Best Iximché and Antigua Tour - We joined Davis for a one-day Iximche and Antigua tour, and it’s the highlight of our trip in Guatemala! Davis is the best tour guide one can ever ask for! We met Davis at 7am at our hotel, and we drove to Iximche together. The drive was under 2 hours, and Davis shared a ton of information and fun facts! Time flew by, and before we realized it, we already arrived. The tour started with the museum, and Davis explained the layout and history of the archeological site in detail. I enjoyed the museum and Davis’ introduction a lot - learned a ton! The Iximche site itself is just grand! The architecture amazed us. I found the drainage system fascinating; it was very well designed and built by the Mayan people. If you like history and architecture, Iximche is the place for you. We were lucky to observe (on the side) a few Mayan ceremonies on the day of the bird of the Mayan calendar. It was truly a once in a lifetime time experience. We quietly observed and embraced the rituals, and it was the best cultural experience possible. After Iximche, we came to Antigua . The afternoon storm hit, so we started our tour with the Jade museum (in door). The museum guide was very knowledgeable, and we learned the history and significance of jade in the Mayan world (and after world). The arch is the highlight of Antigua for me. The architecture is a piece of art, and the history/function of it interested me more - the arch was used as a bridge connecting the two buildings on either side of the street. We enjoyed learning all the stories from Davis! La Iglesia de la Merced is a must visit. We are so glad that we took Davis’ recommendation and went in. The view of the volcanoes (though it was a bit cloudy) and the rooftop view of the arch are priceless. Tips for this Iximche and Antigua tour - 1. Wear sneakers or tennis shoes. 2. Bring a disposable poncho during rainy season. 3. Bring 1-2 bottles of water. 4. Come hungry - for all the interesting facts that Davis will share with you and the amazing local food. Davis is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about Guatemala.

Mirko was an excellent guide - Enjoyed our tour with Mirko who spoke very good English. He gave us many facts about the history, culture and politics of Guatemala. The tour duration was good, with half day spent in Antigua and the other half part at the Iximche archeological ruins.

Goord historical site - Nice place to visit in a day. Friendly driver Useful time to visit Highly recommended, Is expensive the amount they charge

Amazing day trip! - The city of Antigua was amazing, we totally loved the experience and would definitely rebook! The drive was smooth and the lunch was delicious.

Antigua + Iximche - Mirko was an amazing guide, safe driver & helpful/knowledgeable person! We really enjoyed our time in Antigua & spent just enough time at the ruins. Unexpected surprise: We booked this tour on a Sunday, so traffic turned out to be really light, allowing us more time at the sites & less time on the road. A great day trip!

Amazing Experience!! - Excellent experience! Learned so much history and saw the beauty of Guatemala. It was truly an authentic and amazing experience! Thank you Oscar!

No jade shop please - Generally a good tour. But we were taken to a jade shop as usual. We are not interested in jade, so that was a waste of time. We wanted to visit another temple or monastery instead of the shop. On the other hand, Iximché Ruins is new for me. The guide explained and clarified the difference between classic and post classic eras of Mayan period. That helps us to understand what happened in this area.

Good Tour, Bad Isms (Sexism and Prejudice) - My husband and I went on a tour with Gustavo. He is a pretty good guy; he was very informative regarding history and culture. However, during the last bit of our trip, I think he got a little too comfortable with us and started to comment negatively on a woman’s body shape, he also talked badly about Californians which left a bad taste in my mouth as I have family there, but after reading a previous comment, it made sense as to why he doesn’t like Californians as he acted very unprofessional in one previous tour with Californians. He also started talking about tips, which made us feel compelled to leave a tip. Overall, would recommend the trip to a friend as long as sexism and discrimination is handled by management in the future.

Gate 1 : not the best. Rip off for solo travels. Accused me of lying. Unbelievable - went with Gate 1. They accused me of lying about when my flight landed and why no one was there to pick me up. They told me my flights "would have been better" had I booked with Gate 1. I booked my flights with Gate 1. This trip was canceled by Gate 1 in November when I purchased with a special single supplement waiver; I rescheduled and they did not honor my waiver, so the trip cost me significantly more. NEVER AGAIN GATE 1.

Tour from hell - Our guide Carmen didn’t greet us by meeting in the morning but started immediately to belittle us like little children. To her our clothes and shoes are not good enough. Send my husband to get jeans because with his knee long shorts she claimed he can’t enter churches. turned out to not be true. I was wearing pants and an oversized T-shirt and had sneakers and a jacket in a bag with me. She asked multiple times if I was sure if I had both of them in the bag. We are in our 40s and well seasoned global travelers. We are informing our self ahead of times and we come prepared. When we started to drive she said phones away it a dangerous area but proceeded to drive with windows fully rolled down? She denied me to go get a bottle of water at a gas station where she was getting gas but drove us to a restaurant to purchase a bottle of water. So I asked her if this is a breakfast break and all I got was rude unclear answers. Short stop in Iximché with minimum of information and a lot of passive aggression. In Antigua it got only worse. Absolutely no information to the city or history. Only like: this is a monastery. Can we go in? No. This is a viewing point. Can we stop on the way back? No. Everything was no. "Stay here on your own and make pictures". Never offered us to make pictures so we had to ask bystanders and in the mean time she was running ahead. The Cathedrals San Pedro and San Jose been closed, so I asked why they are closed and when they will be open again. She said the priest is on lunch break between 12-15 o’clock. And opens when he wants. But 15:00 it will be closed for the day which was not true. They are opening again at 15:00 o’clock. Thanks google! So we insisted to go after the lunch break to see them. She took us with displeasure and dropped us off to go inside alone. Why take tourist to a UNESCO heritage side to deny them the showing of the heritage? But take us to a Starbucks to show a modern painting of a girl with a bird head? And take us to a chocolate shop and a jewellery? The city is filled with beautiful churches , museums , squares and charming side streets. But no. We got so frustrated with all that , that when we been back in the car we read out loud the Wikipedia page of Antigua. We got more information than she told us. To top all this the whole ride from 7:00 till 17:00 o’clock it was silence in the car. No radio and of course 0 information about Guatemala. She was mute all the time. It feet like a long taxi ride. Only on the last hour of the drive back she made the radio on. Tourism and customer service are not for her. She need strongly to to work on her personal skills. We could have a way better time with renting a car on our own and Wikipedia. Yes, that bad was it.