Quetzaltenango (Xela)

A city in Guatemala's western highlands known as Xela, packed with Spanish schools and surrounded by volcanoes, crater lakes and cloud-forest hot springs — a paradise for hikers.

Quetzaltenango (its old K'iche' Maya name is Xelajú, and locals simply call it Xela) is Guatemala's second-largest city, set in a basin in the western highlands at about 2,330 m and ringed by volcanoes including Santa María, Santiaguito and Cerro Quemado. The old town centers on Parque Central, surrounded by neoclassical stone buildings left over from the 19th-century coffee boom: the cathedral, the Municipal Palace, the Pasaje Enríquez arcade and the Municipal Theater; on the west side of town are the Temple of Minerva and an impressive cemetery. Xela is one of Central America's most popular places to learn Spanish, with low prices, few tourists and a more local feel than Antigua. Day trips fall into three routes: to the south, Zunil, Almolonga and the Fuentes Georginas hot springs; to the north, Salcajá, the colorful church of San Andrés Xecul and the huge Friday market in San Francisco El Alto; and to the west, the Chicabal crater lake. Most hikers come for sunrise on Santa María Volcano; fit hikers can tackle Tajumulco, the highest peak in Central America (an overnight trip), and there is also a classic three-day trek to Lake Atitlán. Climate: at this altitude, mornings and evenings are cool year-round, and nights can drop below 5°C; the Nov–Apr dry season is clear and best for climbing, while the May–Oct rainy season mostly brings afternoon showers. Getting there: long-distance buses or shuttles from Guatemala City or Antigua take about 4–5 hours; surrounding towns and villages are served by brightly painted "chicken buses" and minibuses, which are cheap but crowded. Plan on 3–5 days, and always hike the volcanoes with a licensed guide.

Top sights

• Parque Centroamérica – The central square of Xela's old town, surrounded by the cathedral, city hall and 19th-century neoclassical stone buildings.
• Santa María Volcano – A perfectly cone-shaped volcano at 3,772 meters. Hikers climb before dawn to watch the sunrise and look down on the eruptions of the active…
• Laguna Chicabal – A crater lake surrounded by cloud forest, sacred to the Mam Maya people, where ceremonies are often held on the shore.
• Fuentes Georginas – Natural volcanic hot spring pools in a cloud-forest valley, surrounded by ferns and mist. It is Xela's most classic place to relax.
• San Andrés Xecul Church – Guatemala's most famous painted church, its bright yellow façade covered with Mayan-style angels, animals and plant reliefs.
• Cathedral of the Holy Spirit – A cathedral on the east side of Central Park, retaining the surviving colonial-era Baroque facade, with a modern main building behind it.
• Municipal Theatre of Quetzaltenango – A neoclassical theater completed in 1895, with a colonnaded facade and a horseshoe-shaped auditorium that are the pride of the city.
• Pasaje Enríquez – A glass-roofed arcade from the early 20th century on the west side of Central Park, now home to bars and cafés, and a nightlife hub.
• Quetzaltenango General Cemetery – A large cemetery filled with ornate tombs and pyramid-shaped mausoleums, an open-air architectural museum built by 19th-century coffee merc…
• Temple of Minerva – A Greek-style temple built in the 1910s by dictator Cabrera to honor the goddess of wisdom, located in a small park on the west side of the…
• Museo Ixkik' del Traje Maya – A privately run museum of Maya traditional dress, showing the woven patterns of highland villages and what they signify when worn.
• Casa de la Cultura & Natural History Museum – An old-fashioned museum in a neoclassical building on the south side of Central Park, displaying Maya artifacts, specimens and city history.
• Cerro El Baúl – A wooded hill park east of the city, with a summit viewing platform overlooking the entire Xela basin and the surrounding volcanoes.
• Santiaguito Volcano Viewpoint – A viewpoint on the southern ridge of Santa María volcano, offering close-up views of the active Santiaguito dome and its regular eruptions.
• Zunil – A K’iche’ Maya town in a valley, with a white colonial church, green vegetable fields and the shrine house of the folk deity San Simón.
• Almolonga Market – A Maya town known as the “Vegetable Garden of the Americas,” where markets are piled high with giant carrots and cabbages in intensely vivi…
• San Francisco El Alto Market – One of the largest open-air markets in Central America, where streets and the hillside livestock market fill up every Friday.
• Ermita La Conquistadora, Salcajá – A chapel said to be the oldest Catholic church in Central America (1524), in a town also known for handwoven textiles and fruit liqueurs.
• Tajumulco Volcano – Central America’s highest peak at 4,220 m, where a two-day, one-night camping trek from Xela ends with a summit sunrise.
• Los Vahos – A natural sauna on the slope south of town, using volcanic geothermal steam, surrounded by pine forest and reachable on foot.
• Cerro Quemado (Almolonga Volcano) – A lava dome volcano group south of the city, where a half-day hike crosses lava terrain with views over Xela and Santa María volcano.
• Riscos de Momostenango – Beside the wool-weaving town of Momostenango, eroded sand-and-earth pinnacles rise like spires. The area is protected as a national park.

Where to eat

• Tertulianos Restaurant Museum – A restaurant and museum in the Italianate historic house Villa Lesbia; widely regarded in Xela as the best and priciest…
• Restaurante Flor Maya – A family restaurant beside El Calvario church, widely regarded as the best place in Xela for pepián, jocón and corn tam…
• Café Baviera – A long-established café beside the Parque Central, a classic in Xela for German and Guatemalan-style baked goods and br…
• Salón Tecún – An old bar in the Pasaje Enríquez arcade, a meeting place for Xela locals and students, often with live music.
• El Sabor de la India – An Indian restaurant a few blocks from the Parque Central; its chicken masala and vegetarian curries are popular with s…

Itineraries

• Western Highlands Markets & Xela to Lake Atitlan Trek – Based in Quetzaltenango (Xela), explore highland markets and volcanoes, then embark on a 3-day trek down to Lake Atitla…