Last Updated on: 27th July 2024, 06:52 pm
Guatemala is the largest economy in Central America and its bustling capital reflects that. But today, most travelers avoid Guatemala City altogether, as it’s generally seen as a hectic and dangerous place with little to do. But that’s not entirely the case. In this guide to the top things to do in Guatemala City, we’ll be going over the best ways to spend a day or two in town.
Unlike our typical top five lists, this list is ordered from most to least essential. If you only have one full day in the city, try to squeeze in the top two or three locations, while you can see everything in this guide with two full days.
For more information on the most convenient and safe places to stay in Guatemala City, be sure to check the end of the article. Wherever you choose to stay, you can easily get around to all the locations below with Uber.
Explore The Historical Center
For centuries, Guatemala’s capital had been Antigua. But a series of devastating earthquakes in 1773 prompted the Spanish to move the capital to a new location.
Today, Guatemala City can’t come close to matching Antigua’s overall charm. Nevertheless, Guatemala City’s historical center is still worth checking out and is easily one of the best things to do during your time in the city.
The district is centered around the spacious (and typically crowded) Parque Central. The two main structures facing it are the Catedral Metropolitana de Santiago de Guatemala, consecrated in 1815, and the Palacio Nacional de la Cultura.
Palacio Nacional de la Cultura
The Palacio Nacional, built between 1936-43, is a unique structure that mixes different architectural styles, including Spanish Renaissance and Neoclassical.
Rather than just admire the building from the outside, don’t miss the opportunity to take a tour of the interior. Tours begin about every hour, and it would be wise to confirm the schedule as soon as you arrive in the Centro Histórico.
At the time of writing, tours cost 40Q, which includes a guide. In my case, the tour was bilingual and lasted about 45 minutes in total. But you might want to confirm everything in advance when checking the schedule.
The palace’s interior is stunning, but you’ll quickly learn of the building’s somewhat morbid past. It was commissioned by Jorge Ubico, a military commander who served as Guatemala’s dictator from 1931 to 1944.
While Guatemala City was established in the 18th century, this structure replaced an earlier version of the palace, and it was largely built by prisoners.
Early on in the tour, our guide pointed out how the pretty fountains in the hallway served an additional purpose – to make it difficult for potential spies to overhear Ubico’s conversations.
Up on the second floor, we stopped to look at two murals that were painted following Ubico’s overthrow in 1944. They were done by Alberto Gálvez Suárez, a protege of Diego Rivera.
One mural depicts the conquest by the Spanish over the Maya. Like many Latin American countries, modern Guatemalan society can be considered a blend of Spanish and indigenous cultures.
The other painting, meanwhile, depicts Don Quijote and Sancho Panza of the highly influential novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Written in the 16th century, it had a major impact on Spanish culture, and in turn, on Latin American culture as a whole.
Another highlight is the reception hall, known for its large chandelier and beautiful stained glass windows. It also features a large Guatemalan flag for which physical props were used to create the Guatemalan coat of arms in the center.
While today, the palace is mainly used as a museum, important events and diplomatic meetings do still occasionally take place in this room.
Back on the ground floor, we were taken to a spacious open courtyard known as the Patio de la Paz, where the Guatemala Peace Accords were signed in 1996.
A sculpture of two hands stands here to commemorate the event, which marked the end of the Guatemalan Civil War between the government and the URNG guerrilla movement.
The National History Museum
Another well-known museum in the historical center is the National History Museum. Before visiting, note that the museum is in Spanish only, while foreigners still have to pay 50Q to enter. At the time of writing, the museum is open from 9:00-17:00 on Tue.-Sat.
One of the most interesting pieces here actually comes from nearby Antigua, Guatemala’s original capital. It’s a large stone Spanish coat of arms and crown that once adorned the University of San Carlos. But it fell due to an earthquake in 1918.
The museum starts off with the colonial era, but then mostly focuses on the 19th and 20th centuries. As we’ll cover shortly, if you’re especially interested in the country’s pre-Hispanic past, Guatemala City still has lots to offer.
Unless you have a particular interest in this era of history and are proficient in Spanish, this museum won’t be essential for more visitors.
More Around Centro Histórico
There’s still plenty more to see around Guatemala City’s Centro Histórico, also known as Zone 1.
Just nearby the National History Museum is another historical museum known as Musac. While I intended to visit, the entire street was blocked off by security due to a parade.
The Museo de Ferrocarril, meanwhile, should be of special interest to those who like trains.
Lonely Planet Central America mentions a place called Casa Mima as one of its top pics. It’s supposed to be a unique house museum located in Zone 1, though the only results showing up now in searchers are for a youth hostel of the same name. The official website also seems to be down.
See the Ancient Ruins of Kaminaljuyu
As mentioned above, Guatemala City became the capital of the country in the 18th century. But prior to that, a thriving city known as Kaminaljuyu once thrived here for over a thousand years before it was abandoned in 1000 AD.
Today, the official archaeological site is located in the northwest part of the city and features only eight buildings of Kaminaljuyu’s original 200 or so. Sadly, a large majority of the ruins have been permanently swallowed up by urban sprawl.
Nevertheless, Kaminaljuyu is still worth making the trip out to see. In complete contrast to Tikal and its towering pyramids, this archaeological site has you looking down at the ruins from above.
The reason that it looks so different from others is that rather than limestone, the ancient city was built of clay and soft volcanic stone.
You can read a lot more about Kaminaljuyu and in our dedicated guide. In addition to the official archaeological zone, more mounds can be found in other areas, such as right outside the Miraflores Shopping Mall.
But all in all, Kaminaljuyu is most known today for its exquisite artwork, some of which is considered the earliest of its kind in the Mayan world.
And one of the best places to see artifacts from Kaminaljuyu – and Guatemala as a whole – is the next location on this list.
Visit The National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
The National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is just one museum of several museums in Parqueo Museos in the southern part of the city. Its neighbors include a natural history museum and the National Museum of Modern Art.
But considering how pre-Hispanic archaeological sites are one of the main draws of Guatemala as a whole, the archaeology museum should be of special interest to most visitors, as it contains many of the prominent pieces discovered at ruins throughout the country.
At the time of writing, it’s open Tue.-Sun. from 10:00-19:00. And incredibly, the entrance is free, which is extremely rare for Guatemala.
While this museum isn’t quite on the level of Mexico’s National Museum of Anthropology, it’s arguably the finest museum of its kind in Central America (it blows away El Salvador’s Dr. David J. Guzmán National Museum, for example).
As mentioned above, the National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is home to the most important pieces discovered at Kaminaljuyu, and you can see photos of those artifacts in our dedicated Kaminaljuyu guide.
As one might expect, the museum is also home to numerous important artifacts and stelae from Tikal, the country’s premier archaeological site.
But a lot of the eye-catching pieces also come from more obscure sites from around Guatemala’s northern Petén region.
Aside from artifacts from Kaminaljuyu and Tikal, other notable highlights include a unique jaguar urn from La Lagunita, a large altar from Piedras Negras, a serpent sculpture from Pasaco, and a strange mask from Aguateca.
All in all, the National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is not terribly large and can be explored in full in a couple of hours. And given its free entry, it’s easily among the Guatemalan capital’s top things to do.
Walk Down the Streets of Cayalá
Before visiting Guatemala City, one of my top places of interest was the new district of Cayalá, a project that was only initiated a little over a decade ago.
If given the choice, an overwhelming majority of travelers to Guatemala would choose Antigua over Guatemala City. But why? To sum it up in one word: architecture.
Beautiful architecture is timeless, and history has proven that it can continue to attract visitors for centuries, or even millennia. But why have we mostly stopped building cities like Antigua? This question is largely what drew me to Cayalá.
Based on what I’d read, I imagined Cayalá to essentially be a new (albeit less colorful) version of Antigua, complete with colonial-style architecture and pedestrian-friendly streets.
And while technically true, Cayalá’s overall atmosphere was not at all what I’d expected, and I ultimately left the neighborhood in agreement with its critics.
Cayalá is indeed very walkable, with cars banned from its center. And the architects did do quite a good job at building new structures in a traditional style. The town is even centered around a large cathedral.
But aside from the cathedral, pretty much every single building has a corporate logo slapped on it. The supposed ‘town square’ is surrounded by chain restaurants blaring obnoxious pop music.
And I couldn’t even pull out my camera without a security guard immediately appearing to ask if I had a permit.
Cayalá’s overall size is quite impressive, and it takes quite a while to explore every street. But except for a park area with some interesting sculptures, the more I explored, the more I felt like I was walking through a glorified shopping mall.
While Cayalá is often praised online by proponents of the architectural revival movement, I don’t think the end result has turned out to be what most people had in mind. All in all, it’s rather tacky.
Cayalá doesn’t feel like a real town, even if there are residential areas surrounding it. Though the residential areas do follow the white color scheme of the rest of Cayalá, they’re hidden away in gated communities.
While somewhat understandable given Guatemala City’s security situation, it all feels like an alternate version of the capital’s fancy District 10 rather than a new incarnation of Antigua.
So why does Cayalá appear on this list of top things to do in Guatemala City? Despite not living up to the hype, it nevertheless offers an interesting glimpse of another side of Guatemala.
And if you’re traveling with others and looking for a nice place to eat, I suppose it wouldn’t be a bad place to come.
Check Out The Popol Vuh Museum (or Ixchel Museum)
Yet another interesting museum to check out in Guatemala City is the Popol Vuh Museum. While named after the sacred Mayan text, the museum is just more of a general archaeological museum with no special emphasis on the Popul Vuh.
It’s a cohesive and modern museum with informative signage. But it costs 40Q to enter, and isn’t quite as impressive overall as the National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, which is free.
That’s why it ranks at the bottom of this list of Guatemala City’s top activities. But few archaeology enthusiasts will regret coming.
Just next to the Popol Vuh Museum, meanwhile, is the Ixchel Museum, which focuses on indigenous textiles. Who knows what management is thinking, but a ticket to one museum will not grant you access to the other.
That means it costs 80Q ($10 USD) to see two medium-sized museums.
Additional Info
Considering how most travelers will be passing through Guatemala City at least once when entering or leaving the country, then yes, it’s well worth setting at least one day aside to explore.
While, as mentioned above, there are plenty of interesting things to do in Guatemala City, even if you don’t end up liking it, a visit will at least broaden your perspective of Guatemala as a whole. It reveals a very different side to the country that you won’t see in Flores, Lake Atitlán or nearby Antigua.
And if you’re interested in seeing at least one big city in the country, Guatemala City has a lot more to offer than Xela (Quetzaltenango), while it’s much less of a detour.
Guatemala City is a huge, sprawling city with over a million inhabitants. While it’s no Mexico City, it’s surprisingly large considering how few travelers talk about it. The city contains numerous districts, or ‘zones,’ many of which have a distinct look and feel.
Many travelers avoid Guatemala City altogether, partly due to lack of knowledge of what there is to do, but largely due to safety concerns. Whether or not it’s deserved, the Guatemalan capital is often regarded as one of the region’s most dangerous cities.
But much of the danger can be mitigated by doing your research and choosing the right place to stay. And then to get around to various landmarks throughout the city, you can simply take an Uber, which works great here.
While you can find more detailed breakdowns of Guatemalan City’s numerous districts elsewhere online, let’s keep things simple. You’re either going to want to stay in Zone 10 or in Zone 1 (the historical center).
I stayed in Zone 10 which is what I’d recommend to most visitors. It’s a rather posh part of the city full of fancy shopping malls and trendy coffee shops. And even if that’s not normally your scene, the zone feels quite safe, and I walked all over the neighborhood with zero problems.
Zone 10 is also not as pricey as you might think, with an affordable option being Casa Mesa. It’s situated inside a gated community and right across from the peaceful Oakland Park.
Elsewhere in Zone 10 are various other hotels, such as the mid-range Meraki Boutique Hotel. Or, you can splurge on one of the fancier international hotel chains like Marriott.
Aside from Zone 10, the best place to stay is Zone 1, which you’ll surely be visiting at some point for its colonial architecture and museums. While noticeably more rundown than Zone 10, there seems to be a heavy police presence in the area, so you shouldn’t have many problems in the daytime.
Affordable options can be found right near the city’s main park, such as Hotel Centenario or the highly-rated Casa Stella Centro Histórico.