North America : Central America : Guatemala : Central Highlands

Central Highlands (Guatemala)

Table of Contents:
Regions / Cities / Other destinations / Culture and History / Talk / Travel to Central Highlands (Guatemala), visa requirements / Get around / Central Highlands (Guatemala) attractions and sightseeing / City tours / Good restaurants and cheap meals / Central Highlands (Guatemala) nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs. / Stay safe / Get out

More from Guatemala:
Almolonga, Alta Verapaz, Antigua (Guatemala), Caribbean Coast, Central Highlands (Guatemala), Chichicastenango, El Mirador, El Peru, El Progreso, Iximche, Izabal, Monterrico, Nakúm, Quetzaltenango, Quetzaltenango (department), Santiago Atitlán, Sayaxché, Western Highlands

More from Central America:
Belize, Clipperton Island, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama

More from North America:
Canada, Caribbean, Cascade Mountains, Central America, Great Lakes, Greenland, Mexico, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, United States of America, Waterton Glacier International Peace Park

The Central Highlands are the region around Guatemala City in Guatemala.

Regions

Cities

Guatemala City

The Guatemalan capital, Guatemala City is a center of indsutry and commerce. There aren't much attractions for tourists but visiting the museums and exploring the local markets aren't such a bad idea.

La Antigua Guatemala

It is a very different city in comparison to Guatemala City. It's quiet and filled with spectacular colonial buildings with lots of international flavor as well. This is the place where great majority of travelers choose to base themselves in Guatemala.

Other destinations

The countryside around Antigua and Guatemala City is a spectacular landscape of volcanoes, forests of pines, meadows, corn fields and coffee plantations with occasional villages. It is well-worth a visit. Looming over the capital is the Pacaya volcano which is one of the most active volcanoes throughout Central and South Americas.

Culture and History

Most well beaten path travelers opt to head straight to Antigua, mistakenly thinking that Guatemala City is entirely some sort of hell hole.

Talk

Travel to Central Highlands (Guatemala), visa requirements

If you are arriving by air, you will be coming in from Aurora International Airport. Since 2005, it's under-construction for its remodeling project which was about time since the airport looked very outdated in comparison to other Central American countries. To move on from the airport, you can either take scheduled shuttle buses to Antigua or taxis from outside of the terminal.

Get around

Guate City buses cost 1 Quetzal as of early 2007 and they offer a good way of getting around if you aren't heading through outlying slums.

Central Highlands (Guatemala) attractions and sightseeing

City tours

Since Guatemala's governamental system is centralized in Guatemala City, many national and international non-governamental organizations are based on the capital city as well. There are numerous foreign NGOs in Antigua also since Antigua is a hub of foreign volunteers. See those articles for information on volunteer opportunties.

Good restaurants and cheap meals

Given the opportunity, most Guatemalans would opt for something besides the usual corn and beans with some occasional meat of some sort. Don't expect great cuisine there, but the food can be quite good.

Central Highlands (Guatemala) nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs.

Stay safe

Guatemala City has rather alarming rate of crime in some areas. Stay out of trouble by using plenty of common sense. In Zone 1, after dark, walk directly to places you want to go and know where you are going. In the Zona Viva (Zone 10), follow normal precautions anytime, including after dark. Don't get drunk in any of the nightclubs and then stagger back to your hotel. THAT could attract a would be robber there.