Guatemala Travel Guide: Top Attractions

Here, at a glance, are some recommendations to help you plan your journey.

1. Guatemala City

Guatemala's capital has an undeniable energy and some top museums, even if it is not the most graceful city. 

2. Antigua

Serene, civilized Antigua Guatemala, the former capital, is the most beautiful city in the entire Maya region. 

3.The Western Highlands

The rugged mountain scenery and the absorbing Maya culture alive in the western highlands are the apex of most visitors' experience in Guatemala. 

4. The Pacific Coast

The Pacific coast does not have the beaches to compete with the Yucatán, but it does have some surf, nature reserves, and a few unusual archaeological sites. 

5. The East

Eastern Guatemala only attracts a slim slice of the country's burgeoning tourist industry – most visitors hurry through on their way to the ruins of Petén or Copán, just over the Honduran border. 

6. Petén

Between 750 BC and around AD 900, arguably the greatest of all pre-Columbian cultures, the Maya civilization, evolved, excelled, and ultimately collapsed in the lowland subtropical forests of what is now northern Guatemala. 

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