Antigua Guatemala With Kids: Volcanoes, Cobbles and the Arch

Antigua is a Spanish colonial town in a valley with three volcanoes around it, one of them smoking, and it is where every Guatemala trip with children begins. Cobbled streets, painted houses, ruined churches from an earthquake in seventeen seventy three, and a hotel with a courtyard and a pool.

The Santa Catalina arch is the photo, a yellow arch over the street with the volcano Agua behind it. The central park has a fountain and shoeshine boys and it is where the kids run while the adults have a coffee. The ruins of the cathedral and the convents are open to walk through, and children treat them as playgrounds, which is fine.

The market is the morning. Textiles, fruit, tortillas made by hand at a stall, and the chocolate makers, because Guatemala grew the cacao that the Maya drank. A chocolate workshop where the kids grind beans and make their own bar is the rainy afternoon.

The volcano

Pacaya is the volcano that families climb. An hour from Antigua, a two hour walk up through forest to the lava fields, horses for hire for the little ones, and at the top the guide hands out marshmallows to roast in the hot vents. Kids from about eight. Acatenango, the overnight climb to watch Fuego erupt, is for teenagers and fit parents.

A coffee farm tour on the edge of town shows the kids where the beans come from. The Choco Museo, the jade museum, and a tuk tuk ride to the Cerro de la Cruz for the view of the town and the volcano.

Three nights. Then Lake Atitlan, three hours away, and the boats between the villages.

Planning Guatemala with kids? Start with the full Guatemala family travel guide, or send me the ages and the dates and I will come back with what is really available.