Top Western Highlands Half-day Tours

Discover the Lake Atitlan area on this half-day ATV adventure. First, head to San Antonio Palopo via the road that runs around the lake. There, visit a local ceramic factory to learn about the production process and also stop by a chocolate factory. Following that, travel to the village of Santa Catarina Palopo where you'll be able to learn about and see the weaving of blankets, and other goods. Lastly, head to Playa Blanca en Barrio Jucanya for some photo opps by the water.

An awesome way to go exploring around Lake Atitlan, this sunset ATV adventure tour takes you up into the mountains around the caldera lake—formed after a volcanic eruption over 1.8-million years ago—before heading down to the shore for a swim. You’ll also explore local villages and colorful towns, learn about the fascinating culture of the region, watch paragliders soar through the skies, and find the best spot for sunset.

Under an hour from Quetzaltenango, the Fuentes Georginas Hot Springs are an evergreen destination: four vivid thermal pools infused with warm volcanic waters and surrounded by cloud forest. They are tricky to reach by public transport, while the winding mountain road can make self-driving challenging. This affordable half-day tour, with pickup and drop-off direct from many Quetzaltenango hotels, will save both time and stress.

Watch the sunrise light up Lake Atitlan and the Volcanic Ring of Fire from one of the highest points at Lake Atitlan: Indian Nose. After pickup from your Panajachel lodging and a 90-minute drive through the highlands, take an easy 30-minute hike to the summit of Indian Nose, followed by a trip to Sacred Hunters Cave. This tour includes round-trip transportation from your hotel as well as all entrance fees and a professional guide.

Explore the small town village life and gorgeous scenery of Lake Atitlan during this 5-hour hiking excursion from Santa Cruz la Laguna to San Marcos. During the course of your trip you’ll observe local villagers tending to coffee and corn crops in area farm fields and pass through small Mayan hamlets like San Marcos, Tzununná and Jaibalito. Best of all your hike offers a chance to enjoy the gorgeous scenery of Lake Atitlan and its nearby volcanoes. This Lake Atitlan hiking adventure also covers one-way transfer to the start point, hotel pickup, guide and entrance fees.

Step back in time to the ancient world of the Maya during this 6-hour exploration of the Iximche ruins near Lake Atitlan. Explore this 1,000-year-old city’s wealth of ball courts, pyramid-temples, royal palaces and the on-site museum. You’ll also learn about the history of this iconic archaeological site up through the Spanish colonial era, and discover details about the Mayan calendar, astrological studies and the attitudes of the present day Mayan people towards their ancestors. Your trip includes entrance fees, a guide and a choice between shared and private round-trip hotel transport.

 This Tour wants to tell us the history of chocolate worldwide, its origins here in Guatemala and especially the Mayan culture. The process is an experience and what to say about the tastings that will leave you asking for more. Quetzaltenango, is in Guatemala the place where you will find the best chocolate to drink and eat. These traditions of family drinks have been transformed into a way of life and subsistence for decades for many families already dedicated to the trade of the famous and world-famous cocoa!

This is a 16-kilometer bike ride where you will encounter ups and downs in one, along the way. Our guide will make stops at points or in viewpoints so that they can enjoy the lake at different points. The towns that are visited are Santa Catalina and San Antonio in these towns will also stop at different points to visit women weavers, colonial churches, factory Ceramic

This tour starts in Panajachel where we pick up the people who are staying at the hotels in Panajachel and on the way to Santa Catarina. We also pick up at the Tzanjuyu dock. The tour starts in Panajachel where we will tour the museum of photographs, then we will go to the villages of Santa catarian to visit the colonial church, cultural center where we will learn the history of the town history of traditional costumes, then we will continue to santa catarina palopo to learn about the manufacture of ceramics, crafts made by people, view of the vegetable market, then If we find ourselves on a sunny day we will have the best sunsets of the lake with the fall of the sun on the volcanoes

Enjoy a leisurely, laid-back, 3-hour cycling trip amidst the idyllic mountain villages near Panjachel. Spend most of your trip pedaling downhill, soaking up scenic views of Lake Atitlan, quiet rural roads and the tiny indigenous towns of Godinez and San Andres Semetabaj. With more than 98% of your cycling trip on downhill terrain, it’s a chill, easy, way to see a lot of scenery with minimal effort. Your ride includes a guide, bike and transport to the cycling start point.

The art tours give us the magnificent historical panorama of the city of Quetzaltenango, we are a city of artists of different types. A great influence of different cultures is observed in its architecture, frescoes, etc. And currently there is a wide variety of emerging artists and it is felt throughout the city. It is necessary that the visitor has an experiential experience with art, and can delve into himself to externalize his own creativity. In this tour you will meet several of the best Quetzalteco artists as specialized guides with whom they can learn and even make with their own hands a personalized souvenir made by you. There is the possibility of participating in workshops or special classes according to the time as we continually visit and collaborate with international artists as well.

If you are a motorcycle enthusiast this is a great way to visit many places around the lake in just half a day.

If you are already in Xela on your trip through Guatemala, take advantage of every second of your stay and discover all its history and emblematic buildings in a unique, fun, and different tour. We will take you through the most iconic places of this beautiful city in a Trolley Bus while sharing the most relevant pieces of history of each location. Fun and history are guaranteed on this tour! Some of the most relevant places that we will visit are Parque Centroamerica, the Cathedral, the Municipal Theater, some churches, just to name a few gems of this trip. This is a collective tour for Spanish speakers, but don't worry! A bilingual guide will be with you all the time so you don't miss any detail. So, wait no more and get ready to discover Xela in the best possible way. This tour is ideal if you are short on time, but still want to take a moment to visit this historic city. We will be waiting for you!

Whether you’re an admirer of avian or if you just love a walk through lush forests, this walking tour around the trails of Lake Atitlan is a great option for low-impact travel. You’ll either meet your guide in Santiago or receive pickup from Panajachel via boat and begin a hike up the Rey Tepepul Trail. This forested trail features river and wildlife views, as well as opportunities to see locals tending to their farms.

Immerse yourself in the ancient Mayan heritage and fascinating traditions of Guatemala during this 6-hour day trip to the villages of San Antonio and Santa Catarina. Explore the indigenous artisan traditions of the towns near Lake Atitlan as you tour local textile and craft cooperatives and then visit a ceramics studio. Then participate in Mayan rituals as you learn about the Protection Fire Ceremony and take part in an optional hike along the lake’s edge. Your trip also includes a guide and round-trip hotel transport from Panjachel and Santa Catarina.

Enjoy and discover the colorful market days of Sololá on Tuesday and Thursday! This is a good spot and very important  colourful market close fo Panajachel. That will be a good experience for you will see how is the local people live and doing their activities in the market days

Guatemala is one of the most known country in the world where there are good coffee. We have been producing coffee during many years and it mean that has been supporting the economy of the country. We want to share with you since the coffee conquisted the world and when Guatemala begun produce coffee, also we can share you more about all the process since seeds, plants, harvest, dried, rousted, grounded. Also we want you be part of this step of cupping that is a method of evaluating different characteristics of a particular coffee bean. Cupping allows us to compare and contrast coffees against each other, and allows us to get a better understanding of each coffee and that form you can taste the flevor each one.

This is a community tour that starts from Panajachel we will take a private boat that will take us to the first town where you will meet women weavers that the guide will explain the whole process from cotton to clothing using natural plants to obtain different natural colors, then the guide will take you to a chocolate factory where you will be able to taste and see the elaboration of various products made from cocoa to chocolate and to continue learning with the local people you will visit a group of women who work with plants to treat different types of diseases Also on the tour you visit the vegetable market, colonial churches, parks among others. This tour is conducted by people from the community who speak Spanish, English and Mayan

On this tour you will visit the municipality of Cantel, where there will be a small traditional embroidery workshop. The history of guipil is described, a traditional Guatemalan blouse, unique in the world. As well as living with the family of the instructor in her own home, a rural place full of nature and traditions.

We tell you the story of the creation of bakeries in Guatemala. Especially the artisan bakeries of Quetzaltenango. We are famous for the good bread, the "shecas and threads" quetzaltecas. You will have an express class of traditional pastries.

Step inside the Maya community of Santa Cruz with this NGO visit. Check out a successful non-profit vocational training center with classes in cooking, beading, sewing, and carpentry. Visit a classroom, café, and store run by the organization. Explore the village of Santa Cruz, home to one of the oldest churches in Guatemala, and end your tour with lunch at the NGO-run rooftop café overlooking the waters of Lake Atitlan.

This is a tour that starts from Panajachel where in our office we will go to the ferry to take a public boat that will take us to the town of Tzununa, from there our bicycle adventure begins, visiting the towns of Tzununa, San Marcos, San Pablo, San Juan and San Pedro, on the bike tour stops will be made where you can appreciate panoramic views, you will also visit weavers, medicinal plants, colonial churches, and coffee plantations. The route has a total of 7 miles, so the bicycle tour lasts approximately 2 to 3 hours, the road that starts with dirt for approximately 3 miles later with a paved road, there are also ups and downs of small hills so It is recommended to be in good condition.

This TOUR includes the wonderful experience of living a day or several with a local family. Family full of deep-rooted traditions. Where you can even have an embroidery class of the place, where you can also express your own creativity. You will also know the traditional cuisine of the place and even a glass of a special liquor. You will love the place as it is kind to nature and you will breathe an atmosphere full of peace and harmony.

 The Guatemalan Guipil (Huipil) is a type of blouse worn by indigenous women and is unique in the world, made with cotton thread and woven by various techniques. Throughout Guatemala there are many weavers of the güipil who do it themselves with their looms. So weavers have also developed these beautiful traditional costumes with their loom standing. The importance of valuing the work of these artists is because each piece is unique, given its complexity, each weaver offers one design at a time. The meaning of each one can tell us different stories, from expressions of nature to religious or political symbolism.