Full Day Tour: Chichicastenango Maya Market and Lake Atitlan from Antigua
Description
Depart from Antigua early in the morning to Chichicastenango Maya market, and witness ancient Indian rituals at the Santo Tomas Church and enjoy the picturesque outdoor market where locals from the region gather to buy and sell fruits, vegetables, flowers, grains, animals, textiles and handicrafts. Then, enjoy views at the beautiful Lake Atitlan in the Western highlands region.
Tour Options
Itinerary
You will be pick up in Antigua Guatemala to start a journey to the Guatemalan highlands to appreciate the colorful market of Chichicastenango and take a panoramic view considered of one of the most beautiful lakes.
Upon our arrival at the market we will start our walking tour inside the market. It is the center of the city and at the heart of commercial life of "maxeños" (name given to the indigenous people of Chichicastenango, derived from Max which means Tomás in the Quiché language). The merchants descend every Thursday and Sunday to the central square to sell their products in this impressive indigenous market that has changed very little over the centuries. We will observe the colorful handicrafts and handmade by local inhabitants of the región also you can see various merchandise, such as clay crafts, typical textiles, fruits, vegetables, meats and seafood, flowers and the regional costumes of the place. We are also going to visit Santo Tomás Church, built in 1540 on the basis of a pre-Hispanic archaeological temple. This church is a splendid example of colonial architecture, as the Mayan and Latin influence mixes both inside and outside of the church over time. After exploring the market you can enjoy a delicious lunch (not included, but you can add it on optionals for additional cost)
At the end of our walk you will be transfer to the town of Panajachel, which is located on Lake Atitlan. We will visit Calle Santander and enjoy a spectacular view of the lake which is considered one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. Three spectacular volcanoes, Tolimán, Atitlán and San Pedro form the natural framework of the lake itself *On holy week we do not visit Atitlán.
At the end of our tour we return to Antigua Guatemala
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
These are our pick up points for our excursion. Please select your pick up point and be 15 minutes prior the starting time.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Child rate applies only when sharing with 2 paying adults
- Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
- Minimum of 2 passengers (adults) is required for the tour to run. If the minimum size is not reached, the tour is subject to cancellation and all tickets are refunded or rescheduled.
- Tours include bilingual guide (English and Spanish).
- It is recommended that you bring walking shoes, hat, sunglasses, and a camera.
- Please contact local provider if you need a guide in any other language. French, German and Italian in private services, subject to additional costs and guide availability.
- For groups of 10 persons or more, please contact local provider to arrange
- To find pictures of our experiences, search us on Instagram as @graylinetoursgt
Reviews(6)
I went on two excellent excursions with Gray Line Tours Guatemala. The first was to Lake Atitlan and Chichicastenango Market. The second was a full day tour of Antigua and the surrounding communities. Both trips had safe and well maintained spacious vehicles. Both had excellent tour guides and drivers. The price for either trip was an excellent value for a 10+ hour tour. Loved both!!
The tour guide took us to someone’s house to see how they make costumes, gave as a tour inside a hotel to see its decoration (!) only stopped for bathroom on the way to get there and on the way back that we could have a 5 min stop at Sololá he said no because there was no time. The cemitery in Chichicastenango seemed to me more interesting (different) than the market and he didnt even told us about it, we saw it when we started walking by ourselves. Panajachel has the lake with the volcanoes and that’s it. If you dont have a lot of time I suggest staying in Antigua or going to the Acatenango o Pacaya volcano to see eruptions.
<p>The tour was well organised and our guide very friendly and competent. The only thing is i wish we'd spent more time at the lake, where we only had a 20 minutes walk vs. around 3 hours in Chichicastenango.</p>
<p>If you want to spend time at the lake, see the villages and enjoy spending a bit of time on the water, you should NOT take this tour. The tour guide was nice and the ride was clean and safe. However, we only spent about 30 minutes in Panajachel, which was very disappointing. We did not see anything else at the lake. The lake portion of the tour was basically walking to see the lake and that was it. We spent way more time at the Chicicastenango market.</p>
