LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION
Itinerary: The Big Loop
3 WEEKS
This 1900km round trip takes you to all the top destinations in the center, east and north of the country. Really pushing, you might do it in two weeks, but if you have four, you'll enjoy it more.
This trip takes you to the best of Guatemala's Mayan ruins, into its dense jungles and to some of its spectacular natural marvels.
Start out northeastward from Guatemala City and detour south into Honduras to see the great Mayan site of Copan. Return to Guatemala and continue northeastward to another fine Mayan site, Quirigua, and on to the curious Garifuna enclave of Livingston on the sweaty Caribbean coast. Take a boat up the jungle-lined Rio Dulce to Rio Dulce town, then turn north up highway 13 to chill out at Finca Ixobel before continuing to Flores, a quaint small town on an island in the Lago de Peten Itza. From Flores, head for Tikal, the most majestic of all Mayan sites. Spend a night at Tikal itself or nearby El Remate. While in the Flores-Tikal area, you should have time to take in further impressive Mayan sites such as Yaxha and Uaxactun.
From Flores head southwest to the relaxed riverside town of Sayaxche, which is at the center of another group of intriguing Mayan sites - Ceibal, Aguateca and Dos Pilas. The road south from Sayaxche is now nearly all paved to Chisec and Coban, jumping-off points for a whole series of pristine natural wonders such as jungle-ringed Laguna Lachua, the Grutas de Lanquin and the turquoise lagoons and waterfalls of Semuc Champey.
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