Everyone I’ve met while backpacking has told me that Antigua is the most beautiful city in Central America, so as it drew closer to New Years we decided to stay there and explore the city for a few days.
One of the active volcanoes around the city
Antigua used to be the capital of Guatemala before it changed to Guatemala City which is just about an hour away. The city is made up of cobblestorne streets, churches and ruins, all amidst several volcanoes that can easily be seen from the city center.
The days were spent walking around the center, following the sights pinned to this map from GPSmyCity (available in the app store) to see famous restaurants, museums, shops and historical buildings. We also went up to Cerra de la Cruz to see the sunset- only to see that the sun was going down behind a volcano that was not very visible from the viewpoint.
On December 31st the streets were packed with people. It seemed like people had come from all over Guatemala to celebrate in the Antiguan streets which was filled with people dancing in costumes, food vendors, kids with firecrackers and chinese lanterns. Having celebrated in a new country every year the last decade I must say that Antigua has definately been one of my favorites. It will also be noted as one of my top ten favorite cities of all time.