A Change of Plans…

So we are coming to the end of our two months living on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. We’ve loved our time here, but we are now mentally preparing to move on to the next destination in our Latin America tour – Antigua Guatemala. But sometimes, an opportunity comes up that warrants a complete change of plans.

Instead of going directly there, we’ve decided to take the LONG way to Antigua Guatemala!

Sometimes Change is Good

Our original plan was to finish our stay at our San Pablo Airbnb on September 25, spend a couple of additional nights in Panajachel on Lake Atitlan, then hop a shuttle to Antigua Guatemala for our final month in Guatemala.

Here is a map showing our original travel route:

But we decided to burn that plan to the ground.

Since coming to Lake Atitlan we’ve been to many pueblos, including Panajachel. And now that we’ve been there a couple of times, we reconsidered whether or not spending two nights there is the best use of our limited time in Guatemala.

Panajachel is a nice place, don’t get us wrong. It has lots of amenities and activities to offer, but nothing so different from what we have already done on Lake Atitlan.

So instead, we decided to use the two nights we were going to spend in Panajachel in a different way. Namely visit Tikal National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site near the pueblo of Flores, on the other side of Guatemala!

How Are We Doing This?

This idea seems like a no-brainer, but it turns out that pulling this off is a logistical challenge because of the distances involved.

Check out the map comparing the locations of Panajachel and Antigua Guatemala (both starred) to Tikal National Park:

Thankfully, Guatemala has a really extensive network of private shuttle and night/sleeper bus services that make getting to Tikal, and then back to Antigua Guatemala, possible.

Here is our current itinerary to pull this off:

1. On September 25 in Panajachel, pick up a 4 pm shuttle that takes us first to Antigua Guatemala, then to the Fuente del Norte Bus Station in Guatemala City for a 9 pm arrival.
2. At 10 pm, take a well-appointed sleeper bus from Fuente del Norte Bus Station in Guatemala City to Flores, Guatemala (the closest pueblo to Tikal) for a 6 am arrival the next day. We splurged for fully reclining seats that apparently absorb the impact of road “irregularities”, so we hope to get at least some sleep on the way!
3. At 6 am check into our hostel in Flores immediately, then hop on an 8 am shuttle, with our tour guide, for the 1.5-hour trip to Tikal National Park!
4. Spend the recommended 4 hours exploring Tikal top to bottom.
5. Take the shuttle from Tikal back to our Flores hostel, grab dinner, then collapse.
6. Wake up early the next morning, grab breakfast at our hostel, then jump on a direct bus to Antigua Guatemala for an 8 am departure time. It should arrive in Antigua Guatemala at 5:30 pm. We hope to be able to enjoy the scenery on the way!
7. Check into our Airbnb, grab dinner, then collapse.

Here is a Google map showing our route from Panajachel to Tikal.

The route back to Antigua Guatemala follows similar routes.

The travel slog won’t be fun. But really, we’ve been through worse during normal international air travel over the years. We’ll be fine.

Probably.

And it should make an entertaining future post!

We won’t skimp on details.

Thanks for reading!

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