Is Guatemala City worth visiting? Even though I’ve been there, I’m still not sure I can answer that question. Guatemala City definitely has a bad reputation. The city conjures up images of ugly, sprawling slums, streets crammed with traffic and shirtless gangsters with gold teeth and face tattoos loitering on every corner. These are exaggerations, of course, and you can have a perfectly reasonable time in Guatemala City without getting shot at.

Things to Know about Guatemala City

Guatemala City is the capital and largest city of Guatemala. The city sits on the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Kaminaljuyu, founded in 1500 B.C. The Spanish moved their capital here after they got fed up with all the earthquakes and volcano eruptions in nearby Antigua. Now it’s the major religious, economic and cultural center of Guatemala.

Guatemala City tends to be avoided by most tourists. Why tough it out in Guatemala City when the tourist wonderland of Antigua is only a short shuttle bus away? However, seeing how important Guatemala City is to the country and region as a whole, I felt like it was worth it to visit Guatemala City myself. At least to give it a chance.

My Personal Experience in Guatemala City and the Big Question: is it Safe?

Guatemala City varies a lot by neighborhood. You can find everything from rickety shacks clinging to hillsides to glittering concrete high-rises surrounded by barbed wire. The city is divided up by zones to make things easier for everyone.

We started our visit by wandering around Zone 1, the historic center. The old buildings are nice, though nothing compared to what we’d see later on. There’s also a very nice, long pedestrian street full of local crowds shopping and old guys playing the marimba. It was pleasant, but I have to admit I was thrown off by the armed guards standing in front of the Chinese restaurants with machine guns. It was interesting, if nothing else.

Zone 1 also contains the city’s Parque Central. Pigeons swarmed the central plaza, as well as a crowd of junkies and other sketchy looking characters. One guy came up and asked us for money, and when I said that I didn’t have any, he called me an “hijo de puta” and stormed off.

There was also a fairly large contingent of police officers patrolling around the plaza as well. A sign of the city’s attempts at downtown urban renewal, perhaps. The officers eyed us a little sideways, as if they were wondering what the hell these two gringos were doing drifting around downtown. It felt okay in the middle of the day, but I wouldn’t want to walk around at night, police officers or no.

To be honest, though, I think my experience may have been colored by the horrific warnings and prejudices I’d heard about Guatemala City before arriving. We had so many friends and relatives begging us not to go on our trip through Latin America because they thought everywhere was too dangerous. One friend even feared the cartels were going to kidnap us and sell us into slavery.

I also made the mistake of reading the U.S. State Department’s travel warnings for Guatemala City. Anyone whose read U.S. State Department travel warnings knows that they are basically a list of pretty much every possible bad thing that could possibly happen to you. Once that seed was planted in my brain, I don’t know if it would have been possible to relax and enjoy the place.

Zone 10, where we stayed, felt completely different. Like night and day. In fact, Zone 10 went a little too far in the other direction. It was kind of boring. Things here just felt like any old city, with plenty of bars and restaurants that looked just like every other bar and restaurant everywhere else. I didn’t feel concerned with my safety at all.

Supposedly Zone 10 is full of fun nightlife. But, I’m not really a nightlife kind of guy, so I wouldn’t know. I went back to the hotel early and was lying in bed at ten o’clock, trying to ignore the blaring music from the club down the street.

Things to Do in Guatemala City That ARE Worth It.

Don’t get the idea that I’m hating on Guatemala City. I didn’t hate it at all. In fact, there is one museum in Guatemala City that is especially worth visiting. That’s the Museo Popol Vuh.

The Museo Popol Vuh has one of the world’s best collections of ancient Mayan artifacts and art. Here you can see sculptures, pottery, burial urns and more from throughout the Maya age, ranging from the post-classical period all the way through the Spanish conquest.

There is an especially interesting section about Mayan writing. Did you know, for example, that most of the writing on Mayan pottery is actually people’s names? Those beautiful, intricate hieroglyphs that cover the ancient artifacts are basically saying the equivalent of “This is Dave’s bowl. This is Mary’s cup.” It’s a fantastic museum and a must-visit for anyone interested in ancient Mayan culture and art.

The Museo Popol Vuh is located on the campus of Francisco Marroquín University in Zone 10. You can find more information (in Spanish) on their website: https://popolvuh.ufm.edu/

A short walk away, on the same university campus, you’ll also find the Museo Ixchel. This museum deals with Mayan textiles. To be honest, it’s not as impressive as the Popol Vuh museum, but also worth visiting if you’re going to come all the way to Guatemala City. You can check out the Museo Ixchel’s website for more information here: https://museoixchel.org/en/museo-ixchel-english/

So… Is Guatemala City Worth Visiting or What?

In the end, despite the wonderful museums, I left Guatemala City feeling a little underwhelmed. I didn’t hate it, but it was nowhere as friendly or immediately interesting as nearby Antigua. How much of that opinion was colored by the safety paranoia of my friends and family? I’m not sure. I think maybe quite a bit. Perhaps I’d like it better now that I know more Spanish and have a bit more experience traveling.

I think that, if this is your first visit to Guatemala or if you’re new to traveling in Central America, you should probably skip Guatemala City. There are other, nicer, places to see first.

If, however, you’ve already been to Antigua and the other hotspots and are looking for an adventure, traveling to Guatemala City might be totally worth it. I’ll have to visit again one day to be sure.

If it is your first time to Guatemala, check out my country guide here: Go to Guatemala: A Travel Guide Without the Tourist Traps