I had such an amazing tour with Esteban! It was just him and I for the four-ish hours and it flew by. He spoke great English and he is very... read more funny and personable. Actually, everyone in the office is incredibly friendly and easy going when you first meet for the tour. The tour is culture, history, and we even discussed a bit of politics. It was so interesting, I didn't want the tour to end. Thank you Esteban!!

  Best Tour Guides Ever - Columbus Guatemala Tours is hands down the best travel tour operator I have ever worked with. I’ve booked through tour groups in countries like Brazil, India, Italy, Germany, and the... read more UK, but have never worked with such an organized group of individuals who truly care about crafting an all around experience for you.

Catherina was responsive, thoughtful, and dedicated to crafting a full trip itinerary that met our travel needs, and did so in a short timeline. She made sure we felt like our needs and ideas were incorporated into the plan, but ultimately, we learned to trust her expert local opinion on what to do and where to eat, and it worked out better than we could have imagined. Not only did she handle the itinerary, she also took care of all of our bookings, making trip planning simple.

JJ, our tour guide for the entirety of the trip, is one of the most friendly guides I’ve ever met. He was extremely thorough about making sure we knew what the plan was, where we were going, and translating all things shared by local guides or merchants - he never made us feel like the language barrier was a limiting factor in our experience. JJ was generous with his time and energy, allowing us to make adjustments to schedule and make detours as needed - he was always on time and never missed a beat. He even came on all of our hikes to make sure we felt safe and taken care of, and brought us a lot of laughs on the way. One thing that also stood out was how generous he was to all of their suppliers and local guides, the folks that drove the tuk tuks, the boats, and even showed us around the volcano. He treated everyone with the utmost respect, and made them feel included and welcome to experience the journey with us.

Overall Guatemala is a wonderful country, full of rich cultural experiences and tremendous nature. We hiked to watch the sunrise at Tikal, the volcano of San Pedro, and Acatenango to see Volcan de Fuego erupt. Each of these activities were magnificent in their own way, and were awe inspiring views to say the least. We also had the luxury to stay at Casa Palopo in Lake Atitlan, which was the perfect hotel to soak in the majesty of Lake Atitlan. In Antigua, we were lucky enough to spend time with the extended Columbus Guatemala tour team, and they made the city feel like home. They hosted a surprise birthday party for my dad and I during a cooking class, and we got to celebrate as if we had been family forever. I will forever cherish the experiences and memories I created in Guatemala, and I’m grateful for the Columbus Guatemala team for making it happen!

  This was a great tour to see more of the surrounding towns of antigua! I especially loved how much explanation and history our tour guide gave us. He was very... read more friendly and helpful with our questions- I highly recommend!

  Villages Tour in the Highlands. - This was a great tour. The guide spent extra time because the chocolate factory stop was crowded. Each stop was unique. I highly recommend this tour.

  katy gave us to feel welcome.
and gave us a nice tips .
the best thing was a dinner with mayan family.

the most important was that... read more our guide over there was jj .
jj made our trip from good to amazing
he was so polite and sensitive too small details.

he drives safely and have a lot of knowledge.

thank you so much guys 🙂

  100% Recommend - Excellent tour and very knowledgable guide. We did a walking tour of antigua and this tour was different information specially about the interesting facts of the chickens buses that you... read more see around Guatemala. Highly recommend!

  We took this tour with our two toddlers and all of us had a blast. All staff was very friendly and knowledgeable. We visited spots we would have never visited... read more by our own. We learned about coffee, chocolate, textiles, and lots of history . It was a unique/authentic experience Definitely recommend this tour for all ages.

  Cathy organised us spacial tour for 4 days to small villages to meet the local people
It was fantastic plane
We visit various places not the regular touristic tour.... read more /> So we it was interesting too know how people leave and to discover there arts
We slept in very SpaceIL farms
It was amazing

  Guatemala Experience - I had the pleasure to work with Columbus - Guatemala on my entire 2 week trip. Everything went as smooth as possible and Katherine was always available to help... read more and adjust anything I needed. My Antigua walk (along with rides around Guatemala) was provided by Esteban. That guys sure knows Guatemala - what a wealth of information along with being an all around good person. He showed me around Antigua, took me to a great place for a local lunch, drove me to a few small towns (which were amazing), and helped me practice my Spanish. I would highly recommend using Katherine and her crew to set up a vacation. Mine also included Semuc Champay, Tikal, Lake Atitlan and an overnight hike to the Volcano Acatenango. All were done through Katherine and Columbus, Guatemala - and all were a major success. I look forward to working with them again. Such a beautiful country with kind and generous people.

  Esteban was a wonderful guide! I was lucky enough to get a private tour after other guests didn’t turn up. And the whole 4 hours was great. I was lucky... read more enough to see a volcanic eruption, the procession of Holy Week, and learn about everything from architecture to birds to the history of Antigua. I really recommend this walking tour for a brilliant snapshot of Antigua!

  Nice to have a change of scenery - Nice to get out of the main bit of Antigua and see some different things. Estephan our guide was friendly and knowledgable. The driver (sorry I forgot his name) was... read more super friendly and knowledgable too! A lot of the tour was focussed around visiting family run places that sell things more than seeing what Guatemalan village life is like. The macadamia farm was good and they gave a lovely face massage. Overall it was enjoyable.

  The Chicken Bus tour is my all time favorite tour in Antigua! From the moment we were picked up by the chicken bus to the last stop having an amazing... read more lunch of pepian with an indigenous family, each stop was filled with discovery, culture, locals, and amazing views of the volcanoes. We were treated to a cacao demonstration and sampled the chocolates, then the nispero honey and onto Fredy’s café for some fabulous dark roasted coffee grown locally by his family and served in his home. Onto the macadamia farm, the only one in Central America, where we experienced a relaxing macadamia facial! We were all smiles for our lunch with a local indigenous family who spent most of the morning preparing the Papillion. We are also treated to a weaving demonstration by the ladies of the house. All in all it was a fun filled day with smiles all around. Our guide Estephen. was knowledgeable and personable, we learned so much from him. Our driver Antonio and his son Fernando managed to get us in and out of some of the small villages on the chicken bus. A skilled driver indeed! I live part time in Antigua and this is the third time I have taken my visitors on the chicken bus tour and I highly recommend it for everyone of all ages!

  Please do yourself a favor and do this ! - This was definitely a highlight of my vacay. What a great way to start off the trip! I mean c’mon how often do you get to hike up an active... read more volcano, eat pizza cooked by its heat & warm up marshmallows up there too? Everything about this experience was just awesome! We wanted to do it for sunset and there were no issues; they were very accommodating!
We were picked up by JJ from our bnb at the exact time we were told; extremely punctual. The entire ride there was very educational; JJ was really good at sharing his knowledge of certain areas/ towns we drove by which we really appreciated. Once there, we were met by our LOCAL guide, Yimer, which in my opinion is absolutely awesome! Not only are we getting a locals insight but also contributing to the local families there. It’s a win win! The trail itself isn’t too bad; I’d say it’s more of an elevation issue that makes it hard. Yimer was super funny and friendly which made the hike harder because it was nonstop talking and laughter. Additionally , he is a great photographer! He will take however many pictures you’d like and some of his own, which turn out to be better than yours. Lol
We were up at the top in no time and had tons of time to enjoy our pizza, marshmallows & beverages . The views from up there are just stunning! We made it back down safely and met up JJ to drive us back to town. There were 0 issues/ hiccups during the tour everything from booking all the way to ending was so seamless. I also got the chance to chat with Caty and Milind regarding my travels in Guatemala and they were both very nice and had great recommendations. It really does not matter who you interact with , the entire team is great ! Thank you all! Definitely 11/10

  This was one of our favourite tours, we had so much fun, JJ and our driver Alex were top notch, very knowledgeable and personable. We saw many beautiful smaller... read more communities around Antigua giving us a glimpse of Guatemala outside of Antigua. We visited a local wine producer, a local chocolate producer and an organic macadamia farm and tasted all the yummy goodies. We also learned about Guatemalan jade and saw all the beautiful pieces they created. Such a great day, don’t miss this tour!

  JJ was such a knowledgeable and interesting guide. It was definitely obvious that he was passionate about his country and his people. I loved the Macadamia farm tour... read more it was super interesting. A fun half day thing to do while in Antigua. I recommend it highly!

  This was the most breathtaking experience of my life. Yimer was an excellent guide & the horses were lifesavers (Champion and Pancho we miss you!) My friend and I had... read more a picnic in the craters of an active volcano and we shared with our guides and learned about cheese leaves and rode the horses up and down (I am from the American south so the altitude killed me during the hike.) The pictures our guide took of us are going to be framed in my home. I am so happy. They were THAT good.

  Great Tour! - It would be hard to say what my favorite part of the tour was as every place we went to I really enjoyed.
I have been to... read more Antigua several times in the past but I have never gone on chicken bus tour before. I also have been to the villages we went to before but I enjoyed them even more because of our wonderful guide,Estephen, who was so delightfulhe was very knowledgable in all the places we went to . This is a tour that deepens your understanding of the local cultures in a very fun way.
I was thinking we would be riding around on the local chicken busses but what you actually ride in is a small private chicken bus which of course made it easier to get to the places we were going in a timely manner.
This was a tour I would highly recommend for a very fun half day.

  Esteban and everyone else in the team were super friendly and funny! They helped me get a shuttle from Antigua to Xela (that cost about 100 quetzales cheaper than some... read more of the other options I had seen). Also helped me come up w ideas for hiking in Xela. They are awesome!

  I had a great time on the tour. The guide was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. We had a good amount of time at each stop. Highly recommend!

  I cannot imagine a better tour guide for our day in San Juan Comalapa. We wanted to see this village known for it's local artists and the for the market... read more that was happening on that day. The drive from Antigua to Comapala was great because Esteban explained oh so many things about not only this region - but about the entire country of Guatemala. His vast knowledge of history, agriculture, traditions and the Mayan culture is wonderful. We had been in Guatemala for nearly a week - we had so many questions...he certainly filled us in on the chicken buses and the beautiful clothing we had seen. The mural was wonderful: each panel showed village life from traditions to their history including the horror of the civil war. The market was vibrant...the merchants were wonderful.
Esteban arranged for us to meet Oscar Peren in his Gallery. This was certainly a highlight for us. Esteban translated as Senor Peren spoke of his art.It was a personable experience I will never forget. I am thrilled to own one of his paintings. But I did not feel pressured to buy.
We felt safe in the comfortable SUV . Esteban is an excellent driver. He even provided water and snacks for the drive.