other colonial cities in Latin America

[DonJuane]

Yes, but consider also not making Antigua your only stop. Flying into Guatemala City, it's a 30 minute shuttle ride to Antigua. And while the volcano is for many a no-miss, from what I have read the tours recently up to it have been severely shortened and the previous viewings of hot lava have been replaced with demos of roasting marshmallows on a steam vent, so be careful and understand what you may be getting from a very cold and long walk (or optional horse ride). From Antigua get a full dose of what it offers you personally, then hopefully you will have allocated enough time and budget to continue westward toward Panajachel where you can use it as a hub for a few days while visiting both the largest city on the lake and other surrounding villages as well. Inside Panajachel proper you can join your favorite US based evangelical group to build another temple around the lake or grab some sushi, pho, gourmet Italian, baked wonders, etc in town. Later on you can comb the various villages around the lake one at a time via the water taxis.

To the east mostly you can see old authentic indigenous villages including the Ken Edwards pottery capital of the area. To the west you will encounter villages such as San Marcos where you'll find crystals and backyard spirit-centered pyramids. Move on to San Pedro and enjoy the hippie dippie and growing quaint to weird restaurant and souvenir shop mecca of that stop. From Pana also zip up to Chichicastenango on market days for one of the wildest flea and craft markets you have ever experienced.

Then as a final option, perhaps shuttle on to Quetzaltenango (called Xela or pronounced "shay-lah" by the locals). There pick some old world Gothic energy in the marimba capital of the world while swirling in the cultural marvels of the downtown shabby markets to the uptown shabby Walmart. It will be well worth hopping aboard a bar-around-the-bed pickup northward to the weekly market in Solola where you will encounter perhaps the most old-wordly market in Central America. Also worth mention is a trip southward to Zunil for market day as well and from there continuing on up the 10,000' mountain to see the continent's most impressive vegetable gardens while ending the day on the end of that road in the chilly air with a soak in the very hot and steamy springs of Fuentes Georginas.