What to do and see in Peten Department, Peten Department: The Best Things to do

December 9, 2021 Kandra Bartel

Discover the best top things to do in Peten Department, Guatemala including Temple IV, Great Plaza, Yaxha, Tikal, El Mirador, Ixpanpajul Nature Park, Estacion Biologica Las Guacamayas, Ruinas de Uaxactun, Jorge's Rope Swing, Catedral de Flores.
Restaurants in Peten Department

1. Temple IV

Tikal National Park Guatemala
Excellent
87%
Good
12%
Satisfactory
1%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 788 reviews

Temple IV

If you're up for an energetic climb, ascend the wooden stairs to the top of this 212-foot structure, the highest in Tikal, for a magnificent view of the jungle below.

Reviewed By 73valh

We went here with a tour group. We had a guided tour at this place and it was very insightful. We were able to climb a couple of the temples. They have made their own wooden steps to get to ALMOST the top. The views are incredible.

2. Great Plaza

Tikal National Park Guatemala
Excellent
89%
Good
10%
Satisfactory
1%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 493 reviews

Great Plaza

Once the ceremonial, religious and social center of Tikal, this plaza is surrounded by huge temples, a palace, sculpted altars and a ball court.

Reviewed By RobertAleksandrowicz - San Jose, United States

The space littered with stelae and altars between Temples I and II on the east-west axis and between the North Acropolis and the place complex on the north-south axis is the Great Plaza, or the new downtown of Tikal because it was built relatively late in its history. What most visitors don't realize is that this plaza is built on a platform that's at least 4 meters high, and from this platform rise the temples and palaces around. The Great Plaza is a must-see for anyone visiting Tikal. Make sure to check the acoustics, but don't just clap. Stand in the middle of the plaza and face directly at the temple I, then the North Acropolis, then Temple 2. Each one will echo your clap.

3. Yaxha

National Park, Peten Guatemala +502 5966 2315 http://mcd.gob.gt/yaxha
Excellent
82%
Good
17%
Satisfactory
2%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 379 reviews

Yaxha

Reviewed By 312darshanh - Columbus, United States

On our last free day in Flores, we took a sunset tour to Yaxha National Park with the help of our guide Francisco Florián Escobar. Until our trip we didn’t know Yaxha was the third largest Mayan ruin and was situated in the heart of the rainforest of Guatemala. Francisco was very entertaining and very knowledgeable. He even showed us spider monkeys and grey haired fox. He was also telling us about how Mayan cities were built and how they varied from region to region due to the location of stars. At the end of the trip, we did enjoy a beautiful sunset on top of the Mayan temple.

4. Tikal

Selva Tropical 100 Flores, Departamento de El Petén, Tikal National Park 17013 Guatemala
Excellent
89%
Good
8%
Satisfactory
1%
Poor
0%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 1,011 reviews

Tikal

Reviewed By trvlwannab - Charlotte, United States

First, please allow me to promote Tikal Go, a tour company that provides standard and custom tours of Tikal. They did a great job for us & we highly recommend them. The ruins are among the best in the world. We’ve been to several of the more famous ones in Mexico, Peru, the UK, Italy, etc. If you appreciate historic archeological structures, find a way to go to Tikal….you won’t be disappointed. The sheer number of structures is amazing. They are in various stages of the way they were originally found to fully restored. I believe there are 6 major “pyramids”. We climbed to the top of 4 of them. In fact, you can explore inside & climb on almost all the structures. It is an awesome site from the top of the tallest pyramid, looking out over the top of the tree canopy to see the tops of 4 other pyramids peeking out from the canopy. Restrooms and small huts selling cold drinks are scattered through the expansive property. We especially enjoyed the opportunity to walk thru the mostly shady terrain as we explored. There is a main entrance building that has a restaurant, bathrooms & vendors. Other than that, there may be 1 or 2 more vendors as you start out on the path, but we appreciated not having a large number of vendors in the ruins area. We had brought umbrellas to protect us from the sun or potential rain, but never opened them. We did apply ample bug-spray and were never bothered. Near the end of our tour (not at the entrance/exit, but still in the jungle) we ate at a nice restaurant that was a much-needed break after our long walking tour. They had a nice lunch and refreshing cold water towels to put on the back of our necks. While it takes a little time to get to Tikal, it is worth the effort. I think they have a small local airport, but we drove in from the Belize/Guatemala border near San Ignacio. It is about 1 & ½ drive to the ruins. Since we were staying in Belize City the day before, we elected to spend the night in Isla de Flores. It is a wonderful little island, with many nice hotels and restaurants about an hour from Tikal.

5. El Mirador

Guatemala
Excellent
79%
Good
9%
Satisfactory
4%
Poor
4%
Terrible
4%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 139 reviews

El Mirador

This ancient Mayan city flourished from 200 BCE to 150 CE, but is largely unseen due to its inaccessibility in the jungle.

Reviewed By HaleyR51 - Colorado, United States

We booked the private 5-day jungle trek to El Mirador, in the heart of the Mayan Biosphere Reserve, with the Cooperativa Carmelita Tour Operator in the small community of Carmelita. We had a fantastic time visiting the archaeological sites of El Tintal, El Mirador, and La Florida. Our local guide, Juan Carlos, was exceptional! He was very knowledgable about Mayan culture and history and also about the flora and fauna we saw along the way (howler and spider monkeys, wild turkeys, coatimundis, grey foxes, jaguar and tapir footprints, and birds galore). We also took along an English speaking guide and friend of ours, Elmer Alvarado (with Tikal VIP Tours), and we highly recommend him as well.

6. Ixpanpajul Nature Park

Km. 468, Flores 17001 Guatemala +502 4146 7557 [email protected]
Excellent
51%
Good
33%
Satisfactory
14%
Poor
1%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 132 reviews

Ixpanpajul Nature Park

Reviewed By Kencor66

There is a fantastic canopy walk, six suspension bridges. Zip line through the canopy. Shuttle available from Flores. Staff all amazingly friendly and helpful. A bit pricey, but well worth it!!

7. Estacion Biologica Las Guacamayas

Avenida 15 de Marzo, Flores 17001 Guatemala +502 5699 3735 [email protected] http://www.lasguacamayas.org
Excellent
75%
Good
15%
Satisfactory
8%
Poor
0%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 40 reviews

Estacion Biologica Las Guacamayas

Reviewed By DominicStalder - Bern, Switzerland

We did the "Expedition exploring the rainforest (3 days / 2 nights)" tour and it was amazing, the nature in the Parque National Laguna del Tigre and around the Estación Biológica Las Guacamayas is just amazing. We loved the different activities, the trekking and to stay at the lodge itself: the staff is so lovely, the rooms are simple and big but with a lot of nice details (depending in which „animal“ room you are located…) and the food is just delicious! Our guides Cornelio (bilingual, primary English for us) and Romulo (Spanish) were great, these guys know the flora and fauna at this national park and they have passion for it, a lot of passion! We thank the whole team at Estación Biológica Las Guacamayas for three great days and absolutely recommend to go there.

8. Ruinas de Uaxactun

Al Norte de Tikal 23 km, Flores 17001 Guatemala
Excellent
69%
Good
25%
Satisfactory
7%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 134 reviews

Ruinas de Uaxactun

Reviewed By Brooklet425 - Staunton, United States

We weren't really sure what to expect from Uaxactun, but this truly ended up being one of the highlights of our trip to Central America. We were staying at a hotel in Tikal National Park (The Jungle Lodge Hotel) and they arranged for their driver to take us up to Uaxactun (which is technically in the park boundaries.) The hotel charged us $80 USD for this, which we initially thought was a little expensive, but after seeing the road conditions that the driver had to drive on, and the amount of time that he spent with just the two of us, it really was worth the price. The hotel had also sent the driver to the park entrance, with copies of our passports, to buy us tickets to go to Uaxactun. We paid for the tickets, but there was no extra charge for the driver getting the tickets for us and we thought that was really nice. The drive from Tikal to Uaxactun is about a 20 mile (45ish minutes) ride on a poorly maintained dirt road, and then all of a sudden you are in a small village in the middle of the Guatemalan jungle, with Mayan ruins on opposite sides of the village. The two sides of town are separated by a large strip of land that we found out is an old landing strip. At one point Wrigley's Chewing Gum had used the trees in this area to make their gum, and the landing strip was from when they were set up there. We thought that was an interesting piece of history. As for the rest of the town, we absolutely loved the fact that there was no one else at the ruins when we were there. On one hand, I think it would be great if more people chose to visit this site. But on the other hand, having the place to ourselves was wonderful. We toured the first set of ruins mostly by ourselves. Our driver from the hotel wasn't a tour guide, but he walked around with us and gave us a few pieces of information that he knew. Uaxactun is significant because it has the ruins of ancient Mayan astrological pyramids. From what we understand, archeologists basically ignored this site initially because they didn't think it was as significant as some other sites. Once the astrological pyramids were discovered, they started paying more attention to it. The astrological observatory is said to be the earliest known astrological observatory in the Mayan world. When we were done with the first set of ruins, our driver took us to the other side of town to see more ruins. At this point, a young boy from the village appeared and started following us around at a distance. Eventually he came up to us and asked us if we wanted to buy a small carved jaguar that he had with him. He ended up walking around with us and showing us some places that we wouldn't have noticed on our own. Things like a natural air conditioner (hole in the ground that has cool air flowing through it), and a view from the top of one of the pyramids that overlooked the whole town. He didn't ask for any money for showing us around, but we ended up giving him $100 GTQ (about $14 USD) for the tour and for the souvenir jaguar. So if you're visiting these ruins and a young boy named Jeffrey appears and offers you a tour - take his tour! He wasn't pushy at all and was very respectful. He didn't speak English, but we were really impressed by his ability to communicate with us by speaking slowly and using hand gestures. He had the whole customer service thing down pat! He was really proud to be from Uaxactun and he knew a lot about the ruins themselves. All this to say that if you have the time, then definitely visit these ruins. Take the time to walk around, and walk on any of the pyramids that allow you to. There are so many hidden nooks and crannies in the structures that you can't see from the ground, and the view of the town from the top of the largest structure was really nice. Our impromptu tour guide Jeffrey called the view "La cima del mundo" - the top of the world :-). One tip that I wish we had known prior to visiting: Make sure that you have some cash on you in varying amounts. The village of Uaxactun is VERY small and the ruins aren't visited by many people. When you arrive, the local people WILL notice that you're there. At the first set of ruins, a local lady saw us arrive and set herself up with small souvenirs that we had to pass on our way out. We were the only ones there so we found it extremely hard to say "no" to what she was selling. Its much easier to walk past someone when there are lots of other people around, but not so easy when you are the only ones there. We knew that she was there because she had seen us arrive and we would have felt like jerks if we just walked past her and ignored her. We only had larger bills with us so we ended up buying two pairs of earrings that I didn't really want or need and some of the local chewing gum made from the trees in the area (that was actually kind of neat). When we met up with Jeffrey on the other side of town, he only asked for what amounted to about $4 USD for the jaguar trinket, but again, we only had larger bills with us and we ended up giving him about $14 USD. In total, we spent about $20 that we didn't intend on spending. It wasn't much, and certainly wasn't the end of the world, but it would have been nice to have been prepared with smaller amounts of money since a US Dollar goes really far in this area of Guatemala. The locals that we met here were extremely friendly and respectful and we didn't feel pressured to buy anything from them, but again, we would have felt really bad if we just ignored them. So make sure you have some cash on you in small amounts when you go here. I wish that we had had more time to spend in the village. It's a place that I would like to go back to one day in order to explore more of the town. We noticed at least one restaurant as we drove around and I think there is also a campground or small hotel in the town too (unsure if its a campground or a hotel or something in between).

9. Jorge's Rope Swing

North Shore, Flores Guatemala +502 3196 3196 http://www.facebook.com/jorgeropeswing/
Excellent
75%
Good
18%
Satisfactory
6%
Poor
1%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 102 reviews

Jorge's Rope Swing

Reviewed By IsabelleWestra - Utrecht, The Netherlands

We spent a great and fun afternoon here! Took a lancha over there from Flores for 40 quetzales (return per person). The entrance is 10 quetzales and they sell drinks and nacho and even pasta. There's a jumping platform and a couple of rope swings, very fun to play around with. Bear in mind that the Los Amigos party boat arrives around 15:15 - 15:30. If you want to enjoy the quietness, make sure you get there before that time.

10. Catedral de Flores

Flores Guatemala
Excellent
17%
Good
33%
Satisfactory
42%
Poor
8%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

3.5 based on 115 reviews

Catedral de Flores

Reviewed By Sergio327 - Flores, Guatemala

A classic colonial-style cathedral, it gives more impression by the fact that it is built on the top of the "hill" of Flores island. Which, in fact, is a huge pyramidal temple of Itza people. Every stone there has a history. It delivers more thrills to know the story of Tayasal - the last sity of old Mayan civilization... Besides that the place offers beautiful views of Peten Itza lake, especially on the sunsets.

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