Lake Atitlán is a stunning highland lake surrounded by dramatic volcanoes and traditional villages. Known for its deep blue waters and peaceful atmosphere, it’s a perfect spot to relax, explore local culture, and enjoy breathtaking scenery.
How to Get Here
To get here, you can take a shuttle from Antigua, it takes around 3.5 hours, and you can book it easily through Itamati Travels. They have many shuttles around Central America, especially Guatemala, so you can also arrive there from El Paredón, Rio Dulce, Lanquin, Flores, Xela or Guatemala City. You can simply book the shuttle via their whatsapp contact.
Places to Visit, Eat and Stay
Lake Atitlán has more than a dozen villages to explore. They are all different but small enough to explore in a short period of time. There are boats that take you between villages and they cost 25Q per journey. They come every 10-20 minutes so you easily pick one village to be based in and hop around the other villages from there. Below are my recommendations of the best villages to visit!
Panajachel
Panajachel is the main gateway to the lake and the major tourist hub at Lake Atitlán. I only stayed 2 days here which I think is too short, as there are many shops and bars to explore. The Corazon Pana Tu Destino is a famous photo spot to check out which is where the above photo was taken. If you like shopping, I would recommend checking out a paca, which is a shop that sells second-hand or imported clothing at highly discounted prices. I bought 3 pretty dresses here at a good deal and loved them!
For night-life, Tipzy Goat is pretty busy on weekdays too and I joined their beer pong tournament which was a lot of fun. I also recommend checking out the fruit-inspired cusha cocktails at Simoneta Mixology, I got the pineapple one and it was the best cocktail I’ve had in Guatemala! Locals also recommended me Azul Rosa for techno/electronic/house music and Atlantis for latin music on the weekends if you like dancing.
For places to stay, I stayed at a private hotel room called Hanna Resort and I really recommend it as it only costs 80Q for a spacious room with a private toilet which can sleep 3 people. But if you prefer to stay at a social hostel to meet other travellers, Societal Atitlan is a good one, they do pub crawls and have a lot of social activities.
San Pedro La Laguna
San Pedro La Laguna is the backpackers’ party hub, and here you can meet a lot of young travellers ready for a full-day party. My photo here was taken at Parque La Puerta Hermosa, you can find a church and a small park here for photos. If you are up for hiking, you can hike up San Pedro volcano. I did it in less than 3 hours up and 1.5 hours down, however I went in May and it’s the beginning of the rainy season so you have to go really early (arrive at the top at 9am) to see clear views of the lake. I arrived at the top at 12pm and it was super foggy already. Another activity you can do is join a Mayan cooking class to learn the best local cooking methods.
For the best parties, you have to check out Mr Mullet’s Hostel. It’s a famous party hostel and they have a crazy boat party every Thursday. They also do pub crawls on Tuesday and Saturdays. Their parties are wild though so you have to be ready for it!
One of my favourite food here is the seafood soup (Caldo de Mariscos), it is super delicious with crab, fish, shrimps and sometimes octopus. I wish I can have it again!
If you want to party all day and all night, stay at Mr Mullet’s Hostel. They have loud music till 11pm all day though, so if you want a quiet place to rest, do not stay anywhere nearby! I stayed a Mandalas Hostel in the beginning, but it was right next to Mr Mullet’s so it was crazy loud all day. I had to change my accommodation, and I moved to a private room called Hotel San Francisco, I really recommend it as it only costs 75Q per night but it’s a beautiful room with wall paintings and rooftop views of the lake!
San Juan La Laguna
San Juan La Laguna is the most colourful village at Lake Atitlán, you can visit the different themed streets for example the Umbrella Street, the Street of Hats, and the Street of Hexagons, and take lots of beautiful photos here. It’s walkable distance from San Pedro la Laguna, so you could just walk here for a half day trip.
You can also join a textile workshop and honey-making workshop here. I went to both with a tour and it was nice to learn more about textiles and honey in a short period of time.
Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz is a small relaxing town, you can hike to Jabalitos (around 45 mins) or to San Marcos from here (around 3 hrs), locals told me there is a lot of robbery on the route to San Marcos though so go with a group if you want to hike there for safety! I hiked to Jabalitos and took a ferry from there to San Marcos instead as I went alone.
One of the best places to stay here is Iguana hostel, I stayed in their private room and loved the chill social vibe! Their family dinners were great to meet other travellers and they have activities like bonfire night and quiz night which were really fun. You can also join their cooking or weaving classes. Just note that their wifi does not work in the rooms and it only works in the common areas.
San Marcos
To arrive at San Marcos, you can take a ferry from any village at the lake for 25Q. The best thing to do here is to visit the nature reserve (entry for 40 Quetzales) where you can swim and chill for an afternoon. Here you have the insta-famous 12-metre-high cliff jump for adrenaline seekers! You can also do some hiking to the top for views of the lake. Other travellers told me the yoga class at Eagle’s Nest is amazing too, as you can do yoga with beautiful lake views. This village is perfect for a half day trip.