Kosherly
Antigua , Guatemala

Guatemala

Antigua

City overview

Guatemala packs volcanoes, Maya cities and colonial streets into a country you can cross in a day. Antigua's cobbled centre sits beneath three volcanoes, Lake Atitlan fills a crater ringed by Maya villages, and Tikal's temples rise out of the Peten rainforest. The Jewish community numbers under a thousand people, almost all of them in Guatemala City, where an Orthodox congregation and a Sephardi society have both been established for a century. Three Chabad houses serve travellers - one in the capital, one in Antigua and one on the shore of Lake Atitlan - and each of them cooks. Kosher food, Shabbos meals and a minyan are all reachable on the standard Guatemala route.

Getting Around

Public transit

Tourist shuttle vans are the practical way to move between Antigua, Panajachel, Lanquin, Coban and Flores, and every hotel and agency sells seats on them.

Intercity Pullman coaches run the long routes to Peten and Izabal, while the painted former US school buses that Guatemalans call camionetas cover everything else cheaply and chaotically. On Lake Atitlan, public lanchas leave the Panajachel dock for San Pedro, San Juan, Santa Cruz, San Marcos and Santiago all day and are the only link between most villages. Guatemala City has the TransMetro and TransUrbano bus systems, though visitors rarely use them.

Rideshare

Uber operates in Guatemala City, Quetzaltenango, Escuintla and Guastatoya, and picks up at La Aurora International Airport.

Antigua and the Lake Atitlan villages are not on Uber's published city list, so drivers there are inconsistent - a capital-to-Antigua trip is usually accepted, the return is not. InDriver, where the passenger names a fare, also operates. In Antigua and around the lake, tuk-tuks and pre-booked shuttles fill the gap.

Car rental

All the international rental companies have counters at La Aurora International Airport and offices in Zona 10.

A car makes sense for the Pacific coast, Coban and the Verapaces; it makes much less sense in Antigua, where the cobblestones and one-way grid defeat most drivers, or on the steep single-track roads around Lake Atitlan. Roads to Tikal are paved and straightforward. Avoid driving intercity after dark, and expect police checkpoints that ask for a passport and licence.

Airport

La Aurora International Airport (GUA) sits 6.4 km south of central Guatemala City, in Zona 13, which puts it minutes from the Chabad House and the Zona 13 hotels and roughly an hour from Antigua by shuttle or car. It is the country's main gateway, with nonstops from Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Mexico City, Panama City and San Jose on United, American, Delta, JetBlue, Avianca and Copa. Uber is permitted to pick up at the terminal. For Tikal, Mundo Maya International Airport (FRS) in Santa Elena, next to Flores, takes daily flights from Guatemala City on Avianca Guatemala and TAG Airlines and is about an hour from the ruins.

Good to know

Best time to visit

November through April is the dry season, when highland days are warm, nights are cool and the volcano trails and lake crossings stay clear.

Insider tips

Carry quetzales in small notes - card acceptance thins out fast outside Guatemala City, Antigua and the resort hotels, and lancha boatmen, tuk-tuks and market stalls are cash only. Altitude is real: Guatemala City sits at about 1,500 m, Lake Atitlan at 1,560 m and Quetzaltenango at 2,330 m, so the first day is a slow one and nights are cold even in the dry season. Order kosher food ahead rather than on arrival - the Chabad kitchens in Guatemala City and Antigua both work to order, and the capital's Shabbos orders close on Thursday evening. Antigua is walkable end to end in twenty minutes but the cobbles punish wheeled luggage and smooth soles. Book Acatenango and Tikal sunrise trips before you arrive in high season, and treat Sunday as a partial closure day for museums in the capital.

Safety & emergency

Guatemala rewards ordinary big-city caution. Antigua, Lake Atitlan and the Peten tourist corridor are well travelled and heavily patrolled, while Guatemala City is best handled zone by zone - Zonas 9, 10, 13 and 14 are where visitors stay, and the historic centre in Zona 1 is a daytime destination. Use booked transport rather than street taxis at night, keep valuables out of sight on public buses, and carry small quetzal notes. Guatemala does not use 911. Tourist assistance (ASISTUR/POLITUR), which has English-speaking operators, is 1500. National Civil Police is 110 or 120. Volunteer firefighters are 122 and municipal firefighters 123. The Red Cross ambulance line is 125, and CONRED, the national disaster agency, is 119. All of these are free to dial from any phone, including a prepaid mobile with no credit.

Local time

4:07 AM

+4 hrs from NYC

Plug

Type A/B

120V

Currency

Quetzal

Kosher map of Antigua

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Frequently asked about Antigua