Guatemala City doesn’t exactly have an excellent reputation for being a traveller’s paradise or for its safety. I’m sure there’s lots to do, and we enjoyed a couple of days there on the tail end of our trip. But if you have limited time in Guatemala, it may be worth skipping the capital city and heading straight to the beautiful town of Antigua. It’s just an hour or so away! Here’s my guide on getting to Antigua without staying in Guatemala City.
Note: This post may contain affiliate links from which I receive a small commission if you book with or buy from the organization. I will only ever include links to things I’ve tried and genuinely recommend, or accom I would book myself.
How I got Antigua without staying in Guatemala City
Our flight from Canada, through Washington, arrived at 6 am. Not totally ideal, but it was better than the alternatives that all arrived around 11 pm or later. Regardless of where you’re coming from, I recommend finding a route that arrives in the morning rather than late at night. If you can find one at a reasonable hour like 8 or 9am, even better.
We found the airport very safe, but arriving in a new country when you’re tired and carrying all your belongings can be stressful at the best of times. So arrive in the morning so you can be somewhat refreshed and ready to seize the day.
Guatego is kind of like the SkyScanner of buses in Central America. It suggested a few different options with different providers and we chose the most convenient one. The earliest we could get was 9:30am, and it cost $18 USD ($25 CAD, $30 NZD) per person. We had to wait around at the only café on the arrivals side of the airport for a full, very long, 3 hours, but it was worth it!
Note
You can’t enter the airport again without a departure ticket, so there really is nowhere to go except for the Cafe Barreto just outside the arrivals area.
One girl left her bag inside the airport and popped out to grab a coffee at the cafe. She then tried to get back in, and the security guards were not having it. I think one of them escorted her around to the front entrance again to go get her bag, because she emerged 20 minutes later with her stuff in tow.
First of all: insane to leave your bag alone in the airport. I like to think you, my dear reader, wouldn’t do this. But it’s also insane to be forbidden from getting back inside. Fortunately for her, the airport is small.
Going to Antigua without staying in Guatemala City should take 1 hour
However, because we looped around all over the place to pick up so many people from different hostels, it took 2 hours. One pro to this is that we rolled up to Antigua around noon and we were able to check in a bit early. We had a little misadventure with this, but it wasn’t a big deal. We booked our transport to Lake Atitlan and back to Guatemala City through Guatego again anyway. The bus was air-conditioned, comfortable, and relatively spacious with seats for 20ish people.
The mini Guatego misadventure
We went directly to Antigua without staying in Guatemala City in a packed full bus of people. Technically, they’re supposed to pick us up from our hotel and drive us directly to the next one. But it was understandable when they wanted to drop us off at the central office instead. They said they’d organize a cab and cover the cost. Sweet.
They hail a tuk tuk, the Guatego guys tell the driver where we’re going, slips him some cash, and we hop in with our stuff. 10 minutes later, the tuk tuk driver pulls over at a random location that is very much not our Airbnb. We connect to the wifi to pull up our booking and show him the map. He’s mad because the Guatego guys told him it was this hotel, which is fair but not our fault.
So he drives us to the correct location just a few minutes away, but he wants more money than what the Guatego guys gave him. As we literally just flew 12 hours and got off a plane 6 hours ago, we’re not familiar with the currency yet. To avoid conflict and because I genuinely think it was a misunderstanding, we give him the 40Q which amounts to like… $3 USD.
For a minute I thought maybe we’d been scammed, but I think the Guatego guys actually made the mistake. They probably confused us with some other passengers who needed to get where they were going.
So our $18 USD Guatego journey actually became a $21 journey. *Gasps.*
Staying overnight in Guatemala City
If your flight arrives late at night, it may be too complicated to go straight to Antigua without staying in Guatemala City. You might feel it’s more comfortable to book a hotel or hostel near the Airport before catching a shuttle, which is totally fair! You won’t die if you make this decision, but I cover more about the best and worst zones in the next section. Here are some affordable hostels/Airbnbs in good neighbourhoods:
Central Hostel
This one is great because it’s in Zone 10, making it one of the safest neighbourhoods and still close to the airport. Breakfast is included, it has a pool, and it’s like a 5 minute walk to Cadejo Brewery, which we really loved. You can find dorms from $10 USD, and privates from $30, not bad! This is my top pick. You can book it on HostelWorld.
Hostal Los Lagos
Just a few blocks from the airport, this hostel offers a free shuttle service! It’s a little more expensive than the Central Hostel, with dorms around $20 USD, and privates from $40. I wouldn’t consider this a walkable location, but Ubers are affordable if you want to get to Zones 9 and 10. It’s a perfect location if you’re just staying over for one night at the beginning or end of your trip. You can book it on HostelWorld.
Airbnb - Studio Apartment
While it’s pretty small, this one has top reviews and is in a great location. Perfect if you’re only staying one or two nights and don’t have a ton of baggage with you! One downside is that there’s no coffee machine, but there are lots of coffee shops in the area if you can drag yourself out of bed and crawl down there without a homemade cup first. You can book it on Airbnb.
Safest and most dangerous zones in Guatemala City
One of the reasons we went directly to Antigua without staying in Guatemala City, is that it doesn’t have the best reputation for safety. But I also find it’s never as mad as “they” make it sound.
(Who’s the people? The law? The media? Your friends and family who’ve never been??? I don’t know but there’s always someone saying a place isn’t safe.) In this case, there’s some truth to it.
All the Zones, or “zonas,” in Guatemala City are numbered, which makes it super easy to keep straight! Very helpful when determining which neighbourhoods you want to stay in.
Safest
Zones 9 and 10 are the safest. And, bonus, both are relatively close to the airport! Like any other city, you still want to watch out for pickpockets and avoid walking drunk and alone at night. But that’s just generally good life advice no matter where you are in the world.
You can also stay in Zone 12, which is near to the airport, but not as nice as 9 and 10.
We stayed in Zone 10, which was walkable to the Oakland Mall, Casa Club, and Cadejo Brewing Company. We walked around during the day and took an Uber in the evening, and we were only in the city for one night.
Uber is very affordable, and arguably safer than a taxi.
Least safe
I don’t want to say “dangerous” as if you’ll die if you step on the wrong side of the tracks. But you have no reason to visit Zones 2-8, or anything beyond 12. The historic centre, Zone 1, is not a good place to stay, but is supposed to be safe enough to visit during the day. Though we didn’t actually visit, so I can’t make a fair call.
Beer flight at Cadejo Brewing (Zone 10)
El Delirium Tacos (inside Casa Club)
Overall, I definitely recommend going straight to Antigua without staying in Guatemala City first.
We found the decision to stay in Guatemala City for one night at the end of our trip was a great option. It gave us the opportunity to get a little more comfortable with our Spanish. It also meant we weren’t coming off a long and tiring journey, then having to find transport and our accommodation early in the morning, or worse, late at night.
We loved Antigua, so it’s totally worth skipping the big city and going straight to the charming historical one at the foot of a volcano.