Guatemala City 🇬🇹 Gringo's Guide

Everything you MUST know about the Guatemalan capital...

Guest post by esteemed LatAm scholar: @GringoGuerrilla

If you have any opinion at all about Guatemala City, it probably isn’t a positive one. 

This is not a place about to appear on Condé Nast Traveler’s top destinations list anytime soon.

In fact, the only “list” Guatemala City is likely to be on at all is that of the World’s Most Dangerous Cities. This year Guatemala City ranked as the 30th most dangerous city in the world. Not as bad as Detroit mind you, but still worse than Johannesburg, South Africa and Culiacan, Mexico.

Who’s foolish enough to step foot in such a seemingly irredeemable, insignificant, threatening city, you ask?

Well, allow me to introduce myself…

I’ve visited the Guatemalan capital not once…but twice! And I’m here to tell you exactly what to expect down here in Central America’s largest metropolis.

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Guatemala City, Guatemala 

Population:

3,036,000 in the metro area

Weather: 

One good thing we can say about Guatemala City – or Guate as it’s known colloquially – is that it’s blessed with an agreeable climate. 

The Guatemalan capital never gets too hot or too cold. In fact, it’s one of many Latin American cities known as La Tierra de la Eterna Primavera or “The Land of Eternal Spring.”

The only thing to be vigilant about is the rainy season, which runs from May to November.

The best time to visit Guatemala City is from December to April. 

You’ll get cozy daily temperatures around 69 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) without much precipitation.

Like Mexico City, Guatemala City is prone to earthquakes. This is what the earthquake alarm system in Guatemala City sounds like. If you hear this alarm, don’t ignore it! Earthquakes are serious business in this part of the world, and I wouldn’t exactly trust Guatemalan structural integrity.

And if the Guatemalan capital didn’t have it hard enough already simply by being, well, the capital of Guatemala, it’s also got a volcano to worry about! The aptly named “Fuego” volcano is indeed active. In 2018, it erupted and killed 25 people.