Antigua is a must-see city if you happen to be exploring Guatemala. It has a great food scene, interesting history, beautiful architecture, vibrant culture, and is surrounded by natural beauty. We spent a couple days here and definitely wish we had a little more time to enjoy all this city has to offer. Here are some things to do in Antigua worth adding to your itinerary.
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1. Take a Walking Tour
Taking a walking tour is a great way to learn some of Antigua’s history, see the main city highlights, and hear various tips and perspectives from the local guides. Free walking tours have become popular in cities around the world, Antigua included. You can join free walking tours with companies like Guru Walk and Strawberry Tours. While the tour is free, make sure you tip because this is how the guides earn a living.
You can also find more tailored walking tours, such as ones with a focus on food, culture, photography, history, and myths, through sites like Get Your Guide and Viator.
2. Visit the Museums
There are a few museums in Antigua that highlight the city’s culture and interesting history. We visited the National Museum of Guatemalan Art (MUNAG), which showcases some of Guatemala’s history through the context of art. Exhibits contain anything from carved artifacts made by indigenous communities to colonial paintings and works by modern artists. The museum is also free to visit!
Other interesting museums to visit in Antigua include Museo de Arte Colonial for more art and Museo Casa del Tejido (a short bus ride or cab ride outside Antigua) to learn about Guatemalan textiles. Museo Santiago de los Caballeros is also a popular exhibit that holds sculptures, weaponry, pottery, and other items from the colonial era. However, as of early 2026, the museum seems to be closed with no information on reopening.
3. Explore the Ruins Around Antigua
In addition to visiting the museums, you can dive more into Antigua’s history by visiting the various ruins around the city. During the colonial era, Antigua was a major hub of Spanish operations in the Americas. Spanish settlers built churches, palaces, businesses, and other buildings here. A major seismic event in the 1770s damaged much of the infrastructure in the area, resulting in the Spanish council moving their main hub to current-day Guatemala City and many of the buildings in Antigua falling into a state of neglect.
The main ruins to see in the city include Iglesia de la Candelaria, Iglesia de Santo Domingo, Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de El Carmen, Convento de Santa Clara, Colegio Compañía de Jesús, the ruins behind Catedral de San José, Ermita San Jeronimo, Convento de la Recolección, and Convento Capuchinas (which has become a popular wedding venue!). Some of the ruins, like Convento Capuchinas, Ermita San Jeronimo, and Convento de la Recolección, can be explored for a small fee, while others are closed off and can only be observed from the outside.
We stopped to see various ruins as we wandered about the city and spent a while wandering through Convento de la Recolección. It cost 40Q to enter the convent and we were given a pamphlet highlighting the history of the ruins. Read more about visiting this convent in our other post.
4. Take in the Views from Cerro de la Cruz
Head up to Cerro de la Cruz for the best views over Antigua with Volcán de Agua towering over the city. The viewpoint gets its name from the large cross that has sat up there since the 1930s.
To reach Cerro de la Cruz, you can either take a tuk tuk or taxi up the back side of the hill then walk a little ways down to the viewpoint, or you can make the short trek up to the viewpoint from the city below. The park area that surrounds the viewpoint is beautiful. The trail up the hill was well maintained and wound through a pretty wooded area. We had returned from Acatenango the day before, so we were a little tired, but the path up the hill is pretty short and not too steep. The path through the park starts here.
After taking in the views, we headed further up the hill from the viewpoint to see the Santiago de los Caballeros monument. We then headed back into town via the road on the back side of the hill.
5. Wander Through the Mercado Central
We always love wandering markets when we travel because it’s a great way to find local dishes, fruits, and other foods, and it offers a little look into local life. Antigua’s Mercado Central is a bustling covered market with stalls in and all around it offering a wide variety of goods, including spices, sauces, fruits and veggies, clothing, flowers, seafood, raw meat, household items, prepared food, and more. It’s a pretty big market and we enjoyed wandering around it for a while! If you plan to buy anything, make sure to have cash.
6. Hit the Shops
There are additional markets that sell artisan goods and more souvenir-like items targeted to tourists. The main artisan market is the Mercado Municipal de Artesanías, which is another covered area with booths selling leather/woven bags, woven rugs and blankets, pottery, shawls, jerseys, paintings, wood carvings, and little souvenirs including key chains, magnets, luggage tags, and more. Bring your bargaining skills and cash – some of the vendors don’t accept card.
Beyond the Mercado Municipal, you’ll find more artisan goods for sale around the city. There are little alleys filled with stalls and vendors sometimes set up around the parks and popular tourist attractions. In addition to artisan markets and stalls, Antigua also has various shops and boutiques around the city selling beautiful textiles, jewelry, clothing, and more.
If you enjoy shopping or are looking for something unique to take home from Guatemala, put aside some time in Antigua to hit the shops!
7. Admire Santa Catalina Arch
Visiting Santa Catalina Arch is one of the most popular things to do in Antigua. This structure is an icon of the city and visiting it is quick and free. If you’re exploring the city center, chances are, you’ll happen upon it.
The arch was built in the 1690s with the purpose of providing a walkway for nuns to cross the street between the convent and school without being seen by the public. The clock tower on top wasn’t added until the 1800s. Today, it remains as a symbol of Antigua and is a popular spot among photographers and other visitors to the city.
8. Visit La Merced Church
Iglesia de la Merced is a striking yellow building in the heart of Antigua. The church’s inauguration was in the 1760s and it still operates today. The church itself is free to enter for those who want to admire its interior. Just make sure to wear appropriate clothing and be respectful of those who have come to pray.
Beside the church are more ruins of an old convent. There is a pretty courtyard with a huge fountain and a terrace where visitors can walk among the bell towers and take in the city views with the volcano in the distance. If you want to visit the convent ruins and climb up to the terrace, it costs 35Q per person for foreigners.
On weekends and some weekday evenings, vendors set up stalls just next to the church in Parque La Merced to sell local food, snacks, and drinks. We enjoyed a tasty bites from a couple stalls around here.
9. Admire the Volcanos while Sipping a Cocktail
The views from atop Iglesia a Merced are beautiful, but if you want a cocktail or bite to go with the view, head to one of Antigua’s many rooftop bars and eateries. Some great options include Antigua Brewing Company, Café Sky, Aqua Antigua, Café Estudio, and SNUG. Though it sits outside the city center, El Tenedor is another spot that offers great food and views over the city and surrounding peaks that are worth the quick ride out of town.
Not all restaurants take reservations, but the rooftop options get busy, especially around sunset, so consider making a reservation when possible if you want to secure a table on a terrace with a good view.
10. Relax in La Plaza Central
Plaza Central was our first impression of Antigua, and it made us very excited to explore the city. We hopped off the van from San Pedro La Laguna and were greeted by the bustling scene at the park – couples enjoying time together, kids running about with their toys, vendors selling ice cream and other snacks, pigeons fluttering around the fountains, people coming in and out of the businesses lining the square, and other tourists taking it all in just as we did.
The busy atmosphere and pretty architecture at the central plazas across Latin America are things we’ve always loved, and Antigua’s Plaza Central was no exception. We would pass through this square multiple times over our next couple days here and always found it quite a busy spot.
11. Take a Day Trip
There are many great things to do in Antigua; however, there are additional amazing activities beyond the city limits, making it a great hub for day trips. Whether you want to hike a volcano, learn about local agricultural processes, cruise through the countryside on an ATV, or step into the shire-like setting of Hobbitenango, you can do all of this from Antigua.
We chose to do the very popular trek up Acatenango and Fuego. It really was an incredible experience – we’ll provide more details in another post.
Here are some of the other popular day trips from Antigua:
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