Antigua

Saturday, December 2

The city of Antigua is located in the south of Guatemala at an altitude of about 1,600 meters and between 1543 to 1773 it was the capital of the Spanish colonies in Central America. Antigua is currently a fairly small city with around 35,000 inhabitants, but its baroque colonial architecture makes it so beautiful. Antigua therefore is definitely worth a visit.

When you walk through the streets of Antigua, you often feel like you're living in a fairy tale. The city does have modern supermarkets, restaurants, cafes and bars, but Antigua still looks magical and surreal as it is surrounded by volcanoes, tropical plants and cobblestone streets. On clear days you can see the cone-shaped, huge volcanoes from the city center and if you're lucky, sometimes you can even see the Fuego volcano spewing clouds of ash into the sky.

The city mostly consists of single-story, brightly painted buildings, there are a few small parks and a surprising number of big churches and monasteries, some of which can also be visited. The mild and sunny climate in Antigua makes it super nice to just stroll through the many small streets of the city. We spent a total of three weeks in Antigua and to this day Antigua remains one of our favorite cities of the entire trip.