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Coban Tourist Places to Visit in Coban, Guatemala, America

Coban is the capital city of Alta Verapaz department in Guatemala, located about 160 km north of Guatemala City is a popular eco-tourism site well surrounded by national parks, caves, waterfalls and coffee plantations. El Calvario Church is the major tourist attraction in Coban.

Geography of Coban:

Coban is placed 1320 meters above sea level, between 15°29′0″ N latitude and 90°22′0″ W longitude covering an area of 2,132 sq. km.

History of Coban:

Coban was established in the year 1543 by Dominican friars and it was nicknamed ‘Ciudad Imperial’ (Imperial City) by Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. According to one historical source, the name Coban takes from ‘Cob An’ means ‘foggy place’.

Coban geared up towards development during the end of 19^th century after the arrival of German coffee growers. German club and German school were established in Coban in 1888 and 1935 respectively.

Connectivity to Coban:

Coban Airport is situated 4 km away from the heart of the city and other nearby airports includes Los Tablones Airport, Rubelsanto Airport and Playa Grande Airport. La Aurora International Airport is located around 165 km away from Coban.

Monja Blanca bus service is useful to reach Coban from Guatemala City and it takes around four hours and costs 55 Quetzales per way.

From Quiche is another way to reach Coban and there are frequent microbuses plying between Quiche and Coban and they pass through Sacapulas and Uspantin before arriving at Coban. It takes more time than Guatemala City way, around 6 hours.

Culture, Food and Shopping in Coban:

La Fiesta Nacional Indigena de Guatemala is a festival of Guatemala celebrated by all the region people of the country in the end of July annually including Coban. Fiesta Titular and the International Half-Marathon of Coban are other events held in Coban.

Coban hosts small crafts market in the heart of the city in every Sunday and Huipil clothes are very special here. The major food corners in Coban are:

• Equinoccio
• El Meson
• La Abadia
• Cafe La Granja
• El Penascal

Things to do in Coban:

• Coffee Tour Chicoj
• Antik”s Antik”s Sports Bar
• Chirrepeco Cooperative Tea Tour
• Maya’ch Expeditions – Day Tours

Places to see in Coban:

El Calvario Church:

El Calvario Church is the most important landmark as well as tourist attraction in Coban. This most sacred site of the country draws pilgrimages throughout the year for its holiness. The terrace of the church is a great view point offering top views of entire city, Rocja Mountains and Xucaneb.

Plaza Magdalena:

Plaza Magdalena is a yellow painted big shopping mall known for its richness and different activities. It is best place to spend free time and to buy colorful modern products related to fashion and electronics.

Las Victorias National Park:

Las Victorias National Park is situated on the north-western outskirts of the Coban city is maintained by the National Forestry Institute and was declared as a national park in 1980, spans over an area of 82 hectares. Las Victorias houses rich local and exotic flora and fauna.

Other places of interest in Coban include:

• Principe Maya Archaeological Museum
• Dieseldorff coffee plantation
• San Jose la Colonia National Park
• Laguna Lachuá National Park
• Biotopo Mario Dary Rivera
• Vivero Verapaz

Best time to visit Coban:

Between November and April is the ideal time to visit Coban.

Accommodation Options in Coban:

Coban is well known for ecotourism as well as top class hotels and hostels. Casa d’Acuna is a very popular accommodation centre in Coban which is good in service and price. Generally mid range hotels in Coban charge around Q80 per night. List of prominent hotels in Coban include:

• De La Abuela
• La Paz Hotel
• Los Faroles Hotel
• The Park Hotel
• Hostel Misterio Verde
• Misterio Verde
• Hotel La Posada
• Casa Gaia
• Casa Kirva Hotel
• Alcazar Dona Victoria
• Hotel Central Coban
• Casa D’Acuna
• Hotel Casa Duranta
• Posada de Carlos V

Places to Visit in Chiquimula, Guatemala, America

Chiquimula is the capital city of Chiquimula department in Guatemala, also serves as the municipal seat of all the municipalities of Chiquimula department and is situated about 190 km from the national capital Guatemala City. Chiquimula is popularly called as ‘La perla del oriente’.

The municipalities coming under Chiquimula department are Concepcion Las Minas, Esquipulas, Camotan, Chiquimula, Ipala, Jocotan, Olopa, Quezaltepeque, San Jacinto, San Juan Ermita and San Jose La Arada.

Geography of Chiquimula:

Chiquimula is positioned between latitude 14°47′ in the north and longitude 89°32′ in the west, is spread over an area of 372 sq. km and located at an elevation of 423 meters.

History of Chiquimula:

Chiquimula was incorporated as a city on June 29, 1821.

How to reach Chiquimula?

Chiquimula has a domestic airport connected only with nearby cities by scheduled flights is located 19 km away from the city centre. The most important airport of the country, La Aurora International Airport which is situated around 180 km from Chiquimula.

Also tourists can reach other major cities of the country by bus from Chiquimula and Maria Elena bus operates daily direct services to Flores at 9:30am. Other than Maria Elena, tourists can check at the local travel offices for more services. Tourists can rent two wheeler or tuk-tuk for local travel.

Culture, Food and Shopping in Chiquimula:

Chiquimula is a neat and clean city housing the population of different ethnicities and religions such as Chorti, Ladino and Roman Catholicism, Evangelicalism and Maya.

Chiquimula houses all the types of shops and stores including fashion, jewelry, handicraft and sport goods. Chiquiferia is a special shopping centre offering gift items, artificial tattoos, jewelry, plastic gun and sports balls.

Pizza Burger Dinner is the best place to eat variety of pizzas and burgers at reasonable prices, staffs are very friendly and will speak both English and Spanish. Calero steak House is another popular food corner in Chiquimula.

Things to do in Chiquimula:

• Climbing
• Hiking
• Mountaineering

Places to interest in Chiquimula:

Volcan Ipala:

Volcan Ipala is an extinct volcano situated at the coordinates of 14°33′00″ N 89°37′48″ W at an elevation of 1650 meters. There is Lake Ipala placed at the base of crater of the Ipala Volcano with a surface area of 0.59 km² and the lake has rich fish species of Mojarra. Both lake and peak are the big treat to the eyes of tourists. Climbing, hiking ad mountaineering are the activities to do here.

Historical Buildings:

There are several historical buildings located all around Chiquimula, especially on outskirts of the town. Visitors can hire private vehicles to reach these ancient sites.

Hotel Tikal Inn:

Hotel Tikal Inn is well known for its top class hospitality services as well as its nice outer structure. It is one of the notable sites in Chiquimula.

Best time to visit Chiquimula:

The month of July is ideal to visit Chiquimula because of the healthy weather.

Accommodation Options in Chiquimula:

Chiquimula is a cool and calm city with well maintained infrastructure is visited by more than lakh of tourists annually to enjoy the natural beauty of Lake Ipala. Due to this, there are many well facilitated accommodation centres established all around Chiquimula to serve tourists who visit the place throughout the year. The major hotels and hostels in and around Chiquimula are as follows:

• Hotel Tikal Inn
• Hostal Maria Teresa
• Hostal Las Luces
• Hotel El Gran Chorti
• Hotel Victoria
• Hotel Posada El Canja
• Portal de la Fe
• MARBEA Hotel
• Hotel Hernandez
• Hotel Dario
• Hotel Posada Don Adano
• Hotel Rio

Beautiful Tourist Places to Visit in Guatemala, America

Guatemala is a country in Central America positioned between 14°38′ N latitude and 90°30′ W longitude is spread over an area of 108,890 sq. km. and Guatemala City is the capital and the largest city of Guatemala. The currency of Guatemala is Quetzal and the official language is Spanish.

Geography of Guatemala:

Guatemala is surrounded by Belize in the northeast, Mexico on the north and west, the Pacific Ocean towards southwest, El Salvador in the southeast and Honduras to the east and Caribbean in the east.

Etymology and History of Guatemala:

Guatemala derives its name from the Nahuatl language and its literal meaning is ‘place of many trees’. The history of Guatemala dates back to the 12,000 BC when the first human settlement arrived at Guatemala. The Spanish ruled Guatemala nearly 300 years from 1519 to 1821 and the independence of Guatemala was declared on 15^th September 1821 from Spanish. After the independence, it came under the dictatorship of the series of dictators and finally its constitution was formed on 31^st May 1985.

How to reach Guatemala?

The top ten cities of Guatemala are Guatemala City, Mixco, Villa Nueva, Petapa, San Juan Sacatepequez, Quetzaltenango, Villa Canales, Escuintla, Chinautla and Chimaltenango.

La Aurora International Airport is the most important airport of the country located in the capital city, Guatemala. It operates most flights to Central American and North American destinations like Mexico City, Madrid, Roatan, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Houston and Miami.

Guatemala is also well connected by bus with bordering countries like Belize, Honduras and Mexico. Adrenalina Tours, ADN, Linea Dorada and Galgos are the major intercity bus operators.

Culture, Food and Shopping in Guatemala:

Guatemala has distinctive culture known for the Music of Guatemala and typical traditional dances. Other than Spanish, natives speak many dialects of Mayan language.

Guatemalan cuisine inherits many features of Maya cuisine and corn, chilies and beans are the primarily used staple food in the local cuisine.

Most of the country’s shopping centres, cultural centres and food corners are located in the national capital, Guatemala City.

Things to do in Guatemala:

• LiveGuate
• Shopping
• Cinema
• Parks
• Libraries

Tourist Attractions in Guatemala:

Popol Vuh Museum:

Popol Vuh Museum possesses the archaeological items from the pre-colonial and colonial period in the separate galleries. It is open from 9:00-17:00 between Monday-Friday and 9:00-13:00 Saturday. Entrance fee is Q35 adults and Q15 for students and extra fee charged for photo and video.

Jardines Botanico:

Jardines Botanico is considered as the first botanical garden in Central America and it houses diverse native and foreign plant species. It belongs to Museum of Natural History.

Aurora Zoo:

Aurora Zoo is a typical site housing different indigenous and abroad animals. This zoo features a decent environment and also tourists can enjoy low melodious voices of birds here.

Other places of interest in Guatemala include:

• Mapa en Relieve
• Ixchel Museum of traditional costumes
• Archaeology and Ethnology Museum
• Museum of Modern Art
• Kaminaljuyu
• Museo Miraflores
• Parque Central and The Cathedral
• Palacio Nacional
• National History Museum
• Museo Carlos F. Novella

Best time to visit Guatemala:

Probably during the ending months of the year are ideal to travel Guatemala.

Accommodation Options in Guatemala:

Guatemala is culturally strong city drawing a large number of tourists from the different American countries throughout the year. Guatemala City houses the greater percentage of country’s luxury hotels, motels and service apartments. The prominent accommodation centres in Guatemala City are listed below:

Budget:

• Pension Meza
• GuateFriends Bed & Breakfast
• 2 Lunas Guest House
• Hostal Hermano Pedro
• Hostal Los Volcanes
• Hotel Spring
• Hotel San Martin
• Quetzalroo Backpackers
• Xamanek Student Inn

Splurge:

• Hotel Mansion Imperial
• Hotel Princess Guatemala
• Best Western Stofella
• Comfort Hostel
• Hotel Pan American
• Ciudad Vieja

Top end:

• Real InterContinental Guatemala
• Crowne Plaza Hotel
• Westin Camino Real
• Holiday Inn
• Barceló Guatemala City