Physical Difficulty
Cultural rating
Wildlife expectation
Guatemala is famous for its indigenous markets and textiles. The unique experience of interacting with local culture and experiencing a rainbow of palettes of fruits, spices, vegetables, wooden masks, carvings, jade, textiles, and traditional costumes, can only be found in a few authentic parts of the world. Since ancient times, these markets have been places where artisans, farmers, buyers, and shamans meet up for selling, shopping, exchanging their products, or buying essential ingredients for their traditional ceremonies. Textiles are intrinsically intertwined with Maya culture and one of the most beautiful expressions of its traditions and culture. Their cosmovision and symbolism are represented in their textiles and weavings. These handicrafts are one of the main sources of income for these indigenous people and forms part of their colourful legacy expressed in their everyday clothing. This fascinating and insightful tour involves learning about a culture through its native traditions.
Special features of our 11 day Guatemala Markets Tour:
Type of Tourism: Culture, Geography, Archaeology, Classic, Textiles
Places to Visit: Guatemala City, Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Chichicastenango, Huehuetenango, Quetzaltenango, Nebaj.
Duration: 11 Days and 10 Nights.
Type of Service: group tours.
Accommodation: 4 star hotels and lodges at every destination that you will visit. These hotels have been carefully chosen and we can guarantee that you will feel comfortable and your every need catered for!
Today is the day you arrive to Guatemala cities International Airport. Our guide will be waiting to take you to your hotel in colonial Antigua.
Today we will head out to the Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala’s former second capital, buried by an earthquake-triggered mudslide in 1541. Along the way, we can stop off at an interesting experimental macadamia farm in the village of San Antonio Aguas Calientes. The Santiago Zamora cooperative is a women´s association focussed on sharing their local daily activities at home. The presentation begins with a demonstration of the local textiles and you will learn how to form the threads using the back-strap loom. In the afternoon, we...
In the morning, we will head for a tour of the city's ruins, churches, and museums. The stories and legends of colonial times are still part of everyday culture and we will visit: La Merced Church, Convent Las Capuchinas, Saint Joseph Cathedral, Central Park, the local craft market & Chocolate Museum. In the afternoon, we will continue to Chichicastenango where we will spend the evening.
After breakfast, we will explore Chichicastenango, where the Mayan and Catholic traditions come together in glorious and colourful fashion! The scent of incense and the people's mysticism offers a unique atmosphere found only in Guatemala. The combinations of tastes, smells and colours combine uniquely here and we will head for a traditional lunch with a local Mayan family for the full, cultural experience. In the evening, we will head to Quetzaltenango to spend the night in this small village.
Early in the morning, we will visit Almolonga market, one of the best vegetable market in Central America. Here you can appreciate the colours and unique aromas of the market and watch the people in their day to day lives, shopping and walking around with their children on their backs in a brightly coloured tapestry! We will then head to San Francisco el Alto to see the largest indigenous market in Central America. This authentic market doesn’t receive many tourists and concentrates on selling food, vegetables, tools, weavings,...
After breakfast, we will visit Todos Santos' market in Huehuetenango, located in the Sierra de Los Cuchumatanes. The people of Todos Santos belongs to the Mam ethnic group who created a small kingdom in the Pre-Hispanic period. Saturday is market day and the local people exchange different products such as weavings, costumes, pottery, wool backpacks, furniture, poultry and traditional crops. People come from all the surrounding mountain communities to exchange products, offering an incredible insight into local life. We will then pro...
Today, we will visit the quaint town of Chajul. The town’s church of San Gaspar Los Reyes is one of one of Guatemala’s most beautiful with finely carved wooden doors. Inside, there is an impressive gold-leaf altar. We will then continue on to San Juan Cotzal, a town famous for its impressive traditional weaving. We will visit The Iglesia San Juan and its picturesque plaza, where the statue of Jesus is holding an Israeli flag. We will then head back to the hotel in Acul for the evening.
Today is a travel day and after breakfast, we will head to Lake Atitlan and the small town of Panajachel on the shores of the lake.
Today, we will take a boat ride across Lake Atitlan towards San Juan La Laguna, where we will see the women’s textile cooperative for hand weaving and natural dye processing of the textiles. We will also visit the homes of the famous naïf painters before we continue to Santiago Village to see the famous Maya deity, Maximon and learn about the textiles, spiritualism and beliefs of the Tz'utujil Maya. Each year a different family houses the saint of the town, taking care of their cigarette, smoking God. We will then head bac...
We will head out today to visit Santa Catarina Palopo. We will head to San Antonio Palopo, known for its traditional pottery workshops, where we can learn more about the process of pottery making, from the preparation, moulding and baking. We will then take the scenic road on foot back to Panajachel via the Calle Santander for some last-minute souvenir shopping! We will then head back to Guatemala City for our final evening in the capital.
Today is our final day in Guatemala. Our driver will take you to the international airport in time for your flight back home or onto your next exciting destination!
For city tours, there are public bathrooms available, in remote destinations bathroom facilities are more sparse.
Guides & Drivers:
2.2. Protective Measures and Equipment to consider:
2.2.1. Mandatory Equipment:
• Face mask
• Tied Hair (in case of having long hair)
• Closed Shoes (not sandals)
• Constant use of Hand Sanitizer
• Use pants with the uniform (not shorts)
• Sanitize your backpack and equipment constantly when providing services
• Limit the use of accessories (wallets, fanny packs, watches, etc.)
• Avoid sharing glasses, spoons, bottles, etc.
• Avoid the use of reusable tissues, make use of disposable towels or napkins
• Make use of the digital thermometer
• Avoid wearing a tie or scarf
III. SPECIFIC PREVENTION MEASURES
3.1. Tourist Guide Service
• Maximum 1 Guide for every 14 visitors
3.2. Tourist Reception
• Welcome: greet without physical contact and maintaining a distance of 1.5 meters.
3.3. Delivery of Preventive Utensils
• Take the temperature of Each Visitor
• Hand Sanitizer
• Masks, if necessary.
• Gloves
Physical distancy and wear masks in public spaces are mandatory for clients, guides and drivers.
We do not include travel or health insurance and we strongly recommend a comprehensive travel insurance for any unexpected circumstances. This is not obligatory, however. An full travel insurance policy that covers cancellations and delays as well as medical insurance.
We suggest that you speak with your doctor to ensure that you are up-to-date with the recommended vaccinations when traveling to the destination. In any case, a negative Coronavirus Molecular Test (PCR) is needed to enter the country.
We suggest that you speak with your doctor to ensure what medications you will need to bring to the destination. Pharmacies and drugstores are common in all cities, however, it is not certain that you will be able to find a specific drug that you can find in your country of origin.
As in any city in the world, there can be pickpockets in crowded places. We suggest being vigilant at all times, but if you are in a group you will always be safer.
We do not include the cost of any domestic or international flight in any of our programs. These services must be booked independently by each guest.
Yes, hotels will charge the cost of a double room as standard, so a single supplement will be charged if you are traveling alone.
VA Expeditions is supported by Valencia Travel, a company with more than 12 years of foundation with a solid financial position. We have insurance from the insurance company La Positiva, that supports us and protects our guests from any eventuality at the destination, covering our guests for more than 5 million US dollars.
Each trip is customizable, but there may be additional restrictions and expenses in each case. We suggest contacting your sales representative for more information.
Yes, in addition to multi-day programs, we offer half-day experiences and excursions without overnight, which you can purchase as additional services. In case you wish to purchase one of these services, you can ask your guide, the transfer representative or your sales representative to provide you with the support you need.
Yes, you can add additional or optional services to your regular tour. We appreciate contacting your sales representative for any changes you wish to make.
Yes, you can travel with children and we have many activities to do as a family, however, depending on your itinerary, some experiences can be a bit demanding for young children. As a recommendation, we suggest that you ask your sales consultant if the tour you wish to book is suitable for children.
We work with a maximum group size of 12 passengers for sustainability reasons and a more personaized experience.
We suggest making your reservations at least one month before your trip in order to reserve the best hotels, transportation and services for your travel dates, however, in last minute cases, we can reserve up to 15 days in advance.
We suggest consulting with your embassy to review any documents, tests or special visa you need for your trip.
The official currency in Guatemala is the The Guatemalan Quetzal (GTQ). In large cities there is a good chance that you will find ATMs or ATMs, however, we suggest that you do not rely entirely on this solution, as it may not be enabled to work with your bank.
Yes, we cater for all special dietary requirements. Please let us know at the time of booking if you have any allergies or special dietary needs.
We have our own NGO www.procrea.org Proyectos Creativos, after March 2020 we have the program in San Andres Ceballos, 20 minutes out Antigua Guatemala to build energy saving stoves for the parents of the kids we had in the school before the pandemic, some of the mothers make tortillas for sell, so they have some income for the families, Also we have program with kids and parents vegetables home-garden and organic chicken to have organic eggs, so is a complete program for 25 families,
We support a project in Sipacate that protects Green or Pacific Turtle, we have been working so closed with doctors from Universidad de San Carlos that are in charge of this project, at least to weekends at month they capture turtles to clean them of parasites, plastics, some need surgery because the propellers of the boats hurt them and also to check the chips with the information of their trip.
We are working with Vivamos Mejor at Lake Atitlan to push the government to declare 2 protected parks located around the Lake Atitlan, this is Paquisis which is part of San Pedro Volcano and is the home of Horned Guan, this is the sixth rarest bird in the world, and the other area is Rey Tepepul Park, here there are Quetzales, which is our National Bird, and other interesting birds and wild life,
We work also with the Mayan Q'eqchi community of Cruce Dos Aguadas, this community is located inside of the Mayan Biosphere and 15 families of this community are in charge to do El Zotz-Tikal Trek, we give them training in first aid, food management, cooking lessons, communitarian tour guides, firefighters, etc., because they work with tourism, they value the jungle and have become guardians of the forest and are teaching their children to protect the environment.
Tips are not included in the cost of the tour. You should plan to tip 10% in restaurants and for your guided services, however, tipping is never required.
Cultural norms vary within each Latin American country, even within each city within the country, however, we recommend the following measures to have a pleasant visit in each destination: Latin American culture in general tends to be closer and more informal than in others cultures, so there is usually always a friendly approach in all conversations, and going directly to the point could be considered offensive to some people. Personal space can be much shorter as well, but without being interpreted as sexual in nature.
The schedules are also usually more relaxed and informal, however, this is not the case of VA EXPEDITIONS, since we will always respect the hours indicated in your itinerary. This may be different for other appointments that you can book on your own at other locations.
This depends on each itinerary, and will be indicated in the detail of the day. However, our itineraries always usually include free times to offer more flexibility to our guests.
For any emergency, we appreciate contacting the 24/7 Operations Phone : + (502) 5417-5517
For an example of sustainable activities in Guatemala, we offer: Sustainable coffee tour at San Miguel Escobar, Antigua Guatemala and La Voz at San Juan La Laguna, Lake Atitlan, Pacaya Volcano day tour,Acatenango hike with the community project, Women textiles associations in Antigua and Lake Atitlan, Jungle Hikes in Peten, inside of the Mayan Biosphere reserve
All our guests have 24/7 support for any type of emergency or eventuality. For emergencies you can contact the following number: + (502) 5417-5517. For general inquiries, you can write to us at the following email: info@valenciatravelcusco.com
This depends on each itinerary, but generally is a ratio of one guide for every nine guests.
This depends on the type of the type of Travel insurance that the passenger has. We recommend that you have a comprehensive travel insurance policy for better care and hospital facilities.
The tours are carried out by an expert team that has determined the optimal times of visits to make the most of our guests' time, without rushing. All our programs are customizable, so if at any time at the destination you want to adjust the pace of the trip, you can ask your guide to reach a consensus with the whole group in case you need to make adjustments to the pace of the trip.
Each trip is customizable, but there may be additional restrictions and expenses in each case. We suggest contacting your sales representative for more information.
Yes, you can safely store any luggage at your hotel.
In the mountains and remote places there is no Internet connection. Hotels and public places usually have WIFI available.
In cities and tourist centers you will have good telephone reception. In remote areas, there may be no cell phone reception.
It depends on each itinerary. We suggest contacting your account representative to give you specific information regarding your program.
We suggest that you bring a refillable water bottle or purchase bottled water if necessary. At various points on your trip including hotels, there will be places where you can fill your water bottle.
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