Lake Atitlán: for a room with a fabulous view

Aldous Huxley said it was as beautiful as Lake Como but with the added bonus of being surrounded by immense volcanoes. I’m paraphrasing what he actually said, of course, but he was right on the money. Those volcanoes do make a difference, and I think Guatemala’s stunningly picturesque Lake Atitlán is hard to beat.

There’s something uniquely calming about a beautiful lake that makes you breathe deeply, exhale slowly and relax. As soon as I spotted the hammocks in the hotel garden overlooking the lake, I knew where I wanted to spend a fair amount of my time there. Not least because it was a respite from Panajachel, which is probably the busiest of the lakeside villages at any time, but completely overrun during holiday periods like Semana Santa (Easter) when I visited.

The Pana I experienced was certainly full on with scantily clad promotional girls from competing beer brands, Gallo and Brahva, in evidence all up and down the main street, Calle Santander. It runs from the Lake Atitlán lakeshore to the top of the town and is lined with market stalls overflowing with colour. The products for sale are piled high and pretty much the same on every stall, so it’s hard to imagine how they’ll all get sold. But there seemed to be a steady trade well into the late evening.

Down at the lakeshore, there’s a busy line of stalls and restaurants, many with a great view, which you can probably relax and enjoy more as you get further away from the town.

What to see and do around Lake Atitlán

Pana’s main attraction, apart from the shopping and lakeside promenade, is the availability of boat tours to get out onto Lake Atitlán and to visit some of the other villages on its shores. You can pick up a boat down at the pier, but it’s pretty chaotic with a multitude of people vying for the trade. Another, probably less stressful option is to go to one of the travel shops in town and book a lake tour that will take you to three or four of the villages, spending an hour or so in each. Prices can vary a bit, so it’s worth shopping around. Good ones I came across were Atitrans and Adrenalina Tours, both in Calle Santander.

Interestingly, the Lake Atitlán villages are quite different to one another, particularly neighbouring San Juan de Laguna and San Pedro de Laguna. San Juan is lovely. Pretty and quiet with stalls selling woven goods, a nice selection of galleries and some weaving co-operatives. These are close to the dock, and if you’re on a tour of several villages, you could easily spend your whole time in them. But it’s worth exploring further into the village to get a feel for the local lifestyle.

A short boat ride or a 2km drive away, San Pedro is much livelier. Popular with backpackers and language learners, it’s known as a party place, and there are stacks of cheap places to stay. I’d been put off staying here because of this, but when I visited, it seemed there was more of a mixed crowd and great options for eating and drinking. I passed a couple of museums on my walk around the village too, and as it’s at the base of the San Pedro volcano, hikes were also on offer.

The final stop on my lake tour was the biggest of the Lake Atitlán villages, Santiago de Atitlán. Following the first two visits, I was surprised at how much more workaday it seemed. Some of the buildings were pretty unattractive, and the road down to the dock was surprisingly unmade. Walking up from the dock is through a raft of market stalls, complete with fairly persistent hawkers. Once on the road, tuk-tuks abound, and if you want to see any of the village’s attractions, it’s best to jump in one as the distances are much greater than in the other villages.

I was keen to visit the church as it was the day before Good Friday and I knew work would be underway for the following day’s Easter celebrations. I also wanted to track down the evil saint Maximón. He moves around every year or so, but as it turned out, he was in a house next to the church, and our very helpful tuk-tuk driver was able to take us straight there.

The church itself was a hive of activity with lots of locals working to get ready for the following day’s procession through the town. It’s worth a visit at any time, though, as it is a wonderful old colonial church. There is lots of evidence of Maya religion, including rows of statues of saints wearing indigenous clothes.

So the Lake Atitlán villages were an interesting mix that would probably combine to provide the perfect place to stay – the quiet tranquillity of San Juan, the eating and drinking options of San Pedro and the sights of Santiago. Saying all of that though, I’m not sure any of them had quite as good a view of the lake as from Pana.

Where to eat, drink and sleep in Lake Atitlán

I’ve already mentioned our hotel gardens, hence its name Jardines del Lago. Its location is undoubtedly the hotel’s best asset, being right on Lake Atitlán and with large gardens to relax and enjoy the view. The rooms aren’t huge but fine, and ours faced the lake and had a couple of large comfortable chairs outside that were handy for watching the sun go down. The breakfast is very good with masses of fresh fruit, eggs cooked to order and of course a view of the lake.

There are plenty of places to eat and drink in Pana, but I wouldn’t go expecting a fantastic culinary experience. Having arrived from San Cristóbal in Mexico and Oaxaca before that, I’d had some fabulous Mexican food, and Pana fell a long way short. Saying that I discovered a lovely cafe, Deli Jasmín, which is set in a gorgeous patio garden complete with butterflies and hummingbirds. I had a great bagel for lunch, but they did offer more substantial dishes too. It’s at the bottom end of Calle Santander towards the pier, and there’s another branch with a different name but the same menu further up the road towards town. Another nice option is the Sunset Bar, also at the pier end, which has a good view, cocktails and decent fajitas. And Guajimbos, halfway along Calle Santander had surprisingly good fish, considering its main attraction is a huge parrilla for grilling vast amounts of meat!

So, on balance, I definitely think Lake Atitlán is worth a visit, though I probably wouldn’t want to stay in Pana again. But whether you’d get quite as good a lake view elsewhere, I really don’t know!

For more posts about my visit to Guatemala and neighbouring countries, visit the Central America section of my blog.