I had the best experience with JJ. He catered as best he could to what would interest me and was very knowledgeable and fun throughout the entire tour. It was... read more a wonderful learning experience and I saw places I otherwise would not have been exposed to or found myself. I recommend this tour if you wanna get a good introduction to Antigua.

  Chicken bus the best - Amazing half day tour! Esteban was very kind, knowledgeable and with a good vibe. We loved every place we visit and we were entertained with the fun facts, interesting things... read more and culture tips Esteban told us.

  Our guide Joel was very knowledgable about the city and showed us a lot of interesting places. He gave a very good overview of the architecture, history and culture... read more of the city.

  Thank you so much Colombus Travel! A few weeks ago, I was travelling in Antigua and was in desperate need to transport to Lake Atitlan and not only did they... read more do everything in their power to help me, but the were so positive too! I really appreciated your help!

  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.

  Culturally Rich Tour - Had a fantastic tour around the villages south of Antigua - Catherina from Columbus Travel was able to make it happen in the end even when the date I picked... read more originally didn't seem to be available. The tour was incredibly in-depth, and we visited the villages to the south of Antigua, visiting many of the local small farms, artisan shops, and local landmarks in the area.

Everywhere we stopped by didn't feel touristy, it just felt a part of the local neighbourhood. (For those interested, just note that the tour does encompass a few local small businesses showcasing quality Guatemalan products, but that's fairly expected - it's always good to support the local community.) As an added bonus, the personalized "Columbus Chicken Bus" was a funky concept 😉

Carlos the guide was stellar, and he dedicated hours to explaining sites in the villages and everything along the route in such great detail, making sure nothing was lost in translation to help me get the most of the afternoon. The tour never felt rushed, and Carlos bent over backwards to reflect the best of Guatemalan life!

Thanks very much to the entire Columbus Team!

  Chicken bus and local walking tour!  - We took a half day bus tour and a half day walking tour and found it extremely informative and entertaining. We covered a lot of ground and learned history we... read more hadn't gotten on our own just walking around. JJ and ET are local Antiguains and had great energy and pride for their home and country. I highly recommend this company and experience!!!

  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 🙂

  We had a great time! We visit different villages and experienced their unique way of living. From chocolate making to real jade! The tour guide was very knowledgeable and even... read more gave extra information about things related to Guatemala that we asked about, but it wasn’t part of the tour. We were just curious!

  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.

  Unique trip, really delivered. Had a fun half day travelling around the surrounding villages with Stephano (who created the tour) and JJ in the Chicken Bus. Learnt a lot... read more about the area and visited some genuine local enterprises, each with a good sustainability credentials. Thoroughly recommend, it's got to one of the best short trips in Antigua. Columbus staff all really friendly and helpful.

  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!

  JJ toured us in Antigua and from there we went to Lake Atitlan with him with an excursion via boat to San Juan where we hiked to the view point,... read more took a tuk tuk. He pointed out a delicious coffee shop and we enjoyed the Women’s cooperative. Throughout our journey, he was amazing; was sensitive to the pace we wanted, recommended great places to eat and had tremendous knowledge. He drove us back to guatamela city with a stop in chichi market. When he done us back to the airport, he took us in and explained everything.

The best part of this company was the help Catherina gave me in planning the trip and assisting me when our flight from to Tikal to Guatemala City was over 4 hours late causing us to miss our flight back home to NY. From the moment I said our flight was delayed until after 1am, she helped arrange a hotel, a car and looked into my trip insurance. AMAZING! HIGHLY recommend!

  The guide had a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm about one of the nicest cities I ever has visited. Very good experiences. We walked around in the city, visited different... read more highlights.

  Esteban and rest of crew were phenomenal in helping us plan our trip. They drove us to our destinations. I can't recommend them enough. Great people!

  Excellent tour, lovely villages, friendly people and history. Amazingly supporting local people. Felix made our tour extremely interesting, we really enjoyed it.

  Excellent Experience - We truly enjoyed our walking your.
Our guide Esteban was very nice, helpful and knowledgeable.
He spent more time with us than what we paid for.
In addition, the... read more company’s as very accommodating and helpful with other questions we had.
Excellent experience overall. Highly recommend!

  Excellent walking tour with our guide Juan. From basic history to little nuances and interesting tidbits about the city, a very enjoyable walk. We did our tour in Spanish,... read more and Juan says his English is "so so" but it's very good! Very nice and engaging guy, highly recommended!

  We stumbled upon Columbus Guatemala Travel while we were walking the streets of Antigua. How fortunate for us! We walked into the office as strangers and walked out... read more feeling like we had reconnected with long-time friends. The ladies in the office were very friendly and super helpful. Our guide Esteban was awesome! His knowledge of everything Guatemalan, his courteous service and safe driving, and most of all his friendly companionship made each of our excursions exceptional. Our whole family loved him! He was our driver for 3 weekend trips: Lake Atitlan, Tikal-Peten and Semuc Champey. We highly recommend Columbus Guatemala Travel!

  One of their drivers, J.J. was the best. Very positive, yet very knowledgeable of this entire area and its history. Highly recommend this tour if you are interested in more... read more than the city of Antique. This tour takes you to places very unlike the city.