Country Info
- Guatemala
- Capital
- Quetzal (GTQ)
- Currency
- 12,974,361
- Population
- GT
- Country Code
Quetzaltenango Slideshow
Top Hotels in Quetzaltenango
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Casa Argentina Quetzaltenango
13 reviews -
Hotel Los Olivos Quetzaltenango
6 reviews -
Hotel Modelo Quetzaltenango
45 reviews -
Hotel Rio Azul Quetzaltenango
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Pension Bonifaz Hotel Quetzaltenango
29 reviews
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Villa Real Plaza Quetzaltenango
10 reviews
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Hotel Real Virginia Quetzaltenango
2 reviews
Quetzaltenango
Travel Blogs from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
San Simon Revisited
This is a top pick! ... ; I had asked for the focus of the ceremony to be to help me become emotionally stronger - I knew I'd be leaving Guatemala in a few days, and I didn't want to spend too much time distraught over the separation with Nelson. Mapira suggested we also ...
Tajumulco Trudge
This is a top pick! Just after we wrote our last entry, we went to pick up our clothes at the laundromat. When we opened the package in our room, we discovered my pants on top with a note (in Spanish) that basically said "these were dirty when they came in", and my ...
A Few Observations
This is a top pick! With all this talk about coffee, you may be wondering if I've been doing anything else! Indeed I have, and here I'll try to share a bit about some of the various ...
A typical day at the dinner table.
This is a top pick! So my graduation speech probably won't go down in history, other than for maybe being the shortest ever. I also think I impressed my Spanish teacher the other morning when he asked me.. "¿De donde eres?" (Where are you from?) Where I quickly ...
Those Colors are for Our Flag!!!
This is a top pick! ... me learn some español. I am hardly perfect, and all to aware of my positive and negative impact as a tourist in Guatemala. However, I would hope that I would never presume to be better than, more civilized than, more human than an entire culture, an ...
I LOVE CHICKEN BUSES
This is a top pick! ... doors. Chicken Buses rule the road. Forget the 18 wheelers, move aside all because here comes the colorful speed demon of Guatemala. I love sitting on the outer edge of a seat and holding onto it so that I don´t fly into anyone but ...
My brain hurts
This is a top pick! My first week of Spanish school is behind me now and I learned one thing. I need a second week of Spanish school. So I´ll be in Xela for another week, minimum, to keep studying and practicing. Tomorrow, I´m going to move in with a different family so I ...
Back to school.
This is a top pick! ... first proper sentence. Most gringos come to Xela either to attend a Spanish language school or to do volunteer work, and although it's Guatemala's second city there isn't actually much to do or see in the city itself. It's a place to study, drink ...
Xela
This is a top pick! ... crossed by land. We go from relatively modern and reasonably well organised Mexico, to much more chaotic, and noticeably poorer Guatemala, by simply walking across a bridge over the Suchiate river. We walk through the Guatemalan town of Tecun Uman, and ...
Above the clouds...
This is a top pick! At 3700 meters (about 12,000 feet) Volcan Santa Maria looks down on Xela and offers a tough hike for those willing to take it on. The volcano is inactive but has incredible views from the top. I think the pics from the hike say more than I can write ... ...
Ex-Guerrilla Soldiers and Spanish School
This is a top pick! ... with Nelson and then find a place to volunteer for a couple of weeks, possibly taking Spanish classes as well. I came to Quetzaltenango on the recommendation of a friend who had studied here a few years before, and intended to work through her school. ...
Semana Santa and the Wreath of Death
This is a top pick! ... War reenactments but more religious (and more bloody sometimes). To say the least it is a very important week in all of Guatemala and Mexico as well. With this in mind my friend Johnny, his friend and I head to the ginormious Minerva Market ...
Studying Spanish in the Mountains
This is a top pick! At around 2400 metres Quetzaltenango, a.k.a. Xela, temperatures fluctuate between 0C and 23C daily. Buildings are not heated, so dressing warmly for dinner is a good idea, heavy blankets on the bed, a must. The man that owns the house where we are staying ...
Winter is here
This is a top pick! ... warm temperatures broken up by an afternoon rain. I am trying to figure out where to go next. There are a few more destinations in Guatemala I want to check out. In addition, I need to seek out a reputable clinic in a few weeks in a larger city to get my ...
I´m an Uncle!!!
This is a top pick! Congratulations to my sister Heather and her husband Andrew on the the birth of baby Ethan. I am an uncle for the first time!!!! I can´t wait to buy him lots of candy with red food coloring, teach him swear words, show him how to light fire crackers, ...
"Pink Basket" - The Girl and the Photo Shoot
This is a top pick! I met these four my last week in San Pedro. Playing with my camera, checking my photos in public, all the things you are supposedly not supposed to do with your camera in Central America (in reality it really depends on the place within a ...
Back to School
This is a top pick! Today was my first class at spanish school. If spanish is a complex NASA orbital space equation, my brain is an old Radio Shack PC from the early 80's with that stupid hourglass symbol on the screen all the time... computing, computing... still computing ...
The art of being stupid (Vol. 1).
This is a top pick! ... history. Today I heard this funny story about a 35 year old Norwegian, possibly from the small town of Elverum, currently in Guatemala (just like me). This very morning, the Norwegian guy was in Panajachel down by Lake Atitlan. He ran out the door and ...
Moving on soon...
This is a top pick! ... . In Mexico, his choice of words would have been fine, but thanks to some different interpretations and slang here in Guatemala, the student told everyone he had sex with a pig over the weekend. Next destination(s) - probably Huehuetenango, Todos Santos, ...
My Love of Xela Doors
This is a top pick! Something about the history of old, new, and tomorrow all combined together. Each door leads to a weaved history of people's lives. An elderly woman approached me one day and told me how her grandmother used to live behind one of these doors many ...
Quetzaltenango aka Xela
This is a top pick! Ahhh, the city with two names that has consistently evaded my friends and family. Thus here is the jist: Quetzaltenango is the Spanish conquistador name for the city however, Xela (sheyla) is the Mayan name coming from Xelaju (sheylawho). ...
Back to cold weather
This is a top pick! ... Shay-la). I will refer to it as Xela since it's easier to type. Xela is the second largest city in Guatemala and is relatively clean, surprisingly safe, and has all the modern conveniences of any large city including crowing roosters that compete with ...
Fog, fuentes, and fun
This is a top pick! Leaving Huehue, we took a crazy two-hour bus ride to the second-largest city in Guatemala, Quetzaltenango (more commonly known as Xela though). The bus quickly filled up with folks wearing traditional indigenous dress and it was fascinating to see the ...
The tallest point in Cental America
This is a top pick! Well the early start was not all that bad. We got the rest of the food for the hike and jumped in the back of a pickup truck for a ride to the bus terminal. Here our backpacks were thrown up on top of the chicken bus and we hopped on. Even this early, ...
Day trip to Pelmar Viejo
This is a top pick! ... the glass of the back door and distorted in a way that says "this is painful" and "get me the hell out of here". In Guatemala, however, there´s always room for 2 more. There were 4 of us though and we decided to hitch hike. In minutes, we were in a pick ...
flying spew on an antiquated US school bus
This is a top pick! ... taught us a few mayan words (lots of different dialects) - got very emotional when talking about the violence/corruption in guatemala... - clare sitting next to a couple of cuties - bus change at Chimaltenango, beef stew lunch, ride through the rain to ...
Halloween in Xela
This is a top pick! On our way to Mexico we stopped in Quetzaltenango aka Xela which turned out to be the perfect pit stop especially since it was Halloween. The mountain town was charming and the people friendly. Our trip was brief but we would recommend it to anyone ...
Yet Another Country!
This is a top pick! ... and went in search of a bus the final 13km's to Xela. Total spent: $37. If our first experience of finding local transport in Guatemala is anything to go by then it's going to be a piece of cake. Local buses seem to run constantly all day and the ...
Snap, Crackle, POP!
This is a top pick! Quetzaltenango is a mouthful to the uninitiated but fondly referred to by those in the know as "Xela" (pronounced Shay-la). Guatemala's second largest city stands proud at a height of 2300m. That means that as soon as the sun sets, the chill creeps in ...
Look Ma, No View!
This is a top pick! The travelling posse (minus Dee who needed some me-time) headed off with a collectivo (aka mini-van taxi) to Xela's main station, and then caught another collectivo to reach the small town of San Martin Chile Verde. They wandered through the crazy market ...