Travel to Central America

Holiday Shopping at Mercado de Artesanias

If you feel the need to do last-minute gift shopping before leaving Guatemala you must visit the 30-plus stalls of this market for a sense of what's available from various regions. A wide selection of woolen goods, wood carvings, leather goods, pottery and jewelry can be found. The prices are quiet cheap. Also you can enjoy some regional dishes and sweets, or have a full meal in the Don Emiliano restaurant, open daily.

Burning of the Devil

Every year on December 7th, Guatemalans of every stripe take out old household items, waste paper, clothing and every other combustible thing out in front of their houses and set it all afire to represent burning the devil and to purify their households for the holy weeks ahead. A tour of the residential streets provides an alarming spectacle, Guatemala City in flames, its blue skies gone black with smoke.

Cafe Teatro Performances

Every weekend, the Cafe Teatro, "El Portal de la Hacienda," opposite Geminis, allow you to enjoy the city's low budget theater scene. Performances take place Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30pm. Admission cost varies according to the performance but is never too expensive. This attractive venue boasts small-scale theatrical productions is part of the excellent Hacienda de los Sánchez, a high-quality family restaurant that specializes in meat dishes. Good Food, Greats Shows, excellent form to spend your vacations in Guatemala isn't it?

Teatro Las Americas 2

Teatro Las Americas 2 is placed in Centro Comercial Real America. Every Friday and Saturday at 8:30pm and every Sunday at 5pm, this petit theater is the venue for comedies or serious plays by up-and-coming theater companies. Admission varies according to the play you can call for more information to the telephone number: +502 3852643.

All Saints Day

One of the Guatemala's most important holidays, All Saints Day is marked by processions and festivals mixing Mayan and Catholic traditions. Most activities take place in the cemeteries, where people decorate gravesites and celebrate their dead. If you want to see a really colorful spectacle, you must go to the village of Santiago Sacatepequez, less than an hour from the capital. At the village cemetery, locals fly huge brilliantly colored kites, representing souls rising to heaven. Notes attached to the strings carry messages to the dead and to God.

Wajshakib Batz--Mayan New Year

On this day, Mayans celebrate the cycle of life coming full circle. Followers of Mayan ritual practice celebrate in sacred sites placed specially around the country. The new priests are initiated into community service for a full cycle. The uninitiated may observe some (but not all) rituals, and should be respectful at all times. If you are one of the lucky visitors allowed to see one of this rituals, I highly recommend you to take that oportunity and see something you won't forget ever!

Guatemalan Soccer Classic

Here is a soccer rivalry that dates back well over 50 years. Two favorite Guatemalan clubs, Comunicaciones (or "Crema," white) and Municipal (or "Rojo," red), play scheduled Sundays during a season that runs roughly September through May. Matches take place before enthusiastic crowds in Estadio La Pedrera and in the larger national stadium, Mateo Flores. The teams are well-matched with Comunicaciones holding a slight historical advantage. So if you are a soccer fan and happend to be in Guatemala in a boring sunday, here you have a loudly option ;)

Museo Fray Francisco Vasquez

  This petit museum is located at the Iglesia San Francisco houses were the belongings of Fray Francisco Vasquez, a Franciscan friar are. It is not an impressive collection and the museum itself is of lesser importance, however, for those interested, it gives a brief insight into the life of a Franciscan friar during Spanish rule in Guatemala. More interesting is the Iglesia San Francisco next door, definitely worth your visit.

Chichicastenango Market Days

Center of the Quiche department, Chichicastenango is a bit of a trek from Guatemala City but it's worth it, especially for the Thursday and Sunday markets held in the central plaza. Considered the best in Guatemala, these native markets draw hundreds of sellers and thousands of buyers, all haggling over beautiful woolen goods, earthenware and other crafts, flowers, produce and more.

Weekends at plaza mayor

Plaza Mayor gets doubly busy on weekends, particularly Sundays. Locals and tourists crowd the area. Street vendors hawk crafts and souvenirs (often of poor quality), frozen treats and other kinds of food (often quite tasty but be wary). Live and recorded music is floating in the air, and street performers entertain the ones are passing by. Also stroll past architectural landmarks on the square, including the Palacio Nacional and the Catedral Metropolitana. The nearby Mercado Central offers better quality souvenirs and a chance to haggle.