Guatemala's Semana Santa (Holy Week)

Witness the magnificent pageantry of Semana Santa in charming Antigua, Guatemala, where the Holy Week celebration is larger and more elaborate than anywhere else in this hemisphere. Citizens of all ages join together each day between Palm Sunday and Easter to carpet the streets with intricate designs of flower petals and pine needles. Thousands of purple-robed celebrants carry enormous floats on the carpeted streets from dawn to dusk. The fervor, emotion, color and religiosity are intense, and in every aspect they reflect the unique blend of indigenous tradition and Roman Catholicism that defines Guatemala.

On this JOURNEYS Festival Trip, you first spend four days in the gorgeous volcanic highlands, based in a hotel on the shores of Lake Atitlan. Visit Mayan villages. Meet healers, weavers and artisans. Explore the markets of Solala and Chichicastenango. Then bring the insights gleaned from this immersion in traditional Guatemala to the climactic four days in Antigua. We are pleased to offer you very select hotel reservations, which are exceedingly difficult to obtain within a year of a Holy Week trip. Your lovely small hotel in Antigua, just a short walk from the procession routes, offers a quiet courtyard and garden for a respite from the festivities.