Lake Atitlan: Your Ultimate Backpacker Guide
- Alice Hautvast
- 13 minutes ago
- 8 min read
This travel was undertaken in July 2025.
As the chicken bus hollers down the cliff-side road, we spot glimpses of a glowing blue lake and the peaks of volcanoes jutting out behind. It’s breath taking. A huge lake with three volcanoes, standing tall beside each other, feels like something out of this world. As the bus screeches to a sudden halt and we’re promptly told to disembark, we’re full of excitement to explore the town that awaits us.
Panajachel
This is the main town, and the one you’ll most likely start in. We stayed in Sweet Dreams Hostel, which was a real budget gem, being just 40 GTQ a night with breakfast included! It’s situated right near the main road, Calle Santander, which is filled with cute shops adorned with gorgeous clothes and beaded jewelry. If you’re looking to shop, Panajachel will be one of the best places for it, as it’s much more budget friendly than the other towns.
Check out the nature reserve, which has an entry fee of 80 GTQ, but I would say it’s well worth it. The butterfly house is truly brimming with these delicate creatures, and you’ll more than likely have an azure blue friend land straight on you! The hike to the waterfall involves lots of draw bridges, which are always a fun and adventurous undertaking, and there’s even a beach you can check out. The water there is pretty clean and around 3:30 we had it all to ourselves!
The Museo Lacustre costs 35 GTQ, there’s a large collection of ancient pots and information about the founding and forming of the towns. However, I wouldn’t necessarily push you to go - we felt we could’ve learned everything online, and nothing we saw really jumped out at us. Santa Catarina Palopó is just a collectivo (5 GTQ one way) ride away, and has natural hot springs which are a lovely place to soak and watch the tranquil lake. The town itself is quaint and cute, with lots of artwork and some tasty food overlooking the lake - check out Restaurants Laguna Azul and Cafe TUK.
In the evening, there’s a small collection of street food stands at the end of Rancho Grande road (just by the water), selling crazy corn for about 12 GTQ, tostadas for 10 GTQ, fried plantain for 15 GTQ and a whole range of other yummy bites. Grab something and enjoy the sunset by the dock! Additionally, in the evening there is a lady just outside of the Sweet Dreams Hostal selling an avocado, salsa and bean cracker for just 8 GTQ!
San Marcos
Branded as the ‘hippie village’, we were excited to explore and maybe stay here a while. It’s a very small town, hosting lots of yoga classes, spiritual cleansing and wellness courses, and lots of vegan cafes. The shops and restaurants were more expensive than anywhere else we had been, and street food was only available if you were lucky enough to stumble upon it. It’s a very calm and quiet town, although I must say I didn’t feel too drawn in by it.
We only spent two nights here, staying at the AHUA hostel - despite reading troubling reviews, we decided to give this option a go (due primarily to budget). Daniel was an extraordinarily kind host and we felt safe and very welcome. Breakfast is included, and it’s 57 GTQ when you pay on the door for a dorm room. We really enjoyed our stay here, and I can definitely recommend this beautiful property. It’s a bit out of town but it means you get a little adventure when you’re trying to find it, plus a beautiful view above the tree line.
We spent an afternoon in the Cerro Tzank’Ujil nature reserve (20 GTQ entrance fee), which has several old Mayan altars (stone circles), and a beautiful view from the top. The trail is well set out and easy enough to climb, albeit a little steep. There’s two jumps near the water: 5 meters or 12 meters depending on how brave you’re feeling! For you, dear reader, I had to try both. The 5 meter jump is fun, and I definitely recommend to try it. The 12 meters is not for everyone. A guide at the platform instructs you on the proper jumping form… but it can be hard to remember when the journey down feels much longer than anticipated. A slight bowing of my head, eyes widening in fear as the water came closer and closer, resulted in a harsh hit on my back and subsequent suffering from whiplash. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Next time I’d just make sure to keep my eyes looking straight ahead.
San Pedro
San Pedro is just across the water from San Marcos, and a 25 GTQ lancha (equivalent to a public ferry) will get you there quickly. It’s much larger of a town, with life brimming both at the top and down by the water. We stayed in Gran Colibri Adventure Park, which was 40 GTQ a night for a dorm and right on the water. Your stay included a free hour of kayaking which was wonderful! The showers were clean, although they gave me a mild but frightening electric shock, and there was a myriad of bugs crawling on the beds when we entered. When the night came, I slept in the sleeping bag provided and simply hoped I would not be their dinner.
The town of San Pedro is a steep climb from the water, a bit of a walk from the hostel, and it is bustling with life. There’s a narrow market street which seems to go on endlessly, selling food, trinkets and clothes and bursting with a chaotic energy. There’s some nightclubs here if you’re ready to party, and some hostels will be much more catered to this vibe. We had no problem finding street food here, with pupusa’s costing 35 GTQ and crazy corn for 15 GTQ.
San Juan
We got here from San Pedro by tuk-tuk for 10 GTQ each, and while we only came for a day trip, I would have preferred to stay here rather than San Pedro. Never have I seen streets so charming and colourful! Hats, umbrellas or flowers hang over the road, which is blocked off from cars, making it easy and peaceful to walk around. There’s countless beautiful clothes displayed all over, and we had the pleasure of being shown the methods of creating the thread from cotton and trying it ourselves, the different dyeing techniques for different colours, and the weaving process. Fun fact: the shades of blue are made from indigo, and their shade depends on the phase of the moon when it is dyed!
San Juan hosts the Women Weaving Cooperative, giving opportunities to indigenous women in what can be an oppressive culture. In these shops, the sellers will retain 80-90% of the profits. The process is an ancestral craft, rooted in tradition, and the demonstration we were given really highlighted the pride and hard work these women have for this art. While you may be able to find similar works for cheaper in other areas, it’s important to contribute directly to the community where you can, and I think it’s certainly worth a few extra quetzals to support an important cause.
San Juan is alive with art, and there’s lots of talented painters around too exhibiting their crafts. The streets pop with colour, and although street art is very present all around Lake Atitlan, it’s especially paramount here. There’s small eateries and street food further out of the main part of the town, and I certainly recommend this town for a visit. I have to say that I found San Juan the most fun to explore, simply because of the vibrant atmosphere.
Rostro Maya (Indian Nose) Hike
You’ll see this advertised everywhere, and when you do it you’ll understand why. You can undertake this hike from almost any town, but you’ll have the best budget options from San Juan and San Pedro simply because you are much closer to the starting point. Its a bit of a challenging uphill hike, made more difficult by the high altitude, and you’ll want to bring a torch or your phone as that’s the only light you’ll have. Agencies will book you onto a larger tour, so our group was about twenty people and cost us each 100 GTQ.
The view from the top was amazing. We were given a pastry and a choice of hot chocolate or coffee, and spend a good amount of time there watching the sun rise over the lake. Although it was a little foggy, we got a beautiful view. Everyone took all their pictures and the descent was easier and much quicker than anticipated. The tour includes transport back to wherever you’re staying and it was well worth paying. While you can do it yourself, it’s a bit of a pain to get to the starting point so early in the morning, but I’ve pinned it for you here if you want to try.
Santiago
Maybe we didn’t plan this too well, but our route to Santiago wasn’t so easy. We ended up having to go back to Panajachel (25 GTQ) and then take the last boat to Santiago (30 GTQ). We arrived as it was getting dark and the hostel we had scoped out - Hostal Santiaguito - no longer existed. The woman kindly guided us to a budget hotel, Hotel Cielo Azul, where we spent the night in a room with three beds, a private bathroom and balcony for 175 GTQ in total.
By the Parque Central there’s lots of street food stands at night, although I must mention the vegetarian options are extremely limited. A plus point of Santiago is that you get a great view of the San Juan volcano. However, we didn’t find the atmosphere to be very welcoming, and we only ended up staying the one night. We wandered the town in the day, popped into a few shops and enjoyed some bread and avocado on the main plaza, then hopped onto a collectivo (I wish I could remember - but this was definitely less than 20 GTQ each) and set off for San Lucas.
San Lucas
In San Lucas, we first stayed at Casa Qatzij, where we faced the issue that the price of what we booked did not much the price that was asked. Unfortunately this was not resolved with the hostel or with booking.com. But the owner took us to a lovely spot by the lake where we enjoyed a picnic. I’ve attached the trail map below, and this beautiful hike through some fruit trees and forest was really enjoyable and rewarded us with a great view and swimming spot!
We then finished our stay in San Marcos at the Pink House, which is a little further from town and gave use a tent for the night, costing only 40 GTQ for the two of us. Firewood and coals are available to purchase there, but although we tried our best, we did not succeed in making a fire with actual flames to cook, but the kitchenette that is available made sure we did not go hungry. Just minutes from the property is a lovely lake spot to sunbathe, swim, and enjoy the volcanic views. It was lovely to relax here and simply soak up the lake.
Lake Atitlan has lots to offer and is truly a gem of Guatemala, with so many little towns to explore and astoundingly beautiful views no matter where you go. It’s a must-see if you’re backpacking here.
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