Guatemala | A possible route through GuatemalaSam Lebus | 03 Jan 2015

El Remate: our first stop in Guatemala, a small small village on the edge of Lake Peten Itza. Very beautiful and quiet location. Great location to go to Tikal. Strongly recommend doing the sunrise tour to Tikal. Less people, less heat and amazing sunrise above the canopy. Any other way doesn't seem worthwhile despite the expense.

Flores: very cool island town on the same lake but opposite side. Lots of travellers and good hostel called los amigos. It's possible to do tikal from here but it takes longer and Flores is a destination in itself. Good food and worth it renting a boat to go to different lake attractions.

Semuc champey: a good stop off if en route to Antigua or visa versa. Amazing rock pools, caves and great views. Perfect for a relaxing day or two. We stayed in Semuc itself at el portal hostel but also possible to base yourself in the nearby town called lanquin. We reccommend staying in Semuc, further off the beaten track and nearer to the attraction.

Antigua: really beautiful old colonial town sat beneath 3 surrounding volcsnoes. Quite a European feel and also quite expensive food. We climbed volcano pacaya, which was an amazing active volcano and an easy climb. If you want more of a challenge our friends did volcano acatenango...unbelievable 2 day trip apparently.

Lake Atitlan: various places to stay on the lake but we stayed in San Pedro, probably the liveliest. San Marcos apparently a more chilled venue. Volcanoes on offer, but apparently very tricky climbs. We did the Indian nose climb (not a volcano) which gave as amazing views as you would get from the volcano. Do it for the sunrise and its stunning.

Travel: local shuttles go easily from place to place but the time they say is rarely the correct one so add a couple hours onto the journey. No real big bus company so this is the main way to travel.