Things to do
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Chichicastenango Market
Thursdays and Sundays are market days in Chichicastenango, when stalls fill the streets beside the church of Santo Tomás, whose 20 front steps stand one for each month of the Maya calendar year. From Panajachel, buses and shuttles run up through Sololá to the Los Encuentros junction, and the last 17 km to the town is a road of switchbacks.
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Indian Nose
From this ridge above San Juan La Laguna, the sunrise view runs across Lake Atitlán to its volcanoes. The trailhead is an hour and a half by road from Panajachel, so the climb starts in the dark. The route from San Juan takes one and a half to two hours and the one from Santa Clara La Laguna 30 to 45 minutes, and most hikers go with a local guide.
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Iximché
Just south of Tecpán, about 90 km west of Guatemala City, this ruined Kaqchikel Maya site has several ceremonial plazas, pyramid temples and two ballcourts, with a small museum of sculpture and ceramics. It is open every day from 8 am to 4 pm. The ride back to Panajachel needs arranging before setting out, as return shuttles are hard to find there.
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Lake Atitlán
Three volcanoes, Atitlán, Tolimán and San Pedro, rise over this caldera lake, which reaches a depth of about 340 metres and is ringed by Kaqchikel and Tz'utujil Maya towns. Public lanchas from Panajachel link the towns on its shore, and the wind that rises around midday makes the afternoon crossings rough.
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Museo Lacustre Atitlán
On Calle Santander, in the middle of Panajachel, this small museum explains across five rooms how Lake Atitlán was formed. One room covers a Maya settlement that has lain under the water of the lake for some 1,700 years, and the museum is open daily.
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Reserva Natural Atitlán
A walk from the centre of Panajachel, this reserve on an old coffee estate has walking trails with hanging bridges, and zip lines that run above waterfalls and coffee plantations. Its butterfly house fills a geodesic dome, known on site as the Geodomo. The reserve is open from 8 am to 5 pm.
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San Antonio Palopó
Past Santa Catarina Palopó, further down the shore southeast of Panajachel, this village still weaves on the backstrap loom, and its textiles are known for their deep indigo blues. It is a quiet place that rarely has more than a couple of dozen visitors at a time. Boats and tuk-tuks both make the trip from Panajachel.
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San Juan La Laguna
Women in this village on the northwest shore run weaving cooperatives that work on the backstrap loom, and local cooperatives have revived dyeing with natural plant colours. Fishermen still take visitors out in traditional boats from the pier, and the trail up Indian Nose starts here. Boats from the Tzanjuyú dock in Panajachel run to San Juan through the day.
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San Marcos La Laguna
Shuttle boats from the public dock at Panajachel cross to San Marcos in about 45 minutes. The village on the northwest shore is known for its meditation retreats and yoga, and narrow paths wind between the trees and buildings above the dock. The most popular cliff-jumping spot is a ten-minute walk from the centre.
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Santa Catarina Palopó
Each family in this Kaqchikel village chose the main colour of its house, and the walls carry painted patterns of deer, birds and other animals. Santa Catarina Palopó lies about five kilometres southeast of Panajachel along a paved road, 20 to 40 minutes on foot or about 15 minutes by tuk-tuk.
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Santa Cruz La Laguna
No road reaches this village from outside, only boats and a footpath, and a single lane climbs from the dock up the steep mountainside to the houses. Lanchas from Panajachel make the short crossing, and the footpath runs west to Jaibalito. A diving school here teaches a four-day open-water course in the lake.
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Santiago Atitlán
The shrine to Maximón in this town on the southwest shore moves to a different local house every year around May. Santiago Atitlán is also the base for quetzal-watching, which needs a local guide. Direct boats from Panajachel run less often than those to the western villages, and they leave from a different dock in Panajachel.
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Volcán San Pedro
Rising to 3,020 metres over the southwest shore, this volcano is climbed from San Pedro La Laguna at its foot, a public boat ride across the lake from Panajachel. The ascent to the summit takes four to five hours and fills a day. Hikers have been robbed on the trail, so a local guide is advised for safety.
