Places to Explore In The Highlands

Discover the best places to explore in The Highlands with curated recommendations from our travel experts.

Almolonga

In this charming village just outside of Quetzaltenango you'll find women wearing bright orange huipils and beautiful headbands. At the busy Wednesday and Saturday markets...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 0 Hotels
  • 0 Things To Do

Chichicastenango

Perched on a hillside, Chichicastenango ("the place of the nettles") is in many ways a typical highland town. The narrow cobblestone streets converge on a...

  • 7 Restaurants
  • 5 Hotels
  • 12 Things To Do

Huehuetenango

At the foot of the Cuchumatán mountain range, Huehuetenango—it's one of those fun Guatemalan place names to say (way-way-tay-NAHN-go), but everybody shortens it to "Huehue"—was...

  • 3 Restaurants
  • 3 Hotels
  • 4 Things To Do

Jaibalito

So small that it rarely appears on maps of the region, Jaibalito is the most undisturbed of the villages surrounding Lago Atitlán. Santa Cruz La...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 3 Hotels
  • 0 Things To Do

Momostenango

It's "Momo" in local parlance and on the front of the buses that shuttle you here from Quetzaltenango. This is one of the few places...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 0 Hotels
  • 0 Things To Do

Nebaj

A fascinating part of the highlands, although one of Guatemala's most inaccessible regions, is the so-called Ixil Triangle. It's home to the indigenous Ixiles, who...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 1 Hotels
  • 0 Things To Do

Panajachel

The quiet Cakchiquel village of Panajachel on the northern shore of Lago Atitlán began welcoming international visitors during the heady, hippie 1960s, and never looked...

  • 7 Restaurants
  • 10 Hotels
  • 15 Things To Do

Quetzaltenango (Xelaju)

Guatemala's second-largest city might seem quite provincial if you've first visited the capital. But we'll take friendly, old Quetzaltenango any day. Historically, the city never...

  • 5 Restaurants
  • 7 Hotels
  • 39 Things To Do

Salcaja

What you think is your first glimpse of Quetzaltenango is not Quetzaltenango at all, but actually the Quiché market town of Salcajá. With the growth...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 0 Hotels
  • 1 Things To Do

San Andres Xecul

A quick detour from the Pan-American Highway brings you to San Andrés Xecul, notable for its canary-yellow baroque church of the same name, which is...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 0 Hotels
  • 0 Things To Do

San Antonio Palopo

San Antonio Palopó is a quiet farming town, larger, but much less known, than neighboring Santa Catarina Palopó. Most people have plots of land on...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 1 Hotels
  • 1 Things To Do

San Francisco El Alto

What is Guatemala's largest market? Everyone guesses Chichicastenango, but it's actually the Friday affair at this highland town an easy drive from Quetzaltenango. (It's Central...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 0 Hotels
  • 0 Things To Do

San Juan La Laguna

The tiny, one-hotel village of San Juan La Laguna bills itself as "the cleanest town in Guatemala," and it lives up to its claim. San...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 1 Hotels
  • 3 Things To Do

San Lucas Toliman

San Lucas Tolimán, in the shadow of the Tolimán volcano, is the first town you encounter if approaching Lake Atitlán from the south. (It lies...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 1 Hotels
  • 0 Things To Do

San Marcos La Laguna

San Marcos has acquired fame as a center of New Age devotion, thanks to the presence of the Pirámides del Ka meditation center/lodge. The tiny...

  • 1 Restaurants
  • 3 Hotels
  • 0 Things To Do

San Miguel Totonicapan

This traditional highland village is famous for its wooden toys. "Toto" is full of workshops where a wide variety of handicrafts are actually produced. Come...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 0 Hotels
  • 1 Things To Do

San Pedro La Laguna

"It's the new Pana," proclaim its growing number of fans. Indeed, as Panajachel and its international population have matured—a few wags would say "gentrified"—the young...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 2 Hotels
  • 0 Things To Do

Santa Catarina Palopo

Santa Catarina Palopó provides an odd mix of deep-seated Cakchiquel tradition and sumptuous luxury in the vacation homes outsiders have built on the fringes of...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 2 Hotels
  • 0 Things To Do

Santa Cruz del Quiche

A half-hour north of Chichicastenango lies the provincial capital of Santa Cruz del Quiché, which serves as a base for exploring the area. Quiché, as...

  • 1 Restaurants
  • 1 Hotels
  • 1 Things To Do

Santa Cruz La Laguna

Your first view of Santa Cruz La Laguna is the hubbub of a couple of hotels and a few vendors who hang around the dock...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 3 Hotels
  • 0 Things To Do

Santiago Atitlan

Across the lake from Panajachel lies its rival in size, Santiago Atitlán, a small city with a fascinating, tragic history. With a population of about...

  • 1 Restaurants
  • 2 Hotels
  • 2 Things To Do

Solola

The Atitlán area's "metropolis" of Sololá is the region's administrative capital. Sololá lies a steep, 20-minute climb up from Panajachel and offers stunning mountainside views...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 0 Hotels
  • 0 Things To Do

Todos Santos Cuchumatan

Although it takes about three hours to cover the short distance from Huehuetenango to Todos Santos Cuchumatán, the bumpy ride is probably the best way...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 0 Hotels
  • 0 Things To Do

Zunil

At the base of an extinct volcano, the radiant village of Zunil is one of the prettiest in the highlands. Mud and adobe houses are...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 1 Hotels
  • 0 Things To Do

Explore The Highlands

Sights 40

Shopping 25

Nightlife 20

Performing Arts 5

Restaurants 25

Hotels 46
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