Personalized trips to Guatemala
for independent travelers

My husband and I booked our trip to Guatemala for Holy Week. We specifically chose this week to view the processions and street carpets that are present during Holy Week. Our itinerary began with a trip to Tikal National Park. We visited the Mayan Temples and learned a great deal about the ancient Mayan civilization. We climbed a few of the temples , walked the complex , and connected with many facets of nature. Our guide, Oliverio was knowledgeable and very personable. He explained... read more

My husband and I booked our trip to Guatemala for Holy Week. We specifically chose this week to view the processions and street carpets that are present during Holy Week. Our itinerary began with a trip to Tikal National Park. We visited the Mayan Temples and learned a great deal about the ancient Mayan civilization. We climbed a few of the temples , walked the complex , and connected with many facets of nature. Our guide, Oliverio was knowledgeable and very personable. He explained ancient customs, sacred rites, and ceremonies. From there we traveled to Lake Atitlan to get a better view of the volcanoes. We participated in the village tours, shopped at the local markets, and witnessed the religious preparations being made for Easter Sunday. The remainder of our trip was spent in Antigua. We watched many of the processions on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of Holy Week. We walked through many of the streets and watched as many of the local Guatemalans prepared the colorful street carpets. One of the highlights of our stay in Antigua was the Antigua Walking Tour. Our guide, Maribel was delightful. She was informative, humorous, and very pleasant. We explored the historic landmarks and churches. Maribel explained many of the Mayan customs and traditions. We also visited a jade factory where we learned about the mining and colors of jade. Later that evening, we participated in a Guatemalan Cooking Class. There were 12 adults in the group and each of us were assigned a different task in preparing the meal. This group effort allowed us to engage in conversation and fellowship throughout the cooking process. At the end of the class, we sat down on the roof top to enjoy the meal. The sunset and the volcanoes provided the perfect backdrop for this meal. On our last full day in Antigua, we made the most of the day by participating in a bike tour around Almolonga Valley. We rode through suburban villages and stopped to visit churches, colonial ruins, a chocolate factory and a wine factory. Willy was our guide and he was most patient when we needed to take a break. There are a few hills on this scenic ride and at the midway point of this ride, we needed to walk our bike and take a few minutes to recoup. Willy provided clear safety protocols for the operation of the bike and remaining safe on the road. Willy answered all of our questions and shared many interesting details. It was fun to spend three hours with Willy on this tour. The Casa Antigua Hotel was centrally located and the courtyard was quaint. The staff was friendly and helpful. However, the rooms were very outdated. The décor was old and the rooms needed painting. There were no screens on the windows, and the towels were dingy and frayed. If I had seen the inside of the rooms prior to the trip, I would have opted for another hotel. We enjoyed our stay at Jungle Lodge Tikal and San Buenaventura Hotel. My husband and I enjoyed this trip and am glad that we decided to visit Guatemala. Eduardo did a great job with the logistics and we were moved from point to point without any difficulty. The final itinerary met our expectations and the activities did not disappoint. Eduardo provided great suggestions for activities and we were able to travel around different parts of Guatemala in our week long stay.

Wow, what an incredible trip!! Eduardo was so wonderful to work with, very knowledgable and easy to communicate with. We absolutely loved our itinerary, he picked really fun places to visit and things to do. Everything went smoothly, from our transportation to accommodations to tours. I never felt nervous or anxious, and that's saying a lot coming from me. I loved our personal driver, personal tour guide, and even a private boat for the lake tour. Incredible!
We LOVED our tour guide,... read more

Wow, what an incredible trip!! Eduardo was so wonderful to work with, very knowledgable and easy to communicate with. We absolutely loved our itinerary, he picked really fun places to visit and things to do. Everything went smoothly, from our transportation to accommodations to tours. I never felt nervous or anxious, and that's saying a lot coming from me. I loved our personal driver, personal tour guide, and even a private boat for the lake tour. Incredible!
We LOVED our tour guide, Esmerelda, who was above and beyond our expectations. She was professional, knowledgeable, kind and polite, and so much fun! We felt like she was our new best friend. Esme knew all the best places to eat and visit. I was never confused as to what we were doing or where we were going too. She was always ready to help us out of boats, take photos, show us how to pay, or point out cool landmarks. I was impressed with her ability to switch between Spanish and English easily. At the end of trip, we were so sorry to have to say goodbye.
I was also especially impressed by our driver, Antonio, who also became a good friend. He was friendly, a safe and reliable driver, and very concerned for our wellbeing. He kept us laughing with his jokes and stories. We felt spoiled that we had our own personal driver for the whole trip, and someone who was so respectful and helped us with our big, heavy bags, too. Esmerelda and Antonio are truly special people. We're so lucky to have had them for our trip.
I've never had such a well-planned, easy international trip. I felt relaxed and at ease the entire time, loved all the places we visited, was obsessed with our hotel in Lake Atitlan, and fell in love with Guatemalan and all the people we met. I can't wait to visit again!

I can't say enough good things about this trip and experience! Catherina did a wonderful job planning a week in Guatemala with an itinerary that was customized for our needs. We were traveling with our 5-year-old daughter, so we needed to plan a lot of interactive activities that would keep a kindergartener engaged. Catherina went above and beyond. Every day we had something exciting on the agenda - hiking an active volcano, ziplining through the jungle, making chocolate by hand, visiting a... read more

I can't say enough good things about this trip and experience! Catherina did a wonderful job planning a week in Guatemala with an itinerary that was customized for our needs. We were traveling with our 5-year-old daughter, so we needed to plan a lot of interactive activities that would keep a kindergartener engaged. Catherina went above and beyond. Every day we had something exciting on the agenda - hiking an active volcano, ziplining through the jungle, making chocolate by hand, visiting a goat farm and eating cheese with the owner of the farm... The highlight was getting to participate in creating an alfombra (Holy Week sawdust "carpet" for religious processions) with Catherina, her family, and members of the community, which was an opportunity that Catherina created especially for us. That was so special and something we will always remember! We also need to talk about how incredible our guide Esteban (Catherina's brother) was. Esteban was with us all week and made sure our entire stay in Guatemala was fun, easy, and smooth. Esteban is simply the nicest guy and we had a ton of fun with him. He was so great with our daughter and was a blast to talk to, answering all my questions about Guatemala and helping us work on our Spanish. I would 100% recommend Kimkim, Catherina, and Esteban to anyone considering a trip to Guatemala!!!