The orchid farm in particular is well worth a visit. We also needed a doctor which was easy to find in Coban, as well as large supermarkets and a shopping mall.
Flores (4 days)
Flores is the next destination on our roadtrip, hitting the north of the country after some mammoth driving days. Coban to Flores is another 6-7 hours but there is plenty to see along the way including the longest straightest road and crossing the river at Sayaxche on the ‘car ferry’. That is an interesting experience and I still can’t understand how 20 years since I was last here they haven’t yet built a bridge. It’s not a wide river!!
Flores is an island in the middle of the lake. You can walk the full circumference within 10-15 minutes. It is full of restaurants offering incredible food including much more international flavour than you may find elsewhere, It is also a transport hub to Belize, Mexico and Tikal – all of which depart from here around 6/7am.
We wouldn’t recommend swimming in the lake directly around the island, but take a lancha (boat) to other parts of the lake for swimming adventures. San Andreas and San Jose are on the far side of the lake. There is also San Jorge’s rope swing and a beach area so save your swimming for there. But just mooching around Flores is an enjoyable half day in itself.
For a great half day out with the kids, visit Arcas – an animal rescue and rehabilitation centre. This is a charity organisation, not to be confused with Peten zoo, which rescues animals and aims to re-release them back to the wild. The animals with a chance of re-release aren’t kept here, but there are unfortunately some animals that wouldn’t not survive on their own which you can visit and learn about. We saw toucans, parrots, monkeys, oscelots and even a jaguar. It’s really interesting, if not sad, to hear how the poachers capture these animals and the size of the market there is for such trade. The money you spend on your ticket goes straight back to the centre. It’s around 15 minutes on a lancha to the centre and they will wait for you to take you back to Flores.
Flores if also a good base to visit Tikal, and if you prefer to just do a day trip there then book a tour from Flores itself. However, we recommend staying at least 1 night in the forest.
Tikal (2 days)
Tikal is the centre of the Mayan world. It is a colossal site of Mayan ruins that was discovered just 60-70 years ago. Our kids were ill when we visited so they didn’t go themselves, but I can vouch that there is plenty to keep them entertained inside. Unlike Chitzen Itza, you can climb many of the largest temples. We would also recommend doing a sunrise and sunset tour for the incredible wildlife you will see and experience. You can find out more about the details to visit Tikal on our Tikal blog here.
It is a huge site, and it gets very hot, so we do recommend booking a hotel in the park itself, with a pool, to keep it manageable for younger visitors. There is a lot of walking as well, much more than Chitzen Itza, but then there is also a lot more to see, and the site has retained it’s sacredness with a limited number of guests allowed in each day. Spend a minimum of 2 nights here to truly absorb the wonder and magic of Tikal.
How to finish your trip
That brings our roadtrip to 20 days, giving you another day leeway to decide on your next move. Head back to Flores and depart to Belize or Mexico (we got a ticket all the way to Bacalar from Flores (12 hours, 2 border crossings and 2 shuttle vans). Alternatively take a flight down to Guatemala City and spend the night there before departing from the main airport to home or your next destination.
Extending your roadtrip
Other places you could visit in Guatemala if you wanted to extend further, or drive back to Guatemala City (therefore creating a loop) would be Poptun – a horse riding ranch and eco farm I visited 20 years ago and I understand it is still as incredible today – or Rio Dulce and Lago Izobel – you can even kayak from here to Livingston on the Caribbean coast.
We adored our time in Guatemala and even though it is long, slow distances, the experiences you get are out of this world and we have so many incredible memories from our time here.
