Due to its much-maligned international image, you’ll probably be surprised when you first lay eyes on Guatemala City from the window of your airplane. Even if you’ve visited other Central American capitals, you’ll be taken by Guatemala City’s beauty from the air. Bordered by a lake, forested mountains, and four volcanoes, the nation’s capital is a bustling urban agglomeration of three million inhabitants occupying a broad valley and spilling into ravines and neighboring hillsides.
Guatemala City
Bordered by a lake, forested mountains, and four volcanoes, the nation’s capital is a bustling urban agglomeration of three million inhabitants.The beauty of its physical surroundings aside, Guatemala City, or “Guate,” as it’s more commonly called by locals, can seem polluted, noisy, and downright dodgy once you step onto its streets—however, the same can be said of New York or Mexico City. It’s all a matter of getting acquainted with your surroundings and discovering the pleasant aspects of this mountain city. Among these are a temperate spring-like climate, a splendid scenic backdrop, excellent dining and entertainment options, and the opportunity to travel in relative comfort with all of the amenities of a cosmopolitan city.
Guatemala City is full of contrasts. Photo © Al Argueta.
If you give it a chance, you’ll find that Guate grows on you after a while. As far as Latin American capitals go, you could certainly do worse. (Some travelers find other Central American capitals less agreeable.) As the region’s largest and most cosmopolitan city, Guatemala City has a wide variety of accommodations and entertainment options suited to tastes, needs, and budget.
The remodeled La Aurora International Airport serves as a fitting gateway to Central America’s largest city. Just minutes from the airport, you’ll find most of the areas frequented by Guatemala’s well-to-do and expat residents. Scattered among forest-clad ravines and sprawling east into neighboring mountainsides are Guatemala City’s business, retail, and residential sectors. The northern part of the city is home to its downtown core, which has unfortunately seen better days as a colonial capital, but is also the ongoing focus of some much-needed urban renewal. Tumbling out into surrounding ravines and plateaus in the vicinity of the downtown core are the city’s slums, while its industrial sectors lie mostly to the south and west. Chances are you won’t be venturing into the these two sectors, just as you likely wouldn’t hang out in a Brazilian favela.
It should be expected that a country of such great wealth (though poorly distributed) should have a modern capital with all the developed world comforts one would expect to find there. Great restaurants, museums, shops, and entertainment can all be found in this cosmopolitan capital. Like everything else in Guatemala, it all coexists side by side with some of the uglier realities. Things can look very different from one zona to the next. It’s all there for you to see, and nowhere else in the country is this striking contrast of wealth and poverty so evident. Look at a visit to Guatemala City as a glimpse into the nation’s culture, history, and politics, and a worthy introduction to a fascinating country of contrasts with unexpected surprises around every corner.
Excerpted from the Fifth Edition of Moon Guatemala.
