Head to shore and experience the beauty and wonder of colonial Antigua on a tour of this historic city. Your friendly guide will lead you on a memorable shore excursion walking tour that includes visits to some of the city’s most famous highlights, like La Merced Church, as well as expert commentary and local insights.

Full-day Puerto Quetzal shore excursion to Antigua Guatemala
Explore Antigua’s top landmarks on a walking tour, including Santa Catalina Arch and colonial churches
Hear commentary about the history of the former capital from your guide
Enjoy free time to explore the town
Port pickup and drop-off included
Covered by Viator's worry-free policy: guaranteed on-time return to your ship

What's Included

Local guide
Port pickup and drop-off
Worry-free shore excursion guarantee

Gratuities
Beverages

Meeting And Pickup

You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup

Meeting point

Puerto Quetzal
Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

07:30 am

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Wander the cobblestone streets and pass under the iconic 17th-century Santa Catalina Arch during your full-day sightseeing adventure. You’ll enjoy a round-trip transportation from your cruise terminal.

This memorable shore excursion takes you back in time on a Colonial Antigua tour. Meet your driver at the Puerto Quetzal cruise port and head to the old Guatemala City—now known as Antigua—for a tour of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Marvel at the Spanish colonial architecture and old world charm of this truly picturesque town.

Your friendly and knowledgeable guide will meet you upon arrival and take you on a memorable walking tour of the city’s cobblestone streets past all of the architectural highlights, including local churches, municipal buildings and town squares.

Puerto Quetzal

You will be met at the cruise pier where you will be picked up and transferred to Antigua Guatemala. Here you will meet your guide.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Antigua Guatemala

Antigua Guatemala is outstanding and the best-preserved colonial city in Latin America. Tourists visit Antigua Guatemala every year from around the world to enjoy its natural beauty and historic monuments. The Spanish Colonial style permeates every part of the town: its houses, churches, squares, parks and ruins, also its traditions and folklore as well. Antigua is a city of charm and color where you can see and buy an overwhelming variety of attractive, handmade products that honor the traditions of generations of artisans. We start with a 3-hour walking tour with a visit to La Merced Church - one of the most important churches in Antigua. We will also explore one of the distinguishable landmarks in Antigua Guatemala, Santa Catalina Arch. Built in the 17th century, originally it was connected to the convent of Santa Catalina, allowing the cloistered nuns to pass from one building to the other without going out on the street. Next on the itinerary we will walk through Central Park to appreciate the The Cathedral of San Jose - Roman Catholic church in Antigua Guatemala. The original church was built around 1541, but suffered several earthquakes throughout its history, and the first church building was demolished in 1669, The cathedral was rebuilt and consecrated in 1680. By 1743 the cathedral was one of the largest in Central America. We will continue to a Jade Factory where you can appreciate the sacred stone of the Mayan civilization.

3 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Minimum 2 passengers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund
Not wheelchair accessible
Infants must sit on laps
All departure times are based on the GUATEMALA LOCAL time. Ships sometimes do not adjust their clocks to the local time in port, so it is very important to make sure you meet your tour at the correct local time.

Please search for the Gray Line representative , we will be outside with our Gray Line Logo.
To find pictures of our experiences, search us on Instagram as @graylinetoursgt
Most travellers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travellers

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

Reviews

4.5

17 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-10 of 17 reviews

Great overview of Antigua

Tammy_K, Jan 2023

We had a great guide who spoke good English and was very knowledgeable about Antigua. It was a beautiful day in a beautiful city!

Well organized excursion

Raina_H, Feb 2020

We were picked up at Puerto Queztal, Guatemala, for an excursion to Antigua. It turned out to be a small group of about 11 from the cruise ship. The guide gave us information during the 1-1/2 hour trip about that part of Guatemala, and showed us different places of interest in that historical town. Even though we were taken to a jade factory, there was no real pressure to buy. Lunch at a local restaurant was included. Afterwards we were taken back to the port in good time.

Tour Left Without Us

Karen_N, Jan 2020

When we booked this tour I told the company that our ship did not dock until 8:00 am and that it would take some time to get off the ship. At 8:20 someone from Viator called me on my cell phone to ask me where I was. I told them that we weren't allowed to disembark yet. She said that everyone else had and didn't know why my group wasn't there. Turns out she had us disembarking off of a Azamara ship and not Oceania. When we got to shore Viator scrambled around trying to figure out what was going on. They finally put us on another tour and off we went. The condition of the van was abysmal and several people complained about the lack of suspension on the car and the driver's competence in navigating the pot holes. My husband's back went out because of it and when he complained, Viator sent another newer van for the trip back. The tour guide was great and very knowledgeable. The only thing was that he did not wait for the older, slower people to catch up on the walking tour. I would not recommend this tour company.

Response from Host, Jan 2020

Dear Karen Thank you for having booked with us, let me tell you that we never received the information that you came on the Ocenia cruise that was the reason the first group left, the road condition is something out of our control.

Well planned and the food was delicious.

Stephen_R, Nov 2019

We loved our guide. He was well informed about the country and showed us so many great things. The lunch was in the neatest restaurant and the food was delicious. We loved it.

Response from Host, Dec 2019

Dear Robinson Thank you for having booked with us and for takes the time to share your experience with us!!

Great tour!

Linda_H, Mar 2019

We enjoyed this tour very much. Our tour guide, Celestino was very knowledgeable and pleasant. The bus trip was nice with only 20 guests onboard. The city of Antigua was lined with cobble stone streets and beautiful old churches. A quaint town with a lot of history. We are older and was afraid that a long walking tour might be overwhelming but it wasn’t at all. The jade factory was nice if you like jewelry etc.. Many Street vendors selling their wares which by the way are much less than the shops by the ship. We had a delicious lunch with many options to choose from. We chose the chicken with a green tomato and cilantro sauce which started off with a green salad, then the chicken (whole breast or leg and thigh) with green sauce, rice and vegetables along with freshly made hot corn tortillas. They even let us hand make a tortilla if we wanted too! We would definitely recommend this tour!

Tour guide was EXCELLENT! We highly...

brojo294, Feb 2018

Tour guide was EXCELLENT! We highly recommend this tour!

Great excursion. We booked this tour...

Vivian M, May 2017

Great excursion. We booked this tour before our cruise. Very good value. We enjoyed our guide Juan Pablo. He was knowledgeable and very patient with our group. We had lunch at a very nice restaurant but we were not impressed with the limited menu of two choices for our group. The beet enchiladas were not a big hit. The other choice was much better. I would recommend this tour.

Antigua was A very amazing city but you...

peggi_g, Apr 2017

Antigua was A very amazing city but you need a tour guide as it's a1.5 hours from cruise port. Our guide was Willy he did a great job. Explained about the country and showed us a lot of things, Antigua is a very historic city that seems lost in time a lot of things are untouched. There is a lot of poverty here so be prepared to say no thank you as they will not leave you alone. We would use vivator again on a cruise excursion they were great

Awesome tour through the old city, lots...

Lydia S, Feb 2017

Awesome tour through the old city, lots of cobblestone streets, a church hundreds of years old, the jade factory was great and of course we bought jewelry, love my jade cross. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable on the places we visited, rich in history.

Excellent tour. Jose was an excellent...

Grahame W, May 2015

Excellent tour. Jose was an excellent guide, was waiting for us when we came to the pier. Hot springs was fantastic, but not enough time there. Lunch was delicious.

Our tour guide Jose was waiting on the...

Susan M, May 2015

Our tour guide Jose was waiting on the pier with a sign showing the names of people on the tour very easy to find him. We had a comfortable, informative ride to Antigua, then a nice walking tour with brief stops for photos. On to the spa for an excellent lunch and time in the thermal pools. Overall, great value and interesting guide. I would recommend.

Jose was very knowledgeable I just wish...

442dude, May 2015

Jose was very knowledgeable I just wish we had more time at spa would have got message .

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