Pacaya Volcano Day Trip from Guatemala City
Description
Take a day trip from Guatemala City to see Guatemala's most active volcanoes! Get an up-close look at the impressive Pacaya Volcano as you hike through volcanic vegetation with your expert guide. Admire the incredible Guatemala landscape and take in gorgeous views of three other nearby volcanoes: Agua, Fuego and Acatenango. This full-day adventure is one you won't forget!
Tour Options
Itinerary
Enjoy a full-day trip to the Pacaya Volcano from Guatemala City and discover the beauty of this natural gem! Towering over 8,000 feet (2,438 meters) above sea level, Pacaya is considered Guatemala's most active volcano. After pickup from your Guatemala City hotel, head southeast about 15 miles (25 km) to the base of Pacaya, where you’ll embark on a 2.5-hour hike up the volcano with your expert guide. Enjoy a mild walk to a viewing spot at the lagoon of Calderas and take in panoramic views of the Agua, Fuego and Acatenango volcanoes. Once you arrive at a plateau along the trail, marvel at spectacular views of the Guatemala landscape and see the main crater of the volcano. To ensure your safety, you won’t be able to visit the crater, but you will get an amazing view of red-hot lava flowing and steam baths created by the heat of Pacaya. Take a break and relax here as you take in more scenic views before hiking back to the base of the volcano.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Pick up time will be within 15 minutes of the established departure time in your confirmation.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
Reviews(73)
Booked second week of June with two friends and absolutely recommend it! Luis Pedro picked up on-time and was an excellent guide. We met Roberto, a guide at the volcano, who took us to the base of the volcano, very patient and informative. The hike is definitely not for beginners, medium perhaps, but the views make it worth it. Lots of shade along the way.
Beautiful view of the volcano
This was a good excursion. A 2.5km hike with 300 m elevation change. A gift shop and pizza or marshmallows cooked on the hardened lava. Quicker coming down than going up. Our tour guide, Davis, was outstanding and would do an excursion with him again.
Amazing hike but you need to be in good hiking condition. If you’re not then you can still do the adventure on a horse for an extra charge. Got a great view of volcano eruption in the distance.
The people were friendly. The volcano was pretty cool. On this tour one can choose to roast marshmallows or make a pizza. Quite honestly that is a boring part to this trip. But we chose the marshmallow route and had to wait 45 minutes for the others to finish the pizza. This should technically be split into two tours. Guests should not have to wait for others. Then we are driven back to our hotel. However driver went out of the way to drop off other members in the group that wanted to go to a special spa. The issue here was he made us wait in the van while he was assisting with their booking. Guests in the van should not have to wait for a driver to assist with spa reservations of other guests.
Thank you for your feedback, we’re glad you enjoyed the volcano experience and our team. We understand your comment about waiting time between activities. The marshmallow and pizza options are part of the same shared experience, and we’re reviewing how to improve timing so guests can enjoy it more smoothly. Regarding the return transfer, we’d like to clarify that the drop-off for other guests was brief and within the normal tour schedule. The driver did not assist with bookings, and all guests arrived at their hotels at the expected end time of the tour. That said, we understand how waiting in the vehicle may have felt inconvenient, and we will keep this in mind to improve coordination. We appreciate your feedback, it helps us refine the experience for future guests.
The provider books different experiences all under the same tour. We waited around in the hot sun for an hour while a very entitled family cooked a pizza outside. The same entitled family paid the driver extra money to drive out of our way to drop his family at the hot springs adding even more time to our tour. Be careful when booking this tour.
Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear parts of the experience felt uncomfortable for you. This is a shared group tour, and the pizza and marshmallow activities are part of the same stop, which can involve varying waiting times depending on guest choices. We understand this may not suit everyone equally, and we are reviewing how to better manage the flow of activities. Regarding the return journey, we’d like to clarify that there were no route changes or paid deviations. All drop-offs and stops were part of the planned group logistics, and the tour operated within its scheduled duration. We appreciate your comments and will use them to continue improving the experience for all guests.
Gustavo was such a sweet soul. He helped me thoroughly as I got slight motion sickness. I was able to sit in the front and felt a lot better. The hike was amazing and definitely the level of activity we were looking for. Would recommend 1000%
We had a wonderful hiking tour and really enjoyed the whole experience. Our driver Gustavo arrived about 10 minutes early to pick us up, which was great. He’s very funny and easy to talk to. He speaks Spanish, great English, German, and even a little Japanese. The ride was honestly a lot of fun. Our tour guide Alan was also amazing. He’s very easygoing and informative. During the hike we chatted a lot and had some really great conversations. He was very patient, always checking on us, and encouraged us to take breaks when needed, which we really appreciated. The views were absolutely breathtaking, with lots of great photo spots along the way. We also stopped midway to roast marshmallows over the volcanic heat, which was such a fun and unique experience. We were also lucky to have great weather that day. Overall, it was an amazing experience — honestly a 10/10 for us.
Hiking up Volcano Pacaya was such an unforgettable experience! Our tour guide was absolutely amazing—so kind, patient, and encouraging the entire way up, especially as I needed plenty of breaks to adjust to the altitude. I also had so much fun practicing my Spanish with her, which made the experience even more special. The views along the hike were stunning, and reaching the top felt incredibly rewarding. One of the highlights was getting to roast marshmallows over the volcanic heat—such a unique and fun moment! Overall, it was an incredible adventure filled with beautiful scenery, great conversation, and unforgettable memories. Highly recommend!
Hiking to see the volcano With 3 hours of walking there is the possibility to have horses for those who can not walk
