Day 2: Antigua: Central Square - Santiago Cathedral - Convent of Santa Clara - Convent of Santo Domingo - Church of Carmen - Convent of the Capuchins - Church and Convent of La Merced - Arco de Catalina
It is 7:00 in the morning when our alarm rings and marks the beginning of this trip to Guatemala and Honduras that we will start enjoying the city of Antigua in one day, where we met after spending more than 24 hours of travel yesterday, in which we passed through Frankfurt, we made an airport change in New York, from JFK to Newark and finally we arrived in Guatemala City at midnight, and then moved to Antigua, where we finally rest until this morning.
We have breakfast when there are a few minutes to 8 in the morning at the Mesón del Valle, after spending a few more minutes to have a second coffee in the patio area, where you can do it for free, since the hotel leaves a 24-hour service both coffee and tea and drinking water for all guests.
We have to say that when we see the price of breakfast, 65 quetzales, we are a little unemployed and that seems to us to be a bit expensive. We only have to see the menu they show us, which includes all the breakfast options, when we fully understand the reason for the price. They are super complete breakfasts, which include juice, coffee / tea, fruit plate, toast with butter and jam and a plate with eggs to taste, more ham and sausage. Seen what we saw, we ask for the most "adjusted" in quantity, which although it seems less copious in the photo, leaves us with the stomach as if not to eat in three days. With this we begin to get an idea of how the quantities will be here in Guatemala.
Breakfast at the Mesón del Valle hotel
Charged with energy, we are going to start the planned route of Antigua in one day, approaching the Central Square, located just a few meters from our hotel in Antigua, where we began to discover that Antigua that we were looking for, even seeing a precious perspective of the Fire volcano that is active right now, which can only surprise us, although it will become a regular image in the next hours we spend in Antigua.
A good option to learn more about the history of the city is to book a guided tour of its most interesting places with a guide in Spanish.
Incredible perspective of one of the volcanoes of Antigua
Our first date with Antigua goes through the Central plaza, meeting point for locals and tourists where we can find several colonial buildings that make up one of the most important points of the city.
Palace of the General Captains in the Central Plaza of Antigua
The first thing we do is approach the Palace of the General Captains, currently a cultural center, from where we have partial views of the Acatenango volcano and then the City Hall Palace, on the north side of the square, which we only see from the outside and that our main visit in the Central Plaza of Antigua is the Santiago's cathedral.
Santiago's cathedral
The Santiago's cathedral you can visit for free, not its ruins that cost 8 quetzals per person, and in it we can find the parish of San José occupying the part of the entrance of the building that was destroyed by the earthquake of 1773 and subsequently restored.
While the visit is interesting, the real reason we are here is its ruins and that is by turning the left corner of the Santiago's cathedral, on 5 East Street, we find the entrance to its ruins, where we can visit the main area of the cathedral, a visit that we assure you will not leave you indifferent.
Entrance to the ruins of the Cathedral of Santiago
This is the first place what to see in Antigua in one day, which shows us that city we wanted to know so much and from which we had seen some really impressive images, such as the ones we now have in front of us.
Book the best rated tours and excursions in Spanish from Antigua by travelers:
- Lake Atitlan + Boat trip to Santiago
- Excursion to Copán
- Excursion to the Pacaya Volcano
- Guided tour of Antigua
- Chichicastenango Market and Lake Atitlan- Many more excursions and tours here
The ruins of the Cathedral of Santiago in Antigua They are as the name indicates ruins. Here you will find the sectors of the building that are maintained on some columns that hold the brick arches today without more roof than the sky.
Corners of the Cathedral of Santiago
We advise you to arrive early in the morning if your goal is to visit the ruins with tranquility and take photographs in good light. We cannot say that it is a place that is crowded with tourists, but we must say that the visit in solitude gives a much more special air to this incredible Antigua corner.
Cathedral. Antigua in one day
Santiago's cathedral
In the area of the main altar, you cannot forget to go down to a crypt where you will find a small closed chapel, where behind some bars you can see a Christ blackened by smoke and fire, which undoubtedly leaves its engraved image.
Santiago's cathedral
After this first visit in Antigua, which has undoubtedly left us amazed, we return a few minutes to the Central plaza to buy a coffee to go for 11 quetzals, you will find them in all the coffee shops of Antigua, and we are on our way to Santa Clara convent, another place what to see in Antigua in one day.
The Santa Clara convent (40 quetzals per person) was also destroyed by the earthquake and was later abandoned by the nuns who lived there.
Santa Clara convent
The great luck is that today some elements of the original structure are still preserved, as with the Santiago's cathedral, with which we can get an idea of the magnificent structure, especially in the area of the cloister, where some arches without roof leave some free views to heaven we could be contemplating hours and hours.
Convent of Santa Clara. Antigua in one day
Without a doubt this is another one of the essential visits in Antigua and is that the feeling of being in a place abandonedwhich is called ruins, but that still stands and is so impressive, it is still a unique experience, which you can have in very few places in the world.
After this visit to Santa Clara convent, where we are practically an hour, walking through all its corners, we return to the streets of Antigua that today are brimming with life. Contrary to what we believed, this time of year is a very tourist time, imagine that they told us that yesterday Christmas Day, there were 15,000 people here!
Streets of Antigua
We have to recognize that we have only been here for a few hours, but Antigua has already fallen in love with us and we have already promised ourselves that this is another of those places to which we must return at some other time in our life, to stay for a little while.
That calm atmosphere that is breathed in its streets surrounded by houses with pastel colors, which despite all the earthquakes and eruptions, remain standing have made Antigua an essential visit on any trip to Guatemala and Honduras for free.
More practical information to prepare your trip to Guatemala
- 10 essential places to visit in Guatemala
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Guatemala
Typical houses in Antigua
From the Santa Clara convent We return to the Central Square to change money, since they have told us that in the rest of the country it will be more difficult to do it and after trying in three banks, where they tell us that they only change dollars, we arrived at BAM located right in the middle of the plaza, where after queuing for more than 15 minutes we finally finish quetzales in our pockets.
With this already fixed, we go to the second message of the day: locate the best way to communicate and have internet in Guatemala.
SIM card in Guatemala
In Guatemala you have several companies with which to hire a SIM card to be able to talk and navigate as if you were in Spain
- Movistar (4 Poniente street): The cheapest one we found. We were offered a free SIM for 41 quetzales plus a 1.5 Gb load of navigation plus free local calls and 20 messages to Movistar for 90 more quetzales. In total 131 quetzals for everything. There is also the option of 3gb of navigation for 150 quetzales.
This card, like the rest, can be recharged on demand at all points that offer the service
- Clear (5 Avenida Norte): We were charged 90 quetzales for the free SIM plus 130 quetzales for the 1.5Gb recharge.
-Tigo: In Antigua we did not find any specific agency of the company, but we were told that there are several
After our experience we have to say that during practically the whole trip, we had coverage with Movistar in Guatemala, except for some areas of Petén and Semuc Champey, where Claro had a little coverage and Movistar was totally canceled.
If we were to buy it again, we would definitely choose Claro or Tigo, since they are the companies with the most coverage.
In addition, we recommend that you not only buy the card but also tell them to do the whole process of recharging them, in order to verify that everything works and you receive the email with the available balance
Holafly prepaid SIM card
Another option is to choose to buy one Holafly SIM card being in Spain, with which you will have internet from the moment you land, saving you all the time of the negotiations and making the whole process to have internet in Guatemala much more comfortable, fast and easy.
In this case, with the Holafly SIM you will have several Gb to surf the Internet (depending on the option you choose), they will send it to you for free at home, you will keep your WhatsApp number and you will have assistance service in Spanish. You can buy your Holafly prepaid SIM card here with a 5% discount for being our reader
More information on the Holafly post, the best prepaid SIM card for travel
With the issue of the connection in Guatemala already solved and standing firm in order to adjust our meal schedules to those of the country, we decided that the time has come to go to eat and that is already 12:30 noon and The stomach is starting to tell us that it needs energy.
We approach the Rincon Typical Restaurant, a highly recommended restaurant in several travel forums, where they offer us only two options: chicken with garnish or stewed meat and not to mess, we ask for a dish of each, accompanied by two soft drinks Jamaica of the house for 60 quetzales. Who said that eat in Guatemala be expensive?
Eating in Typical Corner of Antigua
From here we continue with our itinerary of what to see in Antigua in one day and by proximity we approach the Santo Domingo Convent Church (40 quetzales) where just today they are arranging the different rooms for a wedding, so we cannot see it with too much tranquility.
Former convent, Santo Domingo went through several hands before becoming the museum-hotel that it is today. The Dominican friars founded it in 1542 and after being victim of several earthquakes it passed to an American archaeologist, who carried out several excavations, and then sold it to the owners of the Santo Domingo Hotel, one of the most important hotels in Antigua today.
Archaeological excavations lead us to visit a church, a cloister, several workshops and a couple of crypts. Here we can also find several museums, six in total, among which are the Silver, Colonial, Archaeological, Pre-Columbian Art, Arts and Crafts and Pharmacy.
Salons of the Convent of Santo Domingo prepared for a wedding
In our case, seeing that most of the rooms are being decorated for a wedding and the establishment is full of people, we choose not to visit the museums and in about 30 minutes we leave to get closer to the Carmen Church with a spectacular facade and more today that has a small market at the door.
Carmen Church
The Antigua weather In this era it is better than good. Sunny and with about 25 degrees that make us think of Christmas so different that we are going through, despite the fact that in Spain this year the cold has not yet appeared and it seems, it does not look much like doing it.
After getting lost again in the little streets of this area of Ancient, which at this time of the afternoon are still full of people shopping in the little shops or just walking in the heat of the sun, we approach the Capuchin Convent on 2 North Avenue, the next visit in Antigua in one day.
Color in the streets of Antigua
The entrance to the Capuchin Convent It is 40 quetzals per person and as soon as we enter, we understand the reason why it was abandoned. Like the rest of the visits we are doing today in Antigua in one day, the Capuchin Convent was abandoned after the 1773 earthquake that left the place fatal wound.
Convent of the Capuchins in Antigua
In recent years the convent has undergone several restorations, so today we can imagine how it was once, when in 1736 it was inaugurated by some religious from Madrid.
Capuchin Convent
The most impressive area of the Capuchin Convent It is undoubtedly its cloister, with an incredible fountain in the middle, surrounded by robust columns that seem to want to protect it, as they tried to do with their religious many years ago.
Another of the highlights of the visit is a tower where we can find the cells of 18 nuns, located next to each other in a circular courtyard.
Capuchin Convent
Details of the Capuchin Convent
After this visit also fully recommended, for which you will spend about 45 minutes or so, we approach the Convent of Santa Teresa, where we do not enter (the price is also 40 quetzales per person), to go to the La Merced Church (Free admission to the 15 Quetzal ruins), notable for its incredible yellow facade adorned with white flourishes.
La Merced Church. Antigua in one day
If the church is an essential visit, its ruins are no less, in which we find as a main piece a fountain, 27 meters in diameter, which they say is the largest in Central America.
Fountain of the Church of La Merced
If you want to have a good perspective, not only of the fountain, but also of the surroundings of the Church of La Merced, do not stop climbing the stairs that will lead you to the upper part, from where we assure you, you will have some of the best views of Antigua.
Ruins of the Church of La Merced. Antigua in one day
With the visit to the La Merced Church, we finished the visits we had planned to Antigua in one dayand we decided that the time has come to stroll and savor that Antigua that has hooked us so much since we arrived.
We make the first stop at Parque Unión, a small lung from the city, where we also find an old laundry, which is still used today where we can see several places washing their clothes in the pools that are still preserved.
Union Park
Union Park laundry
From here we approach to one of the Antigua symbolsat Santa Catalina Arch, one of the images that are most associated with the city, which at this time of the afternoon looks spectacular, surrounded by vendors on the sidewalks with all kinds of crafts.
Santa Catalina Arch
The Santa Catalina Arch It is the gallery through which the nuns crossed the street so as not to be seen. Undoubtedly, this area of 5th Avenue North is one of the liveliest in the city, where we can find restaurants, cafes, shops ...
5 North Avenue
The initial idea was to climb this afternoon to Cerro viewpoint, a small hill, as the name implies, from which you have some incredible views of Antigua and its surroundings. We were advised to go by motocarro or tuk tuk for about 50 quetzales round trip, but seeing that it is now completely covered, we decided to make a Technical stop to go have a drink in a beautiful terrace, where we stay at watch life go by in front of a coffee and a beer for 41 quetzales.
And is that Antigua apart from having incredible places to visit, it has super cozy shops and cafes, which are worth spending a few hours, just walking and watching as life passes through its pastel-colored streets.
It is 4:30 p.m. when we decide that it is time to get back on track and seeing how the street of people is, we decided that tomorrow we will leave the hotel around 6:30 in the morning to be able to take pictures in this area without people, since we met at 7 in the morning with Enrique to continue our trip to Guatemala and Honduras heading to Chichicastenango, the largest indigenous market in Central America, where we will spend the morning, before going to Lake Atitlan, which will be the next stop on this trip.
It's after 5 in the afternoon and we already finished the planning we had of places what to see in Antigua in one day, so the time has come to wander around and drink us Ancient without cameras and without a fixed direction, only enjoying the atmosphere, surrounded by colonial houses, color and extraordinary smells, which as we discussed earlier, have fallen in love and hooked since we arrived.
In Guatemala you eat around 12-1 at noon and have dinner at 7 in the afternoon, since restaurants usually close between 8-9 at night, so a few minutes before 7 we approach the Why not? an alternative place, somewhat away from center of Antigua, where they welcome us with jazz music in the background and that turns out to be a perfect corner in which to end our first day in Guatemala.
We ordered some eggplant parmesan and a chicken quesadilla, plus two lemonades for 150 quetzales that turn out to be a delight, as we had read in the comments of the restaurant on the internet.
Dinner at Why not? in Antigua
It's 9 o'clock at night when we return to our hotel in Antigua, Mesón del Valle. It takes a couple of hours to download the photos we have taken today and work for a while, before returning to the fluffy bed in which we will dream about Guatemala, a country where we feel at home and where the country is amazing, but where people are a true wonder. The true treasure of Guatemala.
Day 3: Antigua - Chichicastenango Market - Lake Atitlan (Panajachel)
