Travel to Guatemala is incomplete without a visit to the quaint and wonderfully picturesque Lake Atitlan. After all, where else would you find sweeping views of volcanoes cradled by the deep blue waters of a volcanic lake? So, as you plan your epic Guatemalan vacation, be sure to choose Panajachel as your home base while exploring Lake Atitlan.
The Atitlan area is considered the “highlands” of Guatemala owing to the presence of hills around the lake. Within those hills, various indigenous tribes settled down giving rise to the numerous lake towns in Atitlan. Panajachel is one such town. Now, as you plan your travel, you may be tempted to book lodging in a remote lake town, surrounded by nature in all directions. However, I would recommend you pick Panajachel as your base because of several advantages it offers over the other towns.
To help with your Guatemala travel planning, be sure to review this post on the perfect 7-day itinerary to the Mayan country!
10 reasons to choose Panajachel as your home base
There are 10 very good reasons why you should choose Panajachel as your hotel base in Lake Atitlan.
1. Panajachel is located closer to other major cities
Panajachel (also called Pana for short) is located on the eastern side of Lake Atitlan which is geographically closest to other major Guatemalan cities (such as Antigua) that lie farther on the east of the lake. Due to this, traveling to Panajachel is more convenient than if you travel to the western side of the lake.
2. Panajachel is super accessible from other main cities
When you travel to Atitlan from Antigua or Guatemala City, the most accessible town near the lake is Panajachel. The roads are well-connected, even though they are more than a little curvy with oh-so-many hairpin turns!
Not that I don’t love a good adventure ride on topsy-turvy roads, but the less time I spend traveling from one destination to another, the happier a traveler I am. That is another reason why basing yourself in Panajachel offers an advantage.
The roads from Pana are well-connected directly from other major cities such as Guatemala City and Antigua. On average it takes about 2.5 hours to travel from Antigua to Panajachel.
As long as your hotel is located in Pana, or its surrounding areas, you won’t need to catch a ferry to your hotel. If you pick a more remote town such as San Marcos or San Pedro, your last leg of travel would include a ferry ride. More on that below.
Thus, you will save time and reach your hotel faster if it is in Pana.
3. Transportation is cheaper
Thanks to the well-connected transport options from other major tourist spots to Atitlan, and Pana’s central location, there are plenty of transit options. You can go super inexpensive with a chicken bus (although I would not recommend it) or a more reasonably-priced long-distance bus.
4. You do not need to take a ferry
As alluded to earlier, when traveling to Lake Atitlan, one thing to note is that you need to take a ferry to some of the towns.
Plus, imagine catching a ferry while lugging around your luggage.
Staying in Panajachel means you won’t need to use a ferry to reach your hotel. You can get dropped off directly at or near your hotel by bus or car.
5. Pana has more number of hotel and lodging options
Panajachel is a big town. In fact, Panajachel is the largest town by the lakeside of Atitlan. Therefore, it has a large number of hotels and lodging options catering to all budgets.
Other lake towns have fewer options since they are smaller and have fewer visitors.
6. It is the perfect place to start your exploration of Lake Atitlan towns
Basing yourself in Panajachel also makes it easy to explore the rest of Lake Atitlan. Most of the public ferries start from Pana docks, so you can easily catch one to reach another town.
That way, you can base yourself in the most accessible town while being able to take day trips to explore the other more secluded towns without having to carry heavy luggage!
7. Panajachel offers a large number of adventure activity options
As a bigger town on the lake, Panajachel offers a myriad of lake activities that you can pursue. Thinking about paddle boarding, jet-skiing, kayaking, or paragliding? You can do all of that in Panajachel!
Or are you thinking of doing something extra and taking a helicopter ride to see a bird’s eye view of the volcanoes? Well, you can do that too in Panajachel!
All in all, Panajachel offers a wider variety of adventure activities than the other lake towns.
8. There are many restaurants, cafes, and nightlife
Again, owing to the fact that Panajachel is a larger town, and has more people, and thereby has more hotels, the restaurant scene and nightlife are also better than other towns.
Now, keep in mind that I am not saying that there are clubs that remain open until the wee hours of the morning. But, you can expect plenty of bars and a diverse range of restaurants and cafes. This is unlike other towns where nightlife seems to be pretty much non-existent.
9. Discover plenty of local artisanal products
Like other lake towns of Atitlan, you can discover locally-produced artisanal products in Panajachel. Since each town is known for its heritage and traditions, Panajachel has its own locally made goods such as coffee, textiles, and jewelry.
You will be spoilt for choice when the time comes to pick a souvenir 🙂
10. Nearby smaller towns are available to choose where you want to stay
Sure, downtown Panajachel is an excellent location to stay at if you want everything within walking distance. However, if you crave a little bit of seclusion, consider booking a hotel a short distance from the town. Not only will you be rewarded with incredible views as a lot of hotels are built on the slopes overlooking the lake, but also the town would not be far away.
In fact, that is precisely what we did when we booked our stay at Balam Ya. To this day, I think about how wonderful of a stay we had there!
If you have more than a week to spend in Guatemala, check out this post for the ultimate trip-planning guide to spending 10 epic days in Guatemala!
Are there any cons to staying in Panajachel?
So, with all the pros listed above, you must be thinking about whether there is any con to choosing Panajachel as your base in Atitlan. In order to offer a balanced view, I decided to put together a list of potential cons to staying in Pana.
1. A lot of tourists go there
Remember when I pointed out that this is a large town, with tons of hotel and restaurant options? Well, a con is that everybody sees how convenient it is. So, Pana can feel quite touristy.
If you are particularly looking for a travel experience where you interact closely with locals, then you may want to book your overnight stay in a smaller town.
2. Getting around can be challenging if you don’t stay in the main town
If you decide to stay in Pana, but not within walking distance to the downtown area or the docks, getting around can be challenging. Sure, you can hail a tuk-tuk to reach your destination. But you should ideally speak some basic Spanish so you can negotiate. Plus, you will end up spending more money on the tuk-tuk.
In contrast, in the smaller towns, you can pretty much walk everywhere.
3. It does not offer a “unique” experience
Now, this may be a controversial opinion but in Panajachel, you will not experience a unique stay. And that may be a con, depending on the type of travel you want to do.
Let me explain. In some towns of Lake Atitlan, you get to immerse yourself in things like yoga. For example, San Marcos has a number of yoga retreats. In other places, you can experience a Mayan spiritual ceremony. These are some things that Panajachel does not offer within the town.
With that being said, if you really want to partake in these experiences, you can always book a tour starting from Panajachel.
So, should you stay in Panajachel town or somewhere nearby?
Now that you have an idea of the pros and cons of choosing Panajachel as your base in Lake Atitlan, you may be wondering if you want to stay in the heart of the town or a bit further away.
Here’s my advice. Stay in the heart of the city if:
- You are traveling to Pana by bus and want to get dropped off directly at your hotel or as close to your hotel as possible.
- It is important for you to have the main viewpoints within walking distance.
- You do not want to avail a tuk-tuk to get around town, or to reach the docks.
- Accessibility to numerous restaurants and good nightlife is important to you.
- You are not looking for a secluded experience surrounded by nature.
If the points I mentioned above do not resonate with you, then stay at a hotel nearby Pana. You may get better deals and you can get a tuk-tuk if you want to visit the town or the docks.
As noted earlier, we chose to stay just outside of Panajachel town and loved every minute of it. Staying in the heart of nature with incredible views of the lake and the mountains from our hotel room was a beautiful experience.
Getting to Panajachel
You can reach Panajachel by a number of transportation options.
The cheapest is the infamous chicken bus. Read more about that and other important travel points in this post.
Other options include a long-distance bus, shared taxi, or even Uber. When we traveled from Antigua to Panajachel, we opted for Uber, and it worked well for us. It was not cheap but also not as expensive as having a car booked through your hotel.
