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Published: February 10th 2024
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Antigua Guatemala is the place where every visitor heads for at some stage on their trip to Guatemala. For this reason we were a bit wary of going there, but we booked an
Air B&B so we were away from most of the action which suited us. Luckily we were located just a block away from where the bus dropped us off, and right opposite the office where
my sunglasses would just arrive in the nick of time!!
We enjoyed our time just wandering the picturesque cobbled streets. For us there was no need for excursions to climb a volcano or anything strenuous like that! It was enough just soaking up the atmosphere of this wonderful town which did not feel as full of backpackers as we had feared. Volcano Agua looks large over the town and there are some great vantage points, especially the street with the yellow arch,
el arco de Santa Catalina. Climbing up
Cerro de la Cruz isn't difficult at all and once you are up there you get an amazing view of the town with all of its volcanoes in the background. Agua may well be dormant buts its near neighbour, Fuente, gives off a huge plume of smoke
on a pretty regular basis. These volcanoes are a sight to behold.
Parque Central is always bustling with life. It's a great place for people watching, both the local population and the foreign visitors! It's surrounded by beautiful colonnaded buildings on three sides and the cathedral on the other. We even got to see a couple having photos taken after their wedding, the groom gleaming with pride and looking so smart in his military uniform.
A highlight for us was the art collection in the municipal library. We got to explore all of the corridors of the
Convento de la Compania de Jesus housing a collection of every manner of art you could imagine. We were in there for a surprising amount of time, and it seems that few tourists actually find the place.
There are, of course, churches galore. Some are beautifully kept whilst others are crumbling ruins. The ruins are not free to visit which is a shame and there didn't seem to be any sort of combination ticket so either pick wisely or just admire them from outside as we did. It's also worth finding the Hotel Casa San Domingo where you can wander
around the interior and see some of the ruins without actually paying to enter the museum.
As you would expect, food and drink options abound. We found everything very good value but really liked
La Casa de las Sopas. They serve an amazing variety of soups and stews. We also really enjoyed sitting up on the roof of the
Antigua Brewing Company and drinking some craft beer. Just around the corner we actually preferred the craft beer at Antigua Cerveza. If only they had a rooftop bar!
Antigua is also a great place to buy some locally made souvenirs. Near the central market (not particularly central if you ask me!) is a dedicated artisanal market which was nice to browse. Rather more central, and just down from the yellow arch was the impressive
Nim Po't which was no more expensive than anywhere else. The quality is great too. We did succumb to a purchase at each location!!
Moving on from Antigua to Copas Ruinas in Honduras isn't difficult, but we called in to a few agencies who just had no idea of their product. We ended up having a lovely chat with the lady in a tiny office just around
the corner from where we were staying. She really gave us a feeling of confidence that if we were waiting outside our accommodation at 0330, a bus would come and pick us up. It was tough getting up at that time of the morning but the deserted streets were atmospheric and the bus was on time!!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Nice shot
Beautiful.