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Flights to Guatemala City
Places in Guatemala
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Guatemala City is both the largest and the capital city of the Central American country of Guatemala. Located inland from the Pacific Ocean, the city sits in a mountain valley so is surrounded by scenic mountains.
Guatemala City is served by La Aurora International Airport (airport code: GUA). International flights to Guatemala City from the UK are indirect with one or two stops. Choose from airlines such as Mexicana, Continental Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways, American Airlines, and United Airlines which offer travellers flights to Guatemala City from the UK with one connection. Other airlines such as Air Canada and KLM offer two stop flights to Guatemala City from the UK.
The Tourist Attractions of Guatemala City
As capital cities go, Guatemala City is not usually top of the list of destinations for visitors to Guatemala. The country offers a number of very impressive Maya ruins as well as coastal cities and beautiful lakes surrounded by pretty towns, and so Guatemala City often pales into insignificance in the eyes of many tourists. However, this shouldn’t be the case! Guatemala City offers plenty of attractions to warrant staying here for at least several days before heading off to some of the other popular destinations in the country.Guatemala City was established in 1773, but it’s the recent years which have seen the city’s biggest period of growth, and there’s now a population of over 7 million people here. Still, the city is full of impressive architecture, museums and lots of culture. The city is divided into Zones, and there are various attractions in each zone.
National Palace
The National Palace (or Palacio Nacional) is one of the top attractions. Now a museum, the palace was once the headquarters for the President of Guatemala. It was built between 1939 and 1943 and there are free guided tours.
Metropolitan Cathedral
In front of the palace is the main square, named Parque Central. Also looking onto the square is the Metropolitan Cathedral.
The above attractions as well as the Railway Museum, the Historical Centre, the central market and the national library are all located within Zone.
Mapa en Relieve
Situated in Minerva Park, in Zone 2, is a giant relief (as in topography) map of Guatemala. This map is very impressive, especially considering it was built in 1904, and it’s so huge that it’s best viewed from an observation tower!
Museums
Guatemala City has numerous museums. Amongst these is the Ixchel Museum of Traditional Costumes, in Zone 10; the Archaeology and Ethnology Museum, in Zone 13, which has a focus on the Mayan civilisation; the Museum of Modern Art, just opposite the Archaeology and Ethnology Museum; and the Museo Miraflores, which focuses on the ancient city of Kaminaljuyu.
Talking of Kaminaljuyu; this is an ancient city right within the current Guatemala City. Guatemela City was built around and sometimes on top of this ancient city, until a protection order was placed on what remains. Most of the ancient city (much of which is mounds) can be seen in Zone 7.