City Tours

A La Carta Tours (8a Calle Oriente, inside Porta Hotel Antigua, tel. 7832-9636, www.alacartatours.com [1]) offers creative thematic walking tours at 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Monday–Saturday centered around subjects that include shopping, art, food, photography, and religious celebrations, among others. Prices range $14–39 per person.

Practically an Antigua institution, Antigua Tours (3a Calle Oriente #22, tel. 7832-5821, www.antiguatours.net [2]) are guided by Elizabeth Bell (author of Antigua Guatemala: The City and Its Heritage) Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Tours on Monday and Thursday at 2 p.m. are guided by Roberto Spillari. All tours meet at the fountain in Antigua’s central park and cost $20.

There is also a guided tour of nearby villages, including San Antonio Aguas Calientes [3], San Pedro Las Huertas, and San Juan del Obispo [4], going out at 2 p.m. Monday–Friday and lasting three hours. It costs $35 per person with a two-person minimum.

Antigua now also has narrated trolley tours offered by Chiltepe Tours (7a Calle Poniente #15, inside Centro Comercial el Búcaro, tel. 5907-0913 or 5709-2232). The tours go through parts of Antigua and outlying towns and last about two hours. Tickets are $25 per adult (children $15), but you can save $3 by booking in advance through the company’s website. The tours run Tuesday–Sunday.

Martha Hettich (1a Avenida Sur #4A, tel. 7832-2134 or 5792-2459, www.marthahettich.com [5]) does recommended guided historical and shopping tours of Antigua and the highlands; by appointment only. She can also tell you stories garnered from years spent in Guatemala and is a wealth of historical information.