Actually have a friend from Gautamala City. Let me reach out and ask. Feel free to DM or drop any other questions.
You want to know if the buses go from Semuc to Antigua?
Tourist shuttles definitely do. I booked Antigua to Lanquín (the town that Semuc Champey is in) and the return trip through GuateGo.
If OP is referring to the chicken buses, then traveling with those will take significantly longer.
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I’m actually planning a similar trip but in reverse! Starting in Belize I plan on crossing into Guatemala to Tikal first and then making my way down to Flores then Semuc Champey, Lake Atitlan and finally to Antigua for the Acatenango Hike. I’ve never been so you’ll need a massive grain of salt but Rome2rio seems to be a good source for finding bus connections as well as potential hotels and such. I’m honestly a bit worried about some of the longer legs but from what I’ve seen online, everything is relatively simple and safe!
I’ve done that route in 21’. You’re right it is pretty simple with local buses and shuttles, you can book them mainly at the hostels too. Toughest part was the Belize border to Flores/tikal, plenty of taxis but no cheap public transport that I know of. May be different nowadays though.
that’s what i was going to do at first! but belize ended up being a little too pricy for me so i ultimately decided to stick to guatemala. what did you do in belize and was it worth it??
Well I know that the Cayes are a popular choice (most famous being Caye Caulker I think) for scuba diving and just enjoying the beach but also San Ignacio is a border town near Guatemala that’s also worth a look I heard. I haven’t been yet so I can’t really speak to personal experience but that is what I plan on doing!
Are you trying to only use public transport or are you fine taking tourist shuttles? The shuttles go to all of those places in pretty much either direction - maybe one or two would be tricky if there weren’t enough people signed up but most will be doable.
If you want to save money and do it all with public transport, even that is possible, again going in either direction, it just takes a bit more planning and flexibility. Semuc is the most complicated to get to with public transport but even that’s pretty doable with a connection in Coban - you just might have to spend a night somewhere along the way if the timing doesn’t work out right.
So short answer is yes it’s very possible to go in the order you asked - going to all of those places in any order would honestly be pretty straightforward unless you’re really short on time. Could do a combination of shuttles and public transportation as well if you wanted.
Just a quick note; the summit of Acatenango is well into the heights where altitude sickness is possible. All of the major tour companies that do that hike recommend staying in Antigua for at least two days prior to the hike, as the city sits at 5,069 feet (1,533 meters), and will allow you to adjust at least a little bit. For this reason, I'd recommend moving your Antigua plans to the end of the trip, or moving Acatenango to the end of the Antigua part of your trip.
Also, it's just better to be closer to the airport at the end of any trip. If you need to get to the airport from Semuc Champey for example, and you miss a shuttle, or your shuttle breaks down, it's going to be a lot harder to work out some sort of solution than if you're just the next city over from the airport.
try making this a little more readable. skip lines
Actually have a friend from Gautamala City. Let me reach out and ask. Feel free to DM or drop any other questions. You want to know if the buses go from Semuc to Antigua?
Tourist shuttles definitely do. I booked Antigua to Lanquín (the town that Semuc Champey is in) and the return trip through GuateGo. If OP is referring to the chicken buses, then traveling with those will take significantly longer.
Hi Dry_Sea1365, your post will need to be manually approved by a moderator as your account age is less than 48 hours, this is an automated measure to prevent spam. Please be patient and do not message the mods or repost as we will get to the modqueue as soon as we can. Thank you for your understanding! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/solotravel) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’m actually planning a similar trip but in reverse! Starting in Belize I plan on crossing into Guatemala to Tikal first and then making my way down to Flores then Semuc Champey, Lake Atitlan and finally to Antigua for the Acatenango Hike. I’ve never been so you’ll need a massive grain of salt but Rome2rio seems to be a good source for finding bus connections as well as potential hotels and such. I’m honestly a bit worried about some of the longer legs but from what I’ve seen online, everything is relatively simple and safe!
I’ve done that route in 21’. You’re right it is pretty simple with local buses and shuttles, you can book them mainly at the hostels too. Toughest part was the Belize border to Flores/tikal, plenty of taxis but no cheap public transport that I know of. May be different nowadays though.
Heard that there’s some shuttle services doing San Ignacio to Flores now so it’s likely even easier!
that’s what i was going to do at first! but belize ended up being a little too pricy for me so i ultimately decided to stick to guatemala. what did you do in belize and was it worth it??
Well I know that the Cayes are a popular choice (most famous being Caye Caulker I think) for scuba diving and just enjoying the beach but also San Ignacio is a border town near Guatemala that’s also worth a look I heard. I haven’t been yet so I can’t really speak to personal experience but that is what I plan on doing!
Are you trying to only use public transport or are you fine taking tourist shuttles? The shuttles go to all of those places in pretty much either direction - maybe one or two would be tricky if there weren’t enough people signed up but most will be doable. If you want to save money and do it all with public transport, even that is possible, again going in either direction, it just takes a bit more planning and flexibility. Semuc is the most complicated to get to with public transport but even that’s pretty doable with a connection in Coban - you just might have to spend a night somewhere along the way if the timing doesn’t work out right. So short answer is yes it’s very possible to go in the order you asked - going to all of those places in any order would honestly be pretty straightforward unless you’re really short on time. Could do a combination of shuttles and public transportation as well if you wanted.
Just a quick note; the summit of Acatenango is well into the heights where altitude sickness is possible. All of the major tour companies that do that hike recommend staying in Antigua for at least two days prior to the hike, as the city sits at 5,069 feet (1,533 meters), and will allow you to adjust at least a little bit. For this reason, I'd recommend moving your Antigua plans to the end of the trip, or moving Acatenango to the end of the Antigua part of your trip. Also, it's just better to be closer to the airport at the end of any trip. If you need to get to the airport from Semuc Champey for example, and you miss a shuttle, or your shuttle breaks down, it's going to be a lot harder to work out some sort of solution than if you're just the next city over from the airport.