WONDERS OF GUATEMALA

After breakfast, you will be transferred to the city of Chichicastenango to visit the most colorful and picturesque Indian open-air market in the country. Hundreds of Indians from the surrounding countryside gather to barter their goods and products. Also, witness the captivating religious ceremonies held on the steps and inside the 400-year old Church of Santo Tomás. (B)

Have breakfast at your hotel before heading out to visit Sololá Market, an authentic indigenous market where men and women wearing typical clothing from the distinctive surrounding villages make it even more colorful. Today, Sololá is still one of the few villages from the highlands where people proudly wear traditional clothes that portray their social and economic status and position in the civil and religious hierarchies. Then you will be transferred to Lake Atitlán, one of the most beautiful in the world with its crystalline-azure waters in the crater bowl below. Atitlán is the ideal place to learn more about Guatemalan folklore. Twelve Indian villages surround the Lake, and their inhabitants are descendants from the great Quiché, Cackchiquel, and Tzutuhil nations. (B)

Right after breakfast you will board a motor launch to cross Lake Atitlán to the picturesque Indian village of Santiago Atitlán, one of the twelve lake-shore villages. Enjoy this bustling Indian community where weavers work colorful textiles. In the afternoon, transfer to Antigua, the most important and enchanting city of colonial Guatemala. Founded by the Spaniards in 1543, nowadays Antigua is a beautiful blend of ruins, restored colonial buildings, and new buildings in colonial style. It was declared a “Monument of America” in 1965. (B)

This morning you will be picked up at your hotel for your Guatemala sightseeing. Visit the Central Plaza, that is surrounded by the antique Cathedral, the Municipal Government Building, the Palace of the Captains General, colonial churches and monasteries, and a jade factory where this stone is worked into beautiful jewelry. In the afternoon, transfer to Guatemala City. (B)

Today you will go back more than 2,000 years in time when you visit Tikal National Park. Early this morning, you will be transferred to the airport to board a flight to Flores, Petén. From there, you will be taken to the Mayan City of Tikal, located in the center of the National Park that bears its name and extends out 222 square miles. Tikal was inhabited from 600 BC until 869 AD. Visit the Twin-Pyramid Complexes “Q” and “R,” and the Lost World Complex where the Great Pyramid and Temple 5C-49 are the most important. Also, visit Temple III and the Palace of the Windows, the Great Plaza – squared off with the pyramids of the Grand Jaguar and the Masks, the Palace of the Nobles, and Pyramid IV. From its peak, a complete view of Tikal and its surrounding jungle can be enjoyed. In the afternoon, transfer to the airport for your flight back to Guatemala City. (B,L)

Transfer to Guatemala International airport to board your flight home. (B)