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Guatemala Travel and Destination Guide
PLACES TO SEE
Quetzaltenango
Quetzaltenango, mercifully known to just about everyone as Xela ('shay-lah'), is a base for excursions to hot springs, handicraft villages and treks to volcano summits. It's popular with travelers wanting to study Spanish or to join volunteer projects working with indigenous communities.
Guatemala City
Guatemala City may not be strictly pretty, but it is the largest urban agglomeration in Central America. Sprawling across a range of flattened, ravine-scored mountains, the city blankets an entire mountain plain. Its rickety chicken buses and chaotic marketplaces are straight off a postcard.
Monterrico
With Guatemala's best ocean beach and a sultry, tropical flavor, Monterrico is a hammock-swinging coastal village. What's more, the area is home to a large wildlife reserve and two centers for the hatching and releasing of sea turtles and caymans. Monterrico is fast becoming a popular weekend spot both with Guatemalan families and foreigners.
Semuc Champey
Semuc Champey is famed for its great natural limestone bridge, 300m (990ft) long, on top of which is a stepped series of pools with cool, flowing river water good for swimming. Though this bit of paradise is difficult to reach, the beauty of its setting and the turquoise perfection of the pools make it arguably the loveliest spot in the country.
Lívingston
Accessible only by boat - either by river or from the Caribbean port of Puerto Barrios - the coastal town of Lívingston is unique in Guatemala. It's home to the Garífuna (descendants of indigenous Carib and shipwrecked African slaves) and exudes a laid-back way of life, with Jamaican influences.
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