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Hiking up active volcanoes, strolling through the charming cobblestone streets or touring a local coffee farm, there are so many great things to do in Antigua Guatemala.
This gorgeous colonial city is one of my favourites in the region, and after spending almost two weeks exploring Antigua and its surroundings, we totally understand the hype.
You could spend days just walking around the small city centre and still not discover all the beautiful churches, crumbling ruins, aesthetic cafes or rooftop terraces.
If cities aren’t your thing, fear not! There are plenty of other active, outdoor adventures to complement your time, like hiking the famous Acatenango Volcano or stepping into Middle Earth at Hobbitenango.
To make this list more digestible, I’ve broken it up into three sections:
- Sightseeing in Antigua – which covers most of the churches, ruins and other historic buildings to explore in the city centre
- Other activities in central Antigua – like food tours or short walks
- Day trips from Antigua – to explore the surrounding area.
Planning a trip to Antigua
STOP! Before you keep reading this list of things to do in Antigua Guatemala, I’d recommend reading our Antigua travel guide first. It covers all the other important info you need to know about the city, like getting there, getting around and other handy tips to get your bearings.
OUR ANTIGUA TRAVEL GUIDES ⛪️☕️🌋
Sightseeing in Antigua
1. Join a walking tour
The first thing we did in Antigua was join a walking tour.
I never expect walking tours to be my only time exploring a city, but I think they are fantastic as a first walkthrough of a city and a great way to get your bearings.
There are dozens of paid and free walking tours in Antigua, but any of them will give you a good overview of the history of the city, pass by the key sites, and share some good cultural insights and tips for where to go back to.
Over the next couple of days, we did our own walking tours, retracing our steps with more free time to go inside some of the sites (most tours only pass by the outside of attractions), take photos, read signs and focus more on the places we were interested in.
Best walking tours in Antigua 👣
- Walk Antigua Like a Local (paid walking tour)
- Walking Tour of the City of Antigua (free walking tour, please tip)
- Niños de Guatemala Walking Tour (paid walking tour, run by a local non-profit)
The following attractions on this list are some of the major sights I think you should see around the city centre of Antigua. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of churches, ruins, convents, universities and other noteworthy buildings to see, but I’ve specifically highlighted the most significant.
I’ve pinned them all, plus a few other smaller sites, on my Guatemala Google Map in an ‘Antigua Sightseeing’ layer that you can toggle off and on, so you can plan your own mini-walking tour after you’ve done one with a guide.
2. Parque Central
Antigua’s Central Park is the beating heart of the city. A popular place for locals and tourists alike, this leafy plaza offers prime people-watching opportunities and is a hive of activity all day and night.
Maya women from neighbouring villages dressed in their colourful garb sell textiles and trinkets, while young guys push around wheelbarrows of nuts, and children giggle as they chase each other around the central fountain.
Like most parks in Latin America, it is surrounded by important government buildings like the city hall, Palacio del Ayuntamiento. We didn’t go inside but admired the double-storey colonial building from afar.
Need to know
- ⏰ Hours: 24/7
- 💰 Cost: free
3. Palacio de los Capitanes Generales
This grand building occupying the southern side of the plaza was once the headquarters for all of Central America when Antigua was the capital of the new Spanish territory.
Today it houses the Museo Nacional de Arte de Guatemala. It’s free to enter, and access is via 5a Avenida Sur. There are some great exhibitions of both contemporary art and Mayan artefacts.
We’re not particularly interested in art, but it’s worth going inside to get onto the balcony overlooking Parque Central and the Catedral. There is also a lovely courtyard with amazing views of all three volcanoes.
Need to know
- ⏰ Hours: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm Tuesday – Sunday (closed Monday)
- 💰 Cost: free
4. Catedral San Jose / Ruinas de la Catedral
Sometimes called the Catedral de Santiago, there are two parts to Antigua’s main cathedral: the old and the new.
The majority of the cathedral was destroyed in the earthquakes of 1773 that tore down most of the city. It has been partially rebuilt, and the new cathedral is the ornate white structure you see adjacent to the plaza. It’s pretty, but it’s just like any other cathedral in the region.
The best part is the ruinas. It’s possible to walk through the remnants of the old cathedral, brought crumbling to the ground by the earthquake. There is no roof on the structure, with gaping round holes where domes once stood. There are huge pillars in piles on the ground, with pigeons taking residence in the stones and weeds growing in the cracked concrete.
It was really eerie, but I loved wandering around and seeing the curved lines of the open roof against the vibrant blue sky. It’s a fantastic place for photos. You can also walk down into the remains of two underground crypts.
Need to know
- ⏰ Hours: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm daily
- 💰 Cost: 20Q (ruins) | free (church)
5. Arco de Santa Catalina
The most famous image of Antigua, the yellow arch of Santa Catalina perfectly frames Volcan Agua with a backdrop of cobblestone streets and pastel colonial buildings.
The arch was built so that nuns from the Santa Catalina Convent could cross the street without being seen.
It’s a popular place for a photo opp, so don’t be expecting a shot without the crowds. Early in the morning is your best bet, but it’s rarely empty.
Standing on the northern side of the arch gives you a view back to the volcano, but don’t forget to look from the south side too. It’s still a pretty shot and in the morning the lighting is actually better that way.
Need to know
- ⏰ Hours: 24/7
- 💰 Cost: free
6. Iglesia de La Merced
This has to be one of the prettiest and most ornate churches I’ve ever seen! La Merced is a complex with a functioning church as well as the ruins of a convent.
The building is a soft, pastel yellow adorned with white filigree. You can go inside the church for free, but you can also pay 35Q to enter the ruins of the convent and go up to the rooftop for some incredible views of the city, the Santa Catalina Arch and the volcanoes.
Surrounding the church is the Parque Merced, a small plaza that’s usually full of street food stalls and vendors selling all kinds of yummy snacks.
Need to know
- ⏰ Hours: 6:00 am – 12:00 pm & 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm daily (church) | 8:30 am – 5:45 pm daily (convent)
- 💰 Cost: free (church) | 35Q (convent)
7. Tanque La Unión and Parque Union
This isn’t featured on every list of sights in Antigua, but it was one of my favourite parts of the city. We stayed just outside the centre to the south, so we walked past this area every day.
Tanque la Unión is a historic communal laundry area, and you can see the old troughs where people would have come to wash their clothes.
My favourite part was the adjacent park. It’s only small, but it’s got a row of huge palm trees and was constantly filled with locals lazing on the grass, couples catching up and friends gossiping. It was such a lovely vibe.
Make sure you check out Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro while you’re here. It’s another striking yellow church, similar to La Merced.
Need to know
- ⏰ Hours: 24/7
- 💰 Cost: free
8. Convento Santa Clara
One of the more expensive ruins to visit in Antigua, the Santa Clara Convent suffered the same fate after the earthquake of 1773 as many of the buildings in the city. It’s not all ruined though, with some key structural pieces and architectural features remaining.
The grounds were really lovely to wander around with some pretty gardens and amazing views. It was very peaceful and felt like a refuge from the bustling city.
We were lucky enough to see a wedding going on. It was so dreamy, I want to get married in an old convent!
Need to know
- ⏰ Hours: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm daily
- 💰 Cost: 40Q
9. Iglesia de San Francisco
Tucked away behind high stone walls is the sprawling San Francisco complex. Housing a working church, the ruins of a monastery and a small museum, this place is much bigger than it looks from the outside.
The complex has the tomb of Hermano Pedro de San José de Bethancourt, a Franciscan monk who started a hospital for the poor in Antigua. He was made the first saint in Central America, and today locals still come to pray at his tomb for health and healing. The whole area is always busy with locals and it’s a hive of activity with lots of food stalls and vendors in the courtyard.
You can enter the church for free if there is space and there isn’t a service going on, but it’s 40Q to enter the museum and monastery area. From memory they wanted foreigners to pay in USD which was strange, I’m not sure if they still do this.
We opted against it and still felt we got a decent look at the grounds without actually going in.
Need to know
- ⏰ Hours: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm daily
- 💰 Cost: 40Q (museum/monastery)
10. Casa Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo is an Antigua institution. The sprawling grounds of this ruined church and convent have been turned into one of the city’s best 5-star hotels.
Whether you treat yourself to a night here or not, this is still somewhere you want to visit during your time in Antigua. The complex is huge and there is a lot to see and do.
Depending on your time, budget and interests, there are a number of ways you can experience Casa Santo Domingo:
- 👣 Stroll around the public grounds
- 🎨 Visit the eight museums and galleries (55Q)
- 🏛️ Stroll the archaeological site (included in the museum price)
- 🍳 Have a meal or Sunday brunch in the restaurant
- 🛏️ Stay in the hotel
- 💆🏼♀️ Book a massage
- 🧖🏽♀️ Buy a spa day pass to enjoy the hot tubs, saunas and private pools
We would have loved to book a spa pass and massage here post-Acatanengo hike, but as I mentioned we unfortunately weren’t able to do the hike (twice!) so we saved our pretty pennies and just had a quick wander around the grounds. I’m not sure if we were technically allowed to, but no one seemed to mind!
I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to stay here, it’s one of the best boutique hotels in Antigua. Santo Domingo is truly a living piece of history, with archaeological remnants at every corner and the most charming vibe.
Need to know
- ⏰ Hours: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm Monday – Saturday, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm Sunday (museums)
- 💰 Cost: 55Q (museums)
11. Ruinas de La Recoleccion
I know by now you’re probably thinking not another set of ruins, but this one was really cool! La Recoleccion had a short but interesting life as a monastery before it was toppled by the great earthquake.
It’s one of the only ruins in the city that hasn’t had any restoration work. It’s been left almost exactly how it was hundreds of years ago. Today you can wander around the rubble, with huge pillars of stone lying in piles on the ground. We loved scrambling up and over the giant boulders.
There is also a really nice lawn area here, which was a lovely spot to spend a few hours reading and resting after wandering around the city. It’s located in the far west of the centre, and I’d suggest grabbing a snack or drink from the Mercado Central on the way to enjoy on the grass.
Need to know
- ⏰ Hours: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm daily
- 💰 Cost: 40Q
Other historic buildings and ruins to explore 🏛️
- Museo de Arte Colonial (Universidad Pontificia de San Carlos)
- Antiguo Colegio de la Compañía de Jesús
- Convento Capuchinas
- Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de El Carmen
- Ermita San Jerónimo
- Iglesia San José El Viejo
12. Wander aimlessly
Don’t put the next historic building in your map and beeline straight there with your head down. Antigua is a gorgeous city, and there’s beauty at every turn.
I fell in love with every streetscape with the brightly painted buildings, window boxes filled with flowers, crumbling ruins and cobblestone streets. At every turn you catch a glimpse of the looming volcanoes puffing out smoke and ash, I was pinching myself – it doesn’t feel real!
So just take it slow, wander up and down the grid of streets multiple times with your eyes open and camera out and see what you can find. I think this is the best way to see a city or town, and we loved doing the same thing in Flores Island.
Other activities in central Antigua
13. Hike up Cerro de la Cruz
Cerro de la Cruz (Hill of the Cross) is a lookout above the city with a perfect framing of central Antigua against the looming Volcan Agua.
It’s a lovely spot to enjoy the sunset and golden hour when the soft light illuminates the volcano.
The trail is at the northern end of town and it takes about 15 – 20 minutes to walk up a few hundred stairs through a nice little forest.
Many years ago there were reports of robberies on the trail, but there are now police stationed there most days and we didn’t have any concerns. I’ve checked the most recent reviews too, and this doesn’t seem to be an issue at all anymore. I wouldn’t hang around up there in the dark but we felt totally comfortable going up for sunset and walking down at dusk. There were lots of tourists and local families there and it felt safe.
14. Get gastronomic on a food tour
Antigua is a gastronomic delight! There are hundreds of cafes, restaurants and bars packed into this small city and it can be overwhelming to know where to start, and which places to choose for the limited number of meals you have in Antigua.
My tip? Ask the locals! Taking a food tour is my favourite way to find the best places to eat and drink in a new city. There are tours that focus specifically on local Guatemalan cuisine, and others on the city’s dining scene more broadly, highlighting the diversity of cuisines available.
I’d highly recommend doing a food tour on day 1 in Antigua, so you get all the tips from your guide and go back to the places that you love.
Top food tours in Antigua 🌮
- The Antigua Foodie Tour: showcasing Antigua’s amazing foodie scene, with 10+ stops around the city centre, highlighting the diverse types of cuisines and foods available. Hidden rooftops, leafy courtyards, tasty sweets – you’ll sample it all on this tour!
- Street Food Evening Tour: if you want to learn and sample typical Guatemalan cuisine, this tour is for you! With a focus on street food and small comedores, you’ll visit local spots in and around Antigua, venturing out of the touristy centre to where the locals eat!
15. Cook up a storm in a cooking class
If you love cooking as much as you love eating, join a cooking class in Antigua.
I’ll admit, I’m not much of a chef, but Brayden is an amazing cook and he loves learning how to make all the local dishes we enjoy while we travel, so we can recreate them at home.
Some tours focus solely on cooking, but my advice would be to join one that also visits the market. Markets can be overwhelming and intimidating as a tourist, not knowing exactly what you’re looking at. You learn so much and get so much more out of the visit going with a local.
Top cooking classes in Antigua 👩🏽🍳
- Guatemalan Cooking Class and Market Tour: there is nothing better than visiting a local market when you’ve got a local guide next to you explaining the exotic fruits, huge bags of different grains and seeds and all the different types of cheeses, meats and sauces you’re seeing. Once you’ve been to the market and bought fresh ingredients, you’ll cook a traditional Guatemalan feast!
- De La Gente Cooking Class: the wonderful not-for-profit that runs coffee tours, also offers cooking classes with the wives and daughters of coffee farmers. Working with women in the local community of San Miguel Escobar, you’ll cook the classic Guatemalan dish, pepián, in your chef’s home. It’s an authentic and immersive experience that provides another revenue stream to coffee-farming families around Antigua.
- Authentic Guatemalan Cooking Class in Antigua: join expert chefs at a cooking school in Jocotenango village just outside central Antigua. You’ll prepare some typical Guatemalan dishes while sipping on a glass of wine, and enjoy them on the rooftop terrace overlooking Volcan Agua!
16. DIY bar hop
One of the funnest nights we had in Antigua was when we created our own mini bar hop and spent the evening wandering around the city enjoying a few wines, some nice cocktails and craft beer.
In addition to the dozens of amazing restaurants and cafes in Antigua, there are some great bars and breweries to check out.
These were some of our favourites:
- 🍷 Tabacos y Vino: wine that gets cheaper by the glass
- 🇲🇽 Fridas: amazing mezcal and tequila cocktails at this funky Mexican restaurant
- 🍻 Antigua Brewing Company: rooftop brewery with amazing volcano views
- 🍹 Ulew Cocktail Bar: a hidden speakeasy
- 🌲 Antigua Cerveza El Bosque: a brewery in a forest
- 💃🏼 El Barrio: a fun multi-level venue with different bars, good tunes and dancing
17. Chocolate making workshop
Chocolate was an important part of Mayan life and culture, and the Mayans were actually the first to discover and make chocolate from cacao beans.
The ChocoMuseo is an Antigua icon, located just adjacent to Parque Central. You can take part in a chocolate making workshop to learn about the history of chocolate, as well as the full process of making chocolate – from bean to bar.
If you don’t want a full tour, it’s still a great place to pop into and you can buy some chocolate bars, which we loved for snacks on hikes!
🍫 Join the ChocoMuseo Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Workshop
18. Have a meal at Caoba Farms
A restaurant and activity in one, Caoba Farms is a working organic farm on the outskirts of the city.
The farm has grown into a community hub, and in addition to growing a range of organic produce, they have a fantastic farm-to-table restaurant, run a weekly schedule of events like yoga classes and markets and have a ton of things to see on the property.
You can spend hours wandering around, exploring the orchards, saying hello to the animals, browsing their store full of fresh and organic goodies and visiting the butterfly sanctuary.
We sadly had some very poor planning and weren’t able to go to the farm as their restaurant is closed on Tuesday – don’t make the same mistake as we did!
19. Drink or dine on a rooftop with volcano views
One of the best things about Antigua is the looming volcanoes surrounding the city. No matter where you look, you’ll catch a glance of Volcan Agua, or the dynamic duo Acatenango and Fuego.
There’s no better place to enjoy the views than from one of the city’s many rooftop terraces. There are dozens of restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels with rooftops of all shapes and sizes where you can sit and enjoy a drink or a meal soaking up the scenery.
I could not get enough of the volcano views in Antigua! I was constantly looking up at Fuego to see if it was erupting, I honestly had to pinch myself every day that I was in a city surrounded by volcanoes!
Soaking up the volcano views was one of my favourite things to do in Lake Atitlan too. I’m still not sure which was more scenic, the volcanoes in Antigua, or those looming over Lake Atitlan. You’re spoilt for choice with volcano views in Guatemala!
Our favourite rooftops were:
- 🌋 Rooftop Antigua: for breakfast, coffee or a smoothie with the best view
- 🍻 Antigua Brewing Company: craft beers with volcano views
- ☕️ Café Sky Bar: breakfast, lunch, dinner or drinks with excellent views almost all around
- 👀 Aqua: a 360° degree view on a rooftop that sits a little higher than the rest
- 🫖 Café Estudio: a lovely place for a coffee, tea or smoothie
20. Stroll the Mercado Central
Antigua’s Central Market is an explosion of colour and overwhelm for the senses. There is a maze of stalls, inside and out, selling everything you could imagine, like fruit and vegetables, clothes, flowers, meat, dairy, textiles, trinkets and souvenirs, dried chillis, homewares and more.
I don’t think it’s the best place to shop for souvenirs, but we loved looking at all the fresh produce. There was a rainbow of fresh and exotic fruits and we stocked up on tons of goodies for a great price.
The market is open every day, but is busiest on the official market days, Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
It’s busy and bustling but we felt safe. Keep an eye on your bag but it’s not known for pickpocketing.
21. Shop for souvenirs
If you want to bring a piece of Guatemala home with you, Antigua is a fantastic place to shop for souvenirs, handicrafts and trinkets.
The Mercado de Artesenías is a popular place, with a good range but not necessarily the best quality. Nim Po’t is also worth checking out, it’s a huge store with lots of Mayan textiles, masks, wooden carvings etc.
If you’re looking for a high-quality piece, whether that be art, textiles, ceramics etc. there are dozens of smaller boutique stores around the city where you can pick up some amazing handicrafts straight from the artist. You’ll come across plenty on your wanderings.
Some ideas for souvenirs and gifts are jade, hand-weaved textiles like blankets, bags or clothes, Mayan wooden carvings, ceramics, local chocolate and coffee, and of course all the typical souvenir stuff like magnets or postcards.
Day tours from Antigua
22. Acatenango Volcano overnight hike
Easily one of the best and most popular things to do in Antigua Guatemala is to hike Acatenango Volcano. It’s the number one reason many people visit Guatemala and a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
One of three volcanoes you see looming over the city, Acatanengo provides a safe vantage point to watch neighbouring Fuego, an active volcano that constantly spits out molten lava and huge puffs of smoke and ash.
It’s a tough hike, taking at least 5 hours to ascend to base camp, where you’ll spend the night in a tent or hut, watching Fuego erupt. Most tour companies offer the chance to hike a further 3 – 4 hours onto Fuego, where you’ll be mere metres away from an active volcano.
It pains me to say that we did not hike Acatenango. After two attempts, we couldn’t wait around in Antigua any longer so we left Guatemala without doing the hike we were so excited for.
The first time Brayden got food poisoning the night before the hike, and the second time Fuego had erupted so much it set the forest on fire on the slopes of the volcano, and it wasn’t safe to hike. Luckily we got to see Fuego erupting on our Indian Nose sunrise hike in Lake Atitlan, but we’re shattered we missed out.
I know so many other people who have had similar experiences of their hike being cancelled due to the weather or increased activity in the volcano. My best advice is to book your hike early on during your stay in Antigua so you have the chance to shift things around if you need to.
We had planned to hike with Wicho & Charlies. They’re widely known as one of the best tour operators in the area, with sturdy huts (instead of tents), great food, local guides and good-quality rental gear. They also have private huts that you can upgrade to if you don’t want to share.
Although we didn’t quite make it up the volcano, we were just moments away from getting in the shuttle van to the trailhead, so we had some experience with them and we were really glad we chose them, even though they are a bit more expensive.
Other top rated Acatenango Volcano hike tours 🌋
23. Hike Pacaya Volcano
For an easier, but still very impressive volcano hike, Volcan Pacaya is another active volcano around an hour outside Antigua.
It was our first volcano experience in Central America and we absolutely loved it! It felt like we had landed on Mars, crunching along old lava flows and black volcanic rock.
You won’t see any lava here like you will at Acatenango and Fuego though. There were active lava flows a few years ago, but that has since stopped so don’t get caught out looking at old pictures.
It takes about an hour and a half to hike up the volcano. It’s steep, but we didn’t find it too challenging. If you’re not fit you’ll struggle, but it’s not too long.
You can’t go all the way to the summit as the rocks are too hot, instead, you’ll walk up the slopes of the volcano to an old lava field. The earth is still hot enough here to roast marshmallows, but not hot enough to melt your shoes!
Most tours depart from Antigua in the afternoon, and you’ll be at the summit to watch the sunset over the surrounding volcanoes. It was a really special view.
Volcan Pacaya hiking tours 🥾
- Hike to Pacaya Volcano from Antigua: this cheap and cheerful tour was the one we took, and I think what every hostel in the city sells. Don’t be expecting personalised service (look at the price), but it includes transport, a Spanish-speaking guide to lead you up the trails and marshmallows to roast at the top. It leaves the city at 2:00 pm, and you will enjoy the sunset before descending. The price doesn’t include entry to the national park (100Q).
- Day Tour to Pacaya Volcano from Antigua in Private Vehicle: if you want a more personalised, private experience this tour leaves Antigua in the morning, which generally gives you a better chance of clear skies and views, but you won’t get to see the sunset. The price includes entry to the national park, and informative, English-speaking guides.
🌋 Check out our complete guide to the Pacaya Volcano Hike
24. Coffee farm tour
Coffee is big business in Guatemala, and its high-altitude fields and volcanic soil produce some very high-quality beans.
There are dozens of incredible coffee shops in Antigua where you can enjoy a latte, but taking a tour to learn about all the steps required to produce that one cup is a great experience for any coffee lover!
We chose to do our coffee tour with De La Gente, a well-known local non-profit that does fantastic work empowering small-scale coffee farmers through transparent, fair and sustainable cooperatives.
The coffee industry is rife with exploitation, unfair pricing and greedy corporate intermediaries, but De La Gente is trying to change that.
We visited a coffee finca in the small town of San Miguel Escobar at the foothills of the Agua Volcano. We had an English-speaking guide who helped translate the tour we had with Andres, the farmer. We toured his fields and he taught us the entire process of planting, growing and harvesting coffee.
We then got to visit his house, meet his wife, and learn about the next phase – hulling, roasting and grinding the beans. We all sat down together to enjoy a cup of fresh coffee and some sweet treats.
It was a really great experience and it was so nice to authentically engage with locals. Life is hard for farmers, all over the world, and the amount of work that goes into creating one cup of coffee is immense. It certainly made us reflect and was a great reminder to savour and appreciate our daily cup of coffee and think about all the people who made it possible.
☕️ Book an ethical coffee farm tour with De La Gente here
Other coffee tours around Antigua ☕️
- Coffee and Gastronomic Bike Tour in Antigua: this tour combines cycling with coffee – a dream combo! You’ll ride a fat-tyre bike from Antigua to the coffee plantation, where you’ll get a full tour of the process of growing and making coffee (with samples of course!). The tour continues to a nearby town where you’ll explore the local market, learn about traditional handicrafts and sample lots of locals sweets and other goodies.
- Tour Rural de Café: an affordable, well-rated and straightforward coffee farm experience. Get picked up from your accommodation in Antigua and drive to a local coffee finca. Your English-speaking guide will translate the farmer who will show and explain the entire process of growing, harvesting and processing coffee before enjoying a fresh cup and some snacks in the farmer’s home.
- ATV Coffee Tour: combine the experience of riding an ATV with a coffee farm tour. Visit a local finca and get a full workshop about the coffee-making process from plant to cup. With samples included of course! Stop by Cerro de la Cruz on the way back for great views over Antigua.
25. Enter a fantasy land at Hobbitenango
One of our favourite things to do in Antigua was Hobbitenango. My parents were obsessed with The Lord of the Rings when I was growing up, so I’ve always had a fond place in my heart for Middle Earth.
Hobbitenango is a Lord of the Rings-themed eco-park located in a mountainous area outside Antigua, with amazing views of the volcanoes and Panchoy Valley. I was worried it would be a bit kitschy, but it was actually so much fun.
Entry is 55Q, which includes everything except food. There are activities like archery, axe throwing, mini golf and my favourite – a giant swing! There are plenty of lookouts and photo spots, including the famous hand statue jutting out into the valley and some colourful hobbit houses.
I’ve got a complete guide to visiting Hobbitenango, including how to get there and back which can be a little tricky to coordinate.
🧙🏻♂️ Everything you need to know about visiting Hobbitenango Guatemala
26. Escape to the hills of El Hato
In the hills north of Antigua, there is a small town called El Hato which is bathed in green and has some seriously impressive views of Antigua’s three volcanoes. You might also hear this area referred to as Vuelta Grande, the name of the neighbouring town.
Hobbitenango is located here, and personally, I think that is the best place to visit to enjoy the views and green environment, while also doing a fun activity. But there are a handful of other establishments in this area offering the chance to escape the city for a day or a few nights.
Getting here can be tricky as many tuk-tuks don’t want to drive up the steep roads. Uber is a better bet, but Brayden had to get out and push for our driver when his tiny, manual car was struggling up a particularly steep section!
Getting back is more the problem as it’s unlikely you can order an Uber. Local tuk-tuks and taxi drivers know they can charge a premium, so you’ll probably pay double or triple what you did to arrive. I’d check in with whatever venue you plan to visit, as some offer shuttles which are the simplest way to get back to the city.
This area is incredibly steep, so do note that many places require an additional walk up or down to reach their venue.
- 🌿 Earth Lodge: best enjoyed over the course of a few nights, but possible to visit for the day, Earth Lodge is an eco-wellness retreat nestled in the hills above Antigua. With spectacular views of Antigua’s three volcanoes, this is the perfect escape to nature. Stay in a cosy cabin or treehouse if you decide to stay a few nights, nestled in their avocado farm, or come for the day and enjoy a meal in their farm-to-table restaurant and some wellness treatments. They have a daily yoga class at 9:00 am that’s open to everyone, and you can book massages, temazcal sessions, ice baths and more. They offer shared and private shuttle services from Antigua.
- 🥅 El Hato Verde: a restaurant / viewpoint / eco-park capitalising on its gorgeous volcano views and lush green surroundings. It’s a hefty 115Q entry fee, which can’t be consumed on food or drink. If you’re chasing photo opps, there is a very cool suspended net hang out area, but apart from that it’s just a restaurant with a nice view.
- ✋🏼 Altamira: another hotel cum restaurant cum eco-park in the hills of El Hato, Altamira is famous for its wooden hand structure providing the perfect Insta shot. The rest of the park seems to have developed around that theme, and I’d personally opt for Hobbitenango which had a lot more fun activities, as well as plenty of nice views and photo opps.
27. Village tour by chicken bus
Travel blogger blunder – I didn’t know this tour existed when we were in Antigua! I’m not sure what happened to my usually excessive levels of research, but somehow I missed this. This experience looks so unique and amazing though, I wanted to make sure you were aware of it.
Antigua is surrounded by small villages, full of orchards growing all kinds of fresh produce, factories producing tasty chocolate and coffee, and markets full of incredible handicrafts.
You might visit some of these small villages on a dedicated coffee tour, or perhaps on an ATV, but I can’t think of a more fitting or authentic way to explore rural life around Antigua than via chicken bus!
You’ll ride in a private, built-for-purpose chicken bus and explore several villages on the outskirts of Antigua, visiting different farms and a chocolate museum all while getting an informative and casual insight into the culture, history and society of the area. Plus some tasty eats along the way.
The reviews speak for themselves. I really wish we could have done this tour. If you do, I would love to hear how it went!
🚌 Book an Antigua Villages Tour by Chicken Bus
28. Take an ATV tour
One of the most popular tours to do around Antigua is an ATV tour. Simoon Rentals & Tours is a reputable local operator that has a range of tours by ATV, depending on the type of adventure you’re looking for!
They’ve got good quality vehicles and will teach you how to safely ride one if its your first time. You will be riding on the road, but most tours head straight out of the city onto smaller roads in the surrounding hills and villages.
Top ATV tours in Antigua 🏍️
- ☁️ ATV Sky High Adventures: a focus on lookouts and amazing views, visiting Alta Mira, Earth Lodge and Cerro de la Cruz. Choose this option if you plan to visit Hobbitenango separately and want to have an entire day free there to enjoy the park.
- 🌳 ATV Mountain Adventure: this tour has more focus on seeing attractions and sights. You’ll visit Hobbitenango, where you have about an hour in the park, Cerro de la Cruz for views over the city and also a chocolate factory in the small town of San Juan del Obispo at the foothills of Volcan Agua.
- ☕️ ATV Coffee Tour: combine the experience of riding an ATV with a coffee farm tour. Visit a local finca and get a full workshop about the coffee-making process from plant to cup. With samples included of course! Stop by Cerro de la Cruz on the way back for great views over Antigua.
- 🍫 ATV Villages Tour: this tour focuses more on cultural attractions in the small villages surrounding Antigua. You’ll get a glimpse of local, rural life and visit attractions like a chocolate factory, textile market and jade shop.
- 🌞 ATV Sunset Tour: taking place later in the afternoon to enjoy the sunset and dusk on your return to the city. You’ll head up into the hills north of Antigua to see Cerro de la Cruz and Hobbitenango, with some time to explore the park, before returning via El Hato to enjoy the sunset.
- 🌋 ATV Pacaya Volcano: this is quite a unique experience where you will ride an ATV around Pacaya Volcano. Personally I don’t think it should replace a hike, where you get a much more in-depth and intimate experience at the volcano, but it does look like a fun place to cruise around on an ATV!
What not to do in Antigua
I wholeheartedly urge you NOT to take a day trip to Lake Atitlan from Antigua. You’ll see plenty of tours advertising this, but I truly believe it’s a waste of your time.
The lake is such an incredible destination, but it is BIG with almost a dozen different towns. It’s not somewhere you can breeze through in a day, or honestly even 2 – 3 days. If you’re going to make the ~3-hour trip to the lake, you want to stay for as long as possible to really do it justice.
I promise one day is just not enough, and it’s better spent exploring Antigua and its surroundings more deeply. I think you need at least a minimum of 3 nights to comfortably see the lake, and I’ve got a 3, 5 and 7 night Lake Atitlan itinerary if you are planning to visit.
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Things to do in Antigua Guatemala: Final thoughts
We’re not usually city people, but we absolutely loved Antigua.
We happily explored this small city from top to bottom, spending days just wandering aimlessly through the grid of cobblestone streets, oohing at the charming streetscapes and gazing at Fuego looming overhead, waiting to see a plume of smoke and ash shoot up to the sky.
But we also loved how easy it was to escape the city and be in nature. We could divide our days between city explorations and hiking volcanoes like Pacaya, touring coffee plantations and enjoying Hobbitenango in the hills of El Hato. It was the perfect combo for us.
After almost two weeks in the city, we still didn’t get through all the amazing things to do in Antigua!
MORE ANTIGUA POSTS
- Ultimate Antigua Guatemala Travel Guide + Itinerary
- Where to Stay in Antigua Guatemala: Best Boutique Stays
- Best Restaurants in Antigua Guatemala: Our Top 20 Spots
- Everything You Need to Know About the Pacaya Volcano Hike
- How to Visit Hobbitenango: Lord of The Rings in Guatemala
