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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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
Gloria
Mar 17, 2023
Interesting Tour About the Mayans, Jade, and Antiqua. - We loved our trip through the countryside to view the Iximche ruins of the Mayans and then to the old town of Antiqua. Our guide, Michael Angelo, was extremely knowledgeable about everything at the ruins, and we enjoyed his enthusiasm to share this information with us. He then took us to a lovely restaurant in Antiqua for lunch, and we also saw some very old historical churches and had an interesting jade museum/store tour. I would recommend this trip to anyone who loves history, culture, or jade.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Chandra_g
Jan 10, 2023
A great way to spend the day - We had a great time! Carmen was an amazing tour guide. She picked us up in Guatemala City then we picked up the other group in Antigua. She was very flexible in terms of giving us time for quick stop (restroom and snack) before we got to Iximche. She is incredibly knowledgeable about the site and the history and culture. She also brought us to see a coffee growing operation and then the restaurant where we had lunch was amazing. The tour of Antigua was also really informative and really fun. Carmen in particular was very friendly, fun, and gave us great advice for the rest of our trip. I highly recommend this tour as a great way to see Iximche and Antigua, especially if you are staying in Guatemala city.
Review provided by Viator
Judith_p
Dec 30, 2022
Excellent day tour with Merko to Iximché Ruins and Antigua City - This was an excellent tour with lots of great information given with humor and great patience. The Iximché Ruins were an eye opener. The Antigua City tour revealed many unexpected visuals. We would highly recommend our guide, Merko.
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
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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