Skip Europe go to Antigua, Guatemala; Blew Me Away After 80+ Countries

I have been to a lot of place around the world after visiting 84 countries pursuing my goal of eventually visiting all 195. Some I have been pleasantly surprised by, and some, overrated. I want to tell you about a place that recently blew me away. Antigua, Guatemala. We stayed 2 nights in this amazing city, and for the first time in as long as I can remember, I can say it wasn’t enough.

We hired a driver to drive us from Guatemala City to Antigua. It takes about 1 hour depending on the traffic. We stayed at the Porta hotel, and although it was beautiful and the room was clean, I would not stay there again. Lets get that out of the way first as its the only negative experience I had in Antigua. Basically, the room category I booked was not the one I was given. Also, the staff, for the most part are not properly trained; bar staff are not friendly. For example, on an unbusy night, I walked into the bar and sat down without any of the 4 bar staff chatting at the bar saying hi or coming over to take our order. From what I observed, the hotel is focused on large wedding groups and so the service to others suffers (our guide told us that Antigua was on of the top 10 wedding destinations in the world; there were a ton of wedding all around the city while I was there).

The charm of Antigua lies in its walkability, cobble stones roads, colonial architecture, and well preserved culture. The entire city is centered around 8 roads east west and 8 north south. Its not big enough to need public transport (we never took it while there), but its not small that you will get bored. Unlike places like Mexico, there are no cheesy “Senor Frog” type party bars (though there is plenty of night life), and even though there are a lot of tourists, it still felt extremely authentic. The exterior and interior of building were well preserved. Many times, I felt like I was in Europe.

After checking into the hotel, we wandered the streets looking for something to eat. This is where we first came across the Main Central Park of Antigua.

The square is lined with beautiful colonial buildings. The center part had a lot of street vendors selling a variety of goods. The whole place, including the streets was extremely well maintained and clean. Cleaner than many North American cities.

Here are some pics of the colonial architecture, beautiful colors, and cobblestone roads.

Our first order of business was to find lunch. The one place I really wanted to go was La Cuevita de Los Urquizu. It was about 3PM when we arrived and there was a small line (2 people in front of us).

We ordered two types of traditional Guatemalan soups/stews and longaniza.

My verdict is that the place is nice for social media pics, but the food is just mediocre. The soups lack amazing flavor and the longaniza was not as good as the Filipino version I love. After lunch, we walked to the famous arch:

While it was nice to see, the real gem is just up the street at a place called Iglesia de la Merced. The exterior is gorgeous and the courtyard is full of street vendors.

I highly recommend going inside and also climbing to the roof top to get amazing views of the city.

After we walked back to the hotel to get some rest before dinner. I loved the fact that a lot of the locals were dressed in traditional Mayan clothing.

Dinner was at Por Que No. This was a small restaurant recommended to me by the chef at Flor de Lis in Guatemala City. When I say small, the place is tiny. You should make a reservation as its popular. We were sat upstairs.

The food was not traditional but it was very delicious. They clearly understand flavors. I had the burrito and my wife had the eggplant (which was like a eggplant parm).

After dinner, we took a night stroll and saw some of the same places at night. Just incredible.

The next morning, we went for breakfast at a place near the hotel – Artista de Cafe. We had a latte and breakfast bagel. I normally don’t drink flavored lattes but I read online they were amazing. It did not disappoint and I highly recommend. The sandwich was also good and I was surprised that I was getting a bagel this good outside NYC.

After breakfast it was time to explore some more. The first stop was the Santuario de San Francisco. This is a do not miss place. People will spend a lot of time and money to visit places like the Vatican, and while they are popular for a reason, if you want to have a similar experience without the crowds, come to a place like this. I was blown away, and there were literally no other people when we went.

There is a main church and then there are the garden grounds, museum and library. DO NOT skip any of it.

After, we continued our walk. What I loved about Anitgua is if you peek in every nook and building, you will find something amazing. For example, look at these ladies making fresh tortillas.

Then look at this random building with colonial architecture on the outside, but a beautiful and classy bar on the inside.

There is something for everyone, whether you are into rum, coffee, chocolate, or anything else you can think of, its probably here.

Our next stop would be the Hotel Santa Domingo which has a museum and some ruins (and an artisan Guatemalan chocolate shop). Along the way, we say more tortilla makers:

…and went into random bakeries to try local sweets:

We arrived at Santa Domingo, and while it was ok, you can skip it if you are short on time:

Next up, Convento Capuchinas:

By now it was getting to be lunch and I went to try a famous local “fast food” fried chicken chain called Pollo Camperos. All I will tell you is WOW.

After lunch we walked to the main market.

…and then went for a Guatemalan coffee at La Rosona…

Before walking back to the hotel to get some rest before dinner, I had to check out on more church – Iglesia Santo Hermano Pedro de San José Betancur. I could not get enough of this city!

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As night fell, we made our way to dinner. Along the way, we experienced some of the amazing nightlife of the city:

…and had a Michelin level tasting menu dinner at Quiltro, which I will post about tomorrow.

After dinner, we checked out a speakeasy called Ulew. You enter through a phone booth. I loved that they were playing Latin music and all the Latin people were singing along and dancing with great passion.

As if the day needed to get better, on the way home, the main square had transformed into some sort of candlelit celebration with fireworks:

I hope this post has showed you why I loved Antigua so much and inspired you to make your own adventure there. If you love Europe, and Latin America, this is the perfect destination for you.