Antigua
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Lake Atitlán Sightseeing Cruise with Transport from Antigua

Badge of ExcellenceAntigua, Guatemala

From USD 107.00

Price varies by group size

Select Date and Travellers

Free cancellation
Up to 24 hours in advance.
Antigua Tours
All Antigua Tours
Audio Guides
Likely To Sell Out
Private and Luxury
  • 10 hours (approx.)
  • Hotel pickup offered
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English

Overview

Spend the day discovering the gorgeous Lake Atitlán, along with the picturesque villages that line its shore, during this 10-hour sightseeing excursion from Antigua. Take in breathtaking views of this mountain lake, its southern shore ringed by volcanoes, as you visit the town Panjachel and take a boat cruise to the hamlet of Santiago de Atitlán. This Lake Atitlán adventure finishes with time for browsing the handicraft stands and businesses along Panjachel’s Santander Street. Your tour also includes a guide and round-trip transportation from your Antigua hotel.
  • Sightseeing cruise on Lago de Atitlán including transportation from Antigua
  • Admire the lake’s stunning volcanic scenery from the boat
  • Cruise across the lake to the Tzutujil village of Santiago de Atitlán.
  • Walk along Santander street in Panajachel with your local guide
  • Complimentary hotel pickup and drop-off

What's Included

  • Professional guide
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Boat sightseeing cruise
  • Food and drinks
  • Gratuities

Meeting And Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

07:30 am

Pickup details

Pick up time will be within 15 minutes of the established departure time in your confirmation.

What To Expect

Explore the stunning environs of Lake Atitlán, a serene body of water ringed by towering volcanoes and idyllic villages, as you visit the towns of Panjachel and Santiago de Atitlán. Best of all, you’ll get to see this natural wonder by boat, the best vantage point of all, as you take a scenic water cruise between the two cities.

Start your trip with a pickup at 8am from your Antigua hotel, continuing with your guide to the town of Panjachel along the shores of Lake Atitlán. Upon your arrival at Panjachel, transfer to a boat for a sightseeing cruise of the incredible scenery visible on this amazing lake. Lake Atitlán, or Lago de Atitlán as locals call it, was formed by the eruption of the massive Los Chocoyos volcano thousands of years ago. In the many eons that have passed since this momentous event, several 9,000-plus-foot (3,000m) volcanoes such as Volcan San Pedro, Volcan Atitlán and Volcan Toliman have all risen up around its shores, lending the lake its stunning scenery.

Soon you’ll arrive at the colorful town of Santiago de Atitlán, home to the Tzutujil Maya people. Observe the unique way of life of the local residents, and take some time to browse the main street stores selling oil paintings, woven baskets and more before re-boarding your boat for the sightseeing trip back to Panjachel.

Once you’ve arrived in Panjachel, check out the village’s intriguing Santander Street, where you can shop for handmade crafts before stopping for lunch (at your own expense) at a nearby restaurant. Take time for some more shopping if you wish after lunch, before heading back to Antigua to conclude your day with drop-off at your hotel.

Lago de Atitlan

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Volcan San Pedro (Pass By)

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • Stroller accessible
  • Infants must sit on laps
  • Most travellers can participate
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 12 travellers
Operated by Guatemalan Adventure

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

  • For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
  • If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
  • Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
  • Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveller Photos

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Reviews
4.5
60 reviews
Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
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Reviews by Viator travellers.
Showing 1-10 of 60 reviews
Beyond my wildest imagination.
Brian_B, Mar 2023
The mountains and valleys to the lake were breathtakingly. The lake made me speechless in how humongous it is. With the clouds, it was difficult to the see the other side of the lake, so it felt like a sea or ocean. Amazing friendly people in the towns we visited by boat.
Beautiful but needed more time
Giovanna_I, Feb 2023
The lake was beautiful but it was too far for only 3 hours that we spent there. The tour guy was rushing
Okay only if short on time or not SOLO due to charging double the price for being Solo
Mellissa_K, Jan 2023
First, I want to say that as a SOLO traveler Viator charged me double the price. I don’t understand how this is fair if I’m not the ONLY person on this tour or even if I am, it’s not cool. So be aware solo travelers, this “cruise” is NOT worth it for double the price, BUT if you are a group if may be worth the price if you are short on time and would like to pass through Lake Atitlan/San Juan for one day not Santiago de Atitlan as per the description. Our guide was Oscar who was very knowledgeable & safely navigated the roads to and from Antigua. The drive takes the entire say, about 4-5 hours to Panajachel then to brief boat ride to San Jan. You will spend the majority of this 12 hour tour in the car. Pros: Beautiful along the lake and ride there, You visit the colorful town of San Jan & learn about their culture, how clothing is made from cotton in pure form, how chocolate is made, and also about plants used for medicinal purposes. Very fun, informative, & very interactive. This was my favorite part. Oscar stopped at pre-selected place for breakfast. Cons: Tour is supposed to be in English. I had two Spanish speaking ppl also along tour and Oscar initially did his best to speak English to me & translate on the other stops. However, in my opinion didn’t take initiate to translate for me on several occasions in San Juan on the cultural tours leaving me feeling a little isolated especially since I paid double what everyone else paid. There is very little time for browsing stores for food or souvenirs (although Oscar asked our group of 3 did we want to, but I got the idea that this wasn’t ideal for staying on scheduled time frame). Boat ride is nice, but don’t expect anything fancy and if you’re easily sea sick might want to rethink it. This was not a cruise, Its about 20-25min ride across the lake to San Juan there and back (although really gorgeous views/scenery). Oscar also stopped for dinner which I think takes away an hour of your time. Will you be hungry? yes, but Antigua is only an hour away at this point. I would have rather kept going back to Antigua instead of having dinner at the same place we had for breakfast which ending up. I recommend suggesting a group vote to see who wants to have dinner and who would rather keep going. Wear comfortable shoes, Bring water, snacks, sunscreen, and a hat. Again, if traveling solo, would not recommend as this tour wastes an entire day.
Perfect excursion!
Joan_J, Jan 2023
Beautiful sites, superb tour guide, interesting artisan demonstrations! Oscar was the perfect host - so knowledgeable and gracious. What a wonderful experience!
Davis is wonderful tour...
Adnan_A, Jan 2023
Davis is wonderful tour guide. Very knowledgeable and friendly. We had a great time. Highly recommend
Our guide was wonderful....
RamRang_K, Dec 2022
Our guide was wonderful. He was well informed about the history of Guatemala and its people. We enjoyed the boat ride across Lake Atitlan, our visit to the town, and our meals in the restaurants we stopped at.
Book it.
Julienne_P, Nov 2022
We had an amazing experience. We got to learn about the people and culture on the island of San Juan. Our tour guide was very informative and patient with us.
Our guide was great!!!...
Damien_G, Oct 2022
Our guide was great!!! Very knowledgeable of the area and history. We loved the honey and coffee tour and great pictures
Lake Life For A Day
Kai_H, July 2022
Incredible! My guide was phenomenal. It was just the two of us and he was so kind, knowledgeable, and interesting. The Lake is beautiful, and the towns are charming.
Experience was far from description
Andrea_B, June 2022
If you are looking for a private tour that is highly scheduled without free time to explore on your own or choose your own restaurants, this is a good choice for you. We were disappointed as that is not the experience we were looking for and the tour did not match the description. Here are a few examples: 1. We did not know it was a private tour, as that was not clearly labeled in the description on the website. The guide and driver picked us up and we were confused about why it was just us. 2. The description states we would go to Santiago de Atitlán. We were instead taken to San Juan, because "I could get more for you there," said our tour guide. This ended up meaning that she took us to four stores, back-to-back, each with a 5-10 minute demonstration of what they had for us to purchase. It was clear we could have walked into each of these stores on our own and asked for the demonstration if we wanted it. San Juan seemed like it would have been interesting to explore more ourselves, but we were unable to. We did not end up seeing Santiago de Atitlán. 3. We asked for time to rest and sit down to take in the views of the lake and our guide was annoyed with us and said we had to go to the last "tour" she had "set up." 4. She did not ask us about our food preferences and did not give us an option for breakfast or lunch. Breakfast is understandable because we were on the drive from Antigua to Atitlán, but lunch is disappointing as we weren't able to choose ourselves from the wide variety of option available in Panajachel. 5. Because she so tightly booked the day, we had no free time to explore in Panajachel, either (as the descriptions states we would have been). This was very disappointing. What is most disappointing about this day is that she treated us like unexperienced tourists that wanted her with us every second. We feel like we were babysat all day. We had no time to ourselves, including at breakfast and lunch when she sat with us. We had absolutely no time to explore on our own at any location. If that is the type of tour you like, then this will be great. For us, it was very far from how we prefer to travel and what we thought we had signed up for based on the description.
Stunned by the beauty of the lake
Viviana_M, June 2022
Excellent service, the boat ride in the lake was absolutely stunning, Mikor was super friendly. The visit to the towns was brief but not rushed. There's not much time for eating until the last part of the tour so make sure you bring snacks if you want to eat something on the way and make sure you have had breakfast before they pick you up. Overall a highly recommendable tour.
A mandatory experience
Anya_K, Mar 2022
The most memorable part for me was seeing all the indigenous people and learning about how they make textiles and weave scarves.
Great tour & guide!
Cassalynn_G, Mar 2022
Fantastic tour! Gustavo was a really great guide. Thanks for a great time, Gustavo! While the drive from Antigua is a bit long, we're glad we went and experienced Lake Atitlan. There were a lot of unexpected surprises during the tour.
A WOW Trip from Start to Finish
Mary_M, Mar 2022
My driver, tour guide and boat pilot were pleasant, courteous, helpful and professional 100% of the time...
Title is a bit misleading
Colby_R, June 2021
Was not really a cruise, it was just a small transport boat speeding across the lake to a little town for a walking tour. Lake was nice and the guide was very knowledgeable. Drive from Antigua to Atitlan was pretty long and took up most of the day though.
Very nice excursion
Michelle_D, Mar 2021
Miguel was a great guide and driver. He was on time, patient, informative, helpful and caring. The lake is very scenic and we had the choice of what area we wanted to visit. There was a steep uphill walk with the kids but we were able to go at our own pace. Boat ride back was bumpy and the engine cut off close to end. Not too traumatic. The people were friendly and we got a few souvenirs.
Awesome Tour!
Veronica_K, Feb 2020
This tour was everything I wanted! The boat ride alone was AMAZING and worth it! My cousin and I had a blast! I totally recommend this tour and our guide Luiz was awesome and very knowledgeable. Totally recommend this tour.
Absolutely not worth your time...
Debby K, Mar 2018
Absolutely not worth your time. Driver came one hour to late without any notice but that can happen - however the lake itself is nice but not amazing and certainly not worth the 2,5 hour up and back. The places you visit are really but really just one big tourist market and you learn or see almost nothing about the live of the people and their culture. There are really much better and nicer things to do in and around Antigua
Very professional tour host, on time...
Jacinta_A, Sept 2017
Very professional tour host, on time pick up and drop off to hotel. This is a very long day for just a day trip to Lake Atitlan...so if you're pressed for time like I was, this trip is for you. Major highlights would be to visit with Maximon, walking through the art areas, boat ride on the lake.
This tour was was one of, if not...
Jeffrey V, Sept 2017
This tour was was one of, if not the, highlight of our trip to Guatemala. Our guide, Miguel, was very knowledgable, particularly about history as well as friendly and helpful. The lake is incredible and the town of San Juan is definitely worth a visit for the indigenous cloth, crafts, and art.

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