The towns surrounding Lake Atitlan are a Mayan cultural treasure. By visiting several, your family will notice the unique patterns and traditions that make each town special. Read to see our Top 10 Lake Atitlan list and check out the Lake Atitlan Choice Cards we used to select our itineraries each day.

Top 10 List

Our family spent two full days exploring, and here are our top 10 favorite things to do around Lake Atitlan. Whether you have more or less time than we did, these are great choices for kids of all ages.

1. Atitlan Nature Reserve (Reserva Natural de Atitlan)
   • Take a Tuk Tuk or Uber from Panajachel. You’ll pay an entrance fee and additional activity fees at the main entrance. There’s a spectacular butterfly garden, a beach, trails to the monkey observation deck and the waterfall along swinging bridges. The ziplines are extra, but there’s a small one in the kids playground too. This is a great place for kids to feel adventurous because there’s so much to explore no matter their age.
2. Mural Hunt
   • One of our favorite activities to both entertain and observe is with a scavenger hunt. For a mural scavenger hunt, ask your kids to write or draw a list of what they think they’ll see in the murals and then they can check them off along the way. Bonus: this helps all of us notice patterns. Around Lake Atitlan, we noticed that hummingbirds are a common theme in murals. When we asked a local, he shared that hummingbirds are important to this area and are considered lucky and joyful. The Mayan names of places around Lake Atitlan contain references to hummingbirds. We highly recommend the Calle de Sombreros in San Juan!
3. Boat Ride (Lancha)
   • The easiest way to visit towns around the lake is to take a ferry (lancha). There are people advertising and calling out “lancha” all around the beach area. A one-way trip is 30Q and round trip is 50Q. You can do the round trip no matter which captain you go with or which town you come back from. We decided to take the ferry to San Juan, a 10 min Tuk Tuk ride to San Pedro, and then return from there to Panajachel. The ferry will stop at a variety of towns along the way and you just tell the captain which one you’re headed to. TIP: the lake is smoother in the morning than in late afternoon.
4. Calle Santander Market (Mercado de Artesanias Tinamit Maya)
   • Walk along this main road to find artisan booths, restaurants, and travel companies. Tinamit Maya has many stalls in a loop that you can browse. FYI: The road is an L shape, heading down the mountain toward the lake and ending along the shore.
5. Mayan Culture Museum
   • There are two small museums that give an overview of Mayan culture and artifacts. In Panajachel, the Museo Lacustre de Atitlán (Atitlan Underwater Museum) is at the Hotel Posada de Don Rodrigo. It has information about the lake’s geology and ancient artifacts recovered from a Mayan village at the bottom of the lake.
   • In San Pedro La Laguna, Tz’unun’ Ya’ Museum shares information about the history, geology and culture of the lake communities in English and Spanish (including a video).
6. Art Gallery
   • There are art galleries in Panajachel (La Galeria and Casa Cakchiquel) and the other towns, but we especially loved popping into the ones in San Juan along the main street up from the dock. One artist told us about the styles of different members of his family on display. FYI: We noticed paintings were less expensive in smaller towns compared to Panajachel.
7. Weaving Demo
   • At Kemo’ Asociacion in San Juan, there were women demonstrating backstrap weaving and sharing information. A weaver shared that it takes a month to make a table runner and a week to make a scarf. Wow.
   • Other options in San Juan: Casa Flor Ixcaco, TinteMaya, and Lema’ Weaving Cooperative and in San Pedro: Teixchel Weaving Association and Atitlan Women Weavers Co-op.
8. Tuk Tuk ride
   • These motorized tricycle cabs are a must-do experience at least once. Each one fits up to three people. Beep means “Do you want a ride?” TIP: Ask the amount before hopping in so you’re prepared when it’s time to get out. It was about 10Q each for our rides around.
9. Restaurant with a View
   • There are restaurants along the Panajachel shore with great views like Atitlan Restaurant, Restaurante Atiteca, and Restaurante Xocomil. The Little Spoon has a great rooftop view and delicious tacos. Our favorite restaurant with a view was Sababa in San Pedro because the food was on a completely different level of delicious!
10. Fresh Tortillas
    • Along the shore part of Calle Santander there are several stalls of people making fresh tortillas. We purchased three for 1Q and snacked on them while walking around.

How We Use Choice Cards

Choice Cards are an important way that we include our kids in the planning for a trip. Each card contains one of the main activities the family might want to do unique to a place. Then we add extra cards for general activities that we know the kids might want to do: playground, ice cream, swim, etc.

The night before or in the morning, we show the kids the pre-selected cards that would work for the day. Then let them help make the itinerary. Since adults have already removed cards that aren’t a good fit, all choices are good choices!

Benefits of this strategy:

• reduces whining (When they know what’s happening and help select it, kids complain less.)
• kids developing decision-making skills (Since we’ll be in this area, we can also…)
• allows opportunity for compromise (If we do your choice today, can we do my choice tomorrow?)

Pro tip: make a schedule (draw or write) and include what they’ll need to be ready to go (water bottle, hiking boots, snack, etc.) This increases their responsibility and reduces nagging. I’m not kidding. Try it. It’s a game-changer.

The activities on these Lake Atitlan Choice Cards worked for us and I know your family will enjoy them too. Download and print your own today for just $2.99!

Additional Lake Atitlan Tips:

• Be aware that the roads to and from Lake Atitlan are curvy. Place kids near windows, with air flow, and avoid reading or videos. Prepare by having snacks, water, napkins, & a plastic bag available.
• Feeling dehydrated? Order a cimaronna (lime juice, mineral water, salt). It comes with a salted rim. It’s so refreshing.
• If your kids need a haircut, search for a barbero or peluquería. Kids got cool haircuts at Barbero Silvano for 20Q each (yeah- that’s $3!).

Add a Comment: Which activity was your favorite in Lake Atitlan?