Iximché Mayan Ruins and Historical Antigua City: An Exploration of Guatemala's Rich Past
4.5
41 Ratings
Tecpan
Explore the rich past of Guatemala with a visit to the Iximché Mayan ruins and the historical city of Antigua. Discover the fascinating blend of Mayan and Spanish influences on this 8-hour tour, led by expert guides. Perfect for the whole family!
Duration: 9 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Iximche - Visit Iximche ruins located in the dusty town of Tecpan. You’ll explore the famous archeological site with your knowledgeable guide, who will take you past ceremonial plazas, towering temples and ancient ball courts. Many of the sites you’ll see date back as far as 1400 BC. Spend a couple of hours exploring the grounds before heading to Antigua.
  • The Plaza Central Park - Visit Palacio de Los Capitanes Generales and Palacio Real del Ayuntamiento.
  • Iglesia de La Merced - La Merced is a baroque church in Antigua. Its facade is one of the most beautiful in Guatemala. The cross in stone at the atrium and the rooms behind the main altar are the oldest structures in La Merced and date from the seventeenth century.
  • Arco de Santa Catalina - Follow your guide to the arch of Santa Catalina—one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks—and learn about the Santa Catalina Convent that was once stationed here.
  • Iglesia de San Francisco El Grande - San Francisco el Grande is a church in Antigua Guatemala and one of the most frequented sanctuaries by the local population because of the shrine of Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur (Santo Hermano Pedro).
  • Casa del Jade - Visit Jade Museum, where you’ll find local craftsmen carving this beautiful green stone.
What's Included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Professional guide
What's Not Included
  • Food and drinks
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

See Guatemala’s mixture of Mayan and Spanish influences on this 8-hour tour from Guatemala City to the Iximch ruins and the city of Antigua. Learn about Mayan history from your expert guide as you explore the archeological site of Iximch. Then, move on to the Spanish colonial city of Antigua, where you’ll see some of its most famous sites, including San Francisco Church, Calle del Arco, La Merced Church and Plaza Central. This historical day trip is perfect for the whole family!

Location
Iximche
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.5
(41 Ratings)
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Lucherylow
May 22, 2024
Mirko was an excellent guide - Enjoyed our tour with Mirko who spoke very good English. He gave us many facts about the history, culture and politics of Guatemala. The tour duration was good, with half day spent in Antigua and the other half part at the Iximche archeological ruins.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jaime_c
May 16, 2024
Goord historical site - Nice place to visit in a day. Friendly driver Useful time to visit Highly recommended, Is expensive the amount they charge
Review provided by Viator
William_j
Mar 14, 2024
Amazing day trip! - The city of Antigua was amazing, we totally loved the experience and would definitely rebook! The drive was smooth and the lunch was delicious.
Review provided by Viator
Sueann_l
Jan 22, 2024
Antigua + Iximche - Mirko was an amazing guide, safe driver & helpful/knowledgeable person! We really enjoyed our time in Antigua & spent just enough time at the ruins. Unexpected surprise: We booked this tour on a Sunday, so traffic turned out to be really light, allowing us more time at the sites & less time on the road. A great day trip!
Review provided by Viator
Nadia_a
Jan 15, 2024
Amazing Experience!! - Excellent experience! Learned so much history and saw the beauty of Guatemala. It was truly an authentic and amazing experience! Thank you Oscar!
Review provided by Viator
David
May 1, 2023
Mayan Antigua - We had a Great day at the ruins Learn alot about the Mayan culture the different languages and tribes .Our tour guy Luis was awesome he explained everything during the ride
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Karolanne_k
Apr 4, 2023
Mirko was an excellent... - Mirko was an excellent tour guide! We had a great time. We had a yummy breakfast and lunch with his recommendations!
Review provided by Viator
Naoto_n
Mar 6, 2024
No jade shop please - Generally a good tour. But we were taken to a jade shop as usual. We are not interested in jade, so that was a waste of time. We wanted to visit another temple or monastery instead of the shop. On the other hand, Iximché Ruins is new for me. The guide explained and clarified the difference between classic and post classic eras of Mayan period. That helps us to understand what happened in this area.
Review provided by Viator
W4780lrjessical
Apr 27, 2024
Good Tour, Bad Isms (Sexism and Prejudice) - My husband and I went on a tour with Gustavo. He is a pretty good guy; he was very informative regarding history and culture. However, during the last bit of our trip, I think he got a little too comfortable with us and started to comment negatively on a woman’s body shape, he also talked badly about Californians which left a bad taste in my mouth as I have family there, but after reading a previous comment, it made sense as to why he doesn’t like Californians as he acted very unprofessional in one previous tour with Californians. He also started talking about tips, which made us feel compelled to leave a tip. Overall, would recommend the trip to a friend as long as sexism and discrimination is handled by management in the future.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Simona_s
Jul 7, 2023
Tour from hell - Our guide Carmen didn’t greet us by meeting in the morning but started immediately to belittle us like little children. To her our clothes and shoes are not good enough. Send my husband to get jeans because with his knee long shorts she claimed he can’t enter churches. turned out to not be true. I was wearing pants and an oversized T-shirt and had sneakers and a jacket in a bag with me. She asked multiple times if I was sure if I had both of them in the bag. We are in our 40s and well seasoned global travelers. We are informing our self ahead of times and we come prepared. When we started to drive she said phones away it a dangerous area but proceeded to drive with windows fully rolled down? She denied me to go get a bottle of water at a gas station where she was getting gas but drove us to a restaurant to purchase a bottle of water. So I asked her if this is a breakfast break and all I got was rude unclear answers. Short stop in Iximché with minimum of information and a lot of passive aggression. In Antigua it got only worse. Absolutely no information to the city or history. Only like: this is a monastery. Can we go in? No. This is a viewing point. Can we stop on the way back? No. Everything was no. "Stay here on your own and make pictures". Never offered us to make pictures so we had to ask bystanders and in the mean time she was running ahead. The Cathedrals San Pedro and San Jose been closed, so I asked why they are closed and when they will be open again. She said the priest is on lunch break between 12-15 o’clock. And opens when he wants. But 15:00 it will be closed for the day which was not true. They are opening again at 15:00 o’clock. Thanks google! So we insisted to go after the lunch break to see them. She took us with displeasure and dropped us off to go inside alone. Why take tourist to a UNESCO heritage side to deny them the showing of the heritage? But take us to a Starbucks to show a modern painting of a girl with a bird head? And take us to a chocolate shop and a jewellery? The city is filled with beautiful churches , museums , squares and charming side streets. But no. We got so frustrated with all that , that when we been back in the car we read out loud the Wikipedia page of Antigua. We got more information than she told us. To top all this the whole ride from 7:00 till 17:00 o’clock it was silence in the car. No radio and of course 0 information about Guatemala. She was mute all the time. It feet like a long taxi ride. Only on the last hour of the drive back she made the radio on. Tourism and customer service are not for her. She need strongly to to work on her personal skills. We could have a way better time with renting a car on our own and Wikipedia. Yes, that bad was it.
Review provided by Viator
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June 2024
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