Guatemala Small Group Tours

Reviews of Small Group tours to Guatemala

• IanTraveled in May

  4.5

  Awesome trip! I did this trip with my two 60 year old parents and my 30 year old wife. We loved the diversity of the cities we visited and how super different they all were from each other. I was very pleasantly surprised with the whole trip. Guatemala was absolutely stunning! The itinerary was pretty much spot on. Arrivals left pretty much on time. Just be mindful of the long bus rides, which were a bit longer than described. One of the "8 hour" rides ended up being closer to 12 with only 2 stops along the way at gas stations. If you get motion sickness, it's crucial to sit in the front and take meds. (If it's in your budget, flights are available between Guatemala City and Flores for $150-200 which would nice.) It's also recommended that you speak at least a little Spanish to help get around and make things run smoothly. The accommodations were really great. Very clean and comfortable and in good locations. We always felt safe. The home stay was truly a cultural experience, you will live exactly as they do for an evening (local homemade food, using their home bedrooms and bathrooms, dress in traditional Guatemala attire, and enjoy conversations with the host families in a city off the tourist grid). We visited during Easter timeframe and had many chances to see the processions and festivities which was a huge plus! All in all, the entire trip was a wonderful value for the price and what was offered. The boat trip at Lake Atitlan was really fun too, where we visited 3 different villages that were really laid back and nice. The hike up Pacaya Volcanoe was fantastic too! We were lucky enough to see the flowing lava and roast marsh mellows over the heated rocks which was so wild! The horses were very convenient too for my mother who preferred to ride on the way up. The only minor disappointment was that in Semuc Champey we were not taken to the caves like we were told we would be, and had supposedly paid for. The little pools were pretty though. And the final stop in Flores was super cool! Supposedly Flores is ranked in the top 25 most colorful cities in the world, being a small little island community surrounded by a lake. Visiting Tikal which is about 1 hour away was stunning. Very good experience seeing the ancient ruins and learning the history. All in all we all loved the trip and would highly recommend to other adventurous and flexible travelers who want to experience Guatemala!

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  Guatemala Mayan Explorer
• DorkaTraveled in February

  4.5

  This trip was a mother & daughter trip for one week. This was our first time in the region (central America) and we had a wonderful time. Itinerary: This itenaray was exactly what I had in mind for a trip to Guatemala. If I designed an itinerary myself, in all honesty, it would have the exact same destinations. Our favorite place was Lake Atitlan but all the rest of the places were are lovely too. The only thing not in the itinerary is Tikal but that is understandable because it is very very far. We did tikal after the ending of this tour and it was nice too. We only had one issue that is worth mentioning about the itinerary. Sadly, neither of us speak Spanish and this meant that the Mayan Homestay was not a good use of our time. The family are kind and welcoming but they speak zero English and so we could not communicate with them at all or even ask questions about them. This made the situation uncomfortable and awkward at times. I think the Mayan Homestay should be recommended only for Spanish speakers because the town they live in is so small that there is nothing to do other than spend the day with the family at the house. If you are not a Spanish speaker, do not do the Mayan Homestay. Transportation: The transportation all week was reliable, safe, clean and mostly punctual. The drivers always knew my name and either had a sign with our names or asked us at pick up so I always felt comfortable getting in the car/bus. The airport transfer is private and so is the transfer from the mayan homestay to panajachel. The rest are little buses that seat 10-14. Those buses offer the opportunity to meet many other lovely tourists doing similar trips to ours. My one complaint is the fact that occasionally we were last on the pickup route which meant we had to sit apart from eachother on several hour bus trips. However, more opportunity to make friends. Accomodation Great choices of accommodation. The hotels were both lovely. The hotel in antigue Is clean, centrally located, and has lovely staff. Both hotels and even the mayan homestay had wifi! Casa del Mundo is one of the most incredible places I've ever seen. I can't say enough positive things about it. Just WOW. I will treasure those photos forever and I hope to bring my husband back on an anniversary trip. The bedroom in the mayan home was clean and welcoming. However, the bathroom is shared with the rather large family and not entirely up to what you're probably used to. We did not feel comfortable showering there so shower in Antigua in the morning before you leave! Overall, excellent hotel choices. Meals There's quite little to say about the meals in general because the only meals included are at the mayan homestay. The hotels offer breakfast but we only ate breakfast at the Antigua hotel. It is a tiny bit more expensive than what you'd pay in town but the hygene and proximity made it worth it. They served eggs, toast, plantains, jam, orange juice and coffee. I recommend! The rest of the mornings were too early departure and we weren't hungry so we just skipped straight to lunch. One thing to note, Casa del Mundo is very remote so you have to eat dinner there. There are positives and negatives to this. First, It's more expensive than what you'd pay anywhere else. Second, the food was probably the worst we ate during our entire stay in Guatemala. They try to make it more 'haute cuisine' but we didn't enjoy the taste at all; maybe you'll get luckier. The positive is that they push all the tables together and all the guests in this rather small hotel get to eat together and meet. We had the best time having conversations with other travelers who were all fascinating and so friendly. it's worth it for that experience alone, but don't expect excellent food. Honestly, I think for the price of the tour, it's ok that there isn't many meals included. In sum, we loved this tour. Guatemala has forever earned a place in our hearts and we are excited to return to central America at the soonest opportunity. One tip: know that this tour is jam-packed. Don't expect much relaxation, understand that if you want to see a country as vibrant and unique as Guatemala in a mere 5 days, you'll be busy and have many early morning pick-ups. This is not a negative, just something to consider. Overall, I'd travel with Marvelus again anytime and for the price, it is undeniably the best way to travel through Guatemala. So easy and SO worth it; everyone on the mini buses was jealous of us that we did it with marvelus and not by organizing everything ourselves. Truly marvelous.

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  7D/6N Gorgeous Guatemala Tour
• JasonTraveled in February

  4

  Overall, the tour was well organized. We asked for a shortened, custom itinerary, and we got one! Being on a private tour was a true bonus. The parts done by Guidequidor were very good. Their guide Abraham was on time, organized, and knowledgeable. The parts with the second operator (can’t remember their name) was on time, but pretty disorganized. They did not know our itinerary at all. I had to show them where we would go and when. The highlights were definitely just that. Very happy to have seen all that we did in such a short time. The accommodations were all very nice. Two different places in Antigua were both amazing. My biggest complaint was that a flight was involved. Due to a change in that flight’s time we left Antigua, around the halfway point of our trip, earlier than expected to overnight in Guatemala City. The Antigua hotel that we stayed in, San Rafael (beautiful), charged us for two nights. We should have been offered the opportunity to check-out and save ourselves the price of that accommodation. When the client is sent their itinerary, it doesn’t contain enough facts, and therefore it was impossible to know that we were booked for two nights… until we arrived at the hotel. I don’t think I needed to pay for the extra night to simply check-out 4 hours later. Knowing what I know now about Guatemala, I would say that this tour was on the pricey side. However, I did get a private tour, with excellent accommodations along the way, and saw some very cool places.

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  Best of Guatemala: Antigua, Atitlán & Tikal 8 Day Tour (Private)