Enjoy a fun adventure into Antigua City to see the best highlights of this colonial city. Experience the handcrafted process of making coffee that Guatamala is famous for!
You will meet your professional English speaking tour guide outside your Puerto Quetzal cruise port. You will board the comfortable, air-conditioned transportation for a 90-minute drive to La Azotea, a distinctive rural coffee plantation founded in 1883. Here you will have 2 hours of a guided walk through the shaded plantation observing coffee plants in their various stages of growth. Colorful exhibits and dioramas will tell the story of coffee explaining the growing and processing. You will stroll through an active mill powered by a water wheel leading to the shop where you can sample several aromatic flavors with a local farmer and make a purchase or two to take home.
After a short 10 minute drive from La Azotea, you will arrive in beautiful Antigua with its alluring colonial charm. A place of rare beauty, major historical significance, and vibrant culture, Antigua remains Guatemala's must-visit destination. A former capital, the city boasts an impressive catalog of colonial relics in a magnificent setting. Streets lined with pastel facades unfold beneath three volcanoes. Many old religious and civic structures are beautifully renovated, while others retain tumbledown charm, with fragments strewn about park-like grounds.
Alongside your engaging local guide, you will learn about the colorful history of this UNESCO World Heritage Site marveling at its cobblestone streets, ruined churches, and beautifully restored homes. Founded in 1543 and abandoned in 1773, Antigua has reemerged into a delightful metropolitan area. You will marvel at landmarks such as Santo Domingo Convent and Church of La Merced, then browse the stalls of local open-air markets brimming with color and vitality. Upon completion of the guided portion of this excursion, you will have time on your own to further discover what makes Antigua a hidden gem. Your guide can point you in the direction of cafes, shops and other highlights you might want to visit.
At the conclusion of your excursion, you will be returned, in plenty of time to your Puerto Quetzal cruise port.
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