We swam and slept and sat watching the sunset on the terrace sofas, smudges of peach and muddied yellow fading into the blue silhouettes of the towering Volcan de Agua. Behind a plain wall, with just a miniscule plaque featuring its name, its doorway opened into a plant-filled courtyard and open-air sitting room with an Yves Klein deep blue pool stretching along the left-hand side. Later we checked into our next accommodation Posada Del Angel (from £149 per night, ) - located on the south of the city (former US president Bill Clinton is a fan). Later, we stopped by Xibala Studios, a concept store filled with artisan products made before your eyes by jewellers and weavers and for lunch we tried Samsara, for big bowls of fresh vegetables and spices.
By late morning we needed another caffeine boost from one of Antigua’s best coffee shops: 12 Onzas’s courtyard is filled with tiny tables and hanging Clock Vine flowers (the coffee considerably better, and half the price of anything you’d precure from East London). Nearby market stalls by the Iglesia de la Merced (an intricate yellow church) were setting up for the day, and owners wearing a hundred hats stacked atop their heads like giraffes’ necks would slowly and carefully nod at you anticipating a sale. Jetlagged and dazed, we stumbled out just as the city was stirring. The best thing about arriving at night is that from the second you wake up, you’re struck by the otherworldly landscape Antigua is built low enough that the only outliers are the volcanoes that surround it (the last big eruption from Fuego was in 2018). The rooms were bright and comfortable the breakfast of scrambled eggs, fresh fruit and classic Guatemalan black beans delicious. We spent our first night at the hostel Maya Papaya (from £36 per night, ). You know you’ve arrived when your car begins to bounce along the haphazardly-cobbled streets as if you’re on horseback. New West End Company BRANDPOST | PAID CONTENTįirst, we began our trip in the Spanish colonial town of Antigua, not only as a base to hike the nearby volcano Acatenango but as a colourful city to explore (it’s small enough that you can walk from one end to the other in around 15 minutes).
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