Lake Atitlan Journal
A Few Days in Guatemala
Updated August 30, 2026
Antigua → Lake Atitlán
I came to Guatemala for a little pre-retreat scouting trip and quickly fell in love with it, as I knew I would!
We started with a couple of days in Antigua before heading to Lake Atitlán. From the Guatemala City airport, we took a private car directly to Antigua, about an hour and 15 minutes away. Most hotels can easily arrange transportation for you, or I can coordinate a private transfer for you through Kan Tours, which is what we used and had a great experience with.
And one important update: I’ll now be covering all of your Kan Tours ground transportation between the Guatemala City airport, Antigua (if you choose to stay there) and our villa on Lake Atitlán — including your return to the airport after the retreat.
Antigua is beautiful, vibrant and incredibly easy to explore, with cobblestone streets, gorgeous colonial architecture, fantastic restaurants, beautiful shops and volcanoes rising in the distance. Volcán de Fuego is actually erupting live, pretty much all of the time!
And somehow, we’ve only scratched the surface.
Here are a few of the places and experiences I’ve loved most along the way.
FIRST STOP: ANTIGUA
If your schedule allows, I highly recommend spending a night or two in Antigua on your way to or from Lake Atitlán.
Antigua is one of those places that immediately pulls you in: cobblestone streets, colorful colonial buildings, hidden courtyards, incredible restaurants and shops, with volcanoes rising beyond the rooftops.
We stayed at Mesón Panza Verde, a beautiful little boutique hotel tucked toward the quieter end of town. With only twelve individually designed rooms, courtyards filled with greenery and art throughout the property, it felt intimate and very Antigua.
A few other beautiful places I would consider:
El Convento Boutique Hotel
Hotel Museo Casa Santo Domingo
Pensativo House Hotel
San Rafael Hotel
Casa Santo Domingo is particularly special if you want more of a destination hotel experience. It incorporates the ruins of a former Dominican convent into the property, with museums, courtyards and historic architecture woven throughout.
EAT
Our standout dinner was Libra.
Absolutely incredible.
Beautiful, creative food, fantastic cocktails and exactly the kind of intimate atmosphere I love finding when I travel. If I were back in Antigua tomorrow, I would happily eat there again.
Caoba Farms is another must, especially for lunch. It’s an organic farm just outside the center of Antigua with a beautiful open-air restaurant tucked into the gardens. Much of what you’re eating is grown right there on the farm, and the whole place has this lush, relaxed, farm-to-table feel. Wander the gardens, have lunch outside and give yourself a little time to linger. We loved it.
SHOP
One of my favorite discoveries was POR XIBALBA, a contemporary jewelry atelier housed in a restored 18th-century colonial home.
Their jewelry is handmade in Guatemala using recycled gold and silver, Guatemalan jade and stones collected from the rivers of the Sierra de las Minas.
What makes Xibalba particularly interesting is that it isn't simply a jewelry shop. Their artisans also offer workshops where you can learn about the stones and actually experience the process of carving and polishing one yourself, taking it from raw stone to a finished piece of jewelry.
Definitely one of my favorite Antigua finds.
AN EVENING WALK THROUGH ANTIGUA
Antigua is wonderfully walkable, and one of our favorite things was simply wandering after dinner.
A perfect evening loop takes you through:
Parque Central — the heart of Antigua and particularly beautiful illuminated at night.
Catedral de San José — the cathedral facing the central plaza, with the ruins of the original cathedral extending behind it.
Palacio de los Capitanes Generales — the long arched colonial building lining the south side of Parque Central.
Arco de Santa Catalina — Antigua's iconic yellow arch, with Volcán de Agua perfectly framed behind it during the day.
Iglesia de La Merced — one of the city's most beautiful churches, with its elaborate yellow-and-white Baroque façade.
There really isn't much of an agenda required. Walk. Wander into courtyards. Stop for a cocktail. Look up.
ON TO LAKE ATITLÁN
The following morning, Kan Tours picked us up in Antigua for our private transfer to Lake Atitlán.
The drive took about 2½ hours, and from there we continued by boat to our home on the lake.
And then you arrive.
Lake Atitlán is extraordinary. Mountains and volcanoes rise directly from the water, little villages dot the shoreline, and boats crisscross the lake as the primary way of getting from one town to another.
We stayed at the same beautiful lakefront retreat villa where we'll be staying together in January, which made this trip especially meaningful for me. I was able to experience the rooms, the grounds, the food, the lake and the rhythm of actually being here before bringing everyone back.
HIKING INDIAN NOSE
One morning at 6:30am we departed for the Indian Nose hike, one of Lake Atitlán's iconic hikes.
It's an early start, but watching the light slowly appear over the lake and surrounding volcanoes is worth losing a little sleep for.
This is also one of the experiences I've planned for our January retreat, and getting to hike it myself made me even more excited to share it.
SAN JUAN LA LAGUNA
We also took a boat to San Juan La Laguna, a Maya Tz’utujil community known for its artists, weaving cooperatives, colorful murals and traditional crafts. It was one of my favorite days on the lake, and I’m so excited that a guided tour of San Juan La Laguna is included in our January retreat!
One of the highlights of our entire trip was visiting Casa Flor Ixcaco.
Casa Flor Ixcaco was founded more than 30 years ago by Teresa Ujpan Pérez and five other Maya women. Today, 34 women work together creating textiles using techniques that have been passed down through generations.
They grow their own organic cotton in native colors, spin the cotton into thread by hand and create natural dyes from materials including seeds, leaves, flowers and tree bark. Every textile is then woven on a traditional backstrap loom.
We were given a demonstration of the entire process, from raw cotton to spinning the fiber, creating the natural dyes and finally weaving the finished cloth.
What I loved most was understanding how much goes into something that, at first glance, you might simply see as a beautiful woven scarf or textile. Each piece represents hours of work, generations of knowledge and the individual woman who created it. The pieces sold by Casa Flor Ixcaco even include a photograph of the artisan who made them.
It was fascinating, beautiful and one of those travel experiences that makes you see an everyday object completely differently afterward.
And yes, I came home with a few things!
A LITTLE PREVIEW OF JANUARY
This trip has made me even more excited about bringing everyone here.
Guatemala feels colorful, soulful and incredibly alive. Antigua is worth experiencing in its own right, and then Lake Atitlán feels like entering another world entirely.
For anyone thinking about spending a night in Antigua before or after our retreat: do it!
And as for the lake? I already knew this retreat was going to be special. Being here and experiencing it all firsthand has made me even more certain.
I cannot wait to come back and share this place with you in January!
Love,
Cath
