Guatemala Market Facts

Guatemala Market Facts

What you need to know about Guatemala Market Facts, they are individually different and unique. For Travelers and Tourists interested in the idea or the adventure of going to various Guatemala Markets here are the Guatemala Market Facts you need to know.

Guatemala Market Facts and the Mayan Trading Route

Most that come to Guatemala for the experience of a Guatemala Market, fail to understand the locations of the Markets were part of the Mayan Trading Routes throughout Guatemala over 600 years ago. Antigua, to Chichicastenango, Solola and Xela was the main trading route through what is more or less the Tourism Trading Route which includes Lake Atitlan and Guatemala City.

Guatemala Market Facts Locations

Guatemala City has a large Market spanning many blocks. From eggs to light bulbs you can find anything in this market. If you can find it. This market is a maze of stalls, shops, and street sellers scattered over a few city blocks, with no rhyme or reason to the layout. They just kept adding on. Is this a Market for Travelers? No, most Travelers head more to Antigua as the base of adventures.

Antigua Guatemala Market is 4 city blocks long and 2 plus city blocks wide. The Antigua Market is 4 blocks from the main square. The Market is also the home base or the main terminal for Chicken Buses, Vans, and Pickups serving as the transportation hub for this region.

A lot of Street Food Vendors by the chicken buses. Produce, fresh fish from the Coast. Not a lot of cheeses. Produce you name it. Tourists go to this market often for the experience. Some find the experience of having a camera stolen not what the plan was. Use your head and you will have a great experience in the Antigua Market.

Guatemala Market Facts the markets are individually different and unique

Antigua and Guatemala City markets offer some Indigenous or Mayan Handmade products however if you are looking for different and unique Chichicastenango Market is the most promoted of all the Markets in Guatemala for Tourists.

For Chichicastenango, tourism for the most part, and the costs of renting stalls during market days have driven out most of the local Artisans. Thursday and Sunday are the promoted Market days in Chichi s it known. Thousands of Tourists flock to Chichi for the Market experience these days.

Most of the stalls as one quickly finds selling handmade goods that all look the same. A Mayan mask will sell for Q200 in the Market, go to the Artisans shop Q45The Market days for authentic goods and the experience is non-Tourist Chichicastenango Market days. The Market is always open. FYI

45 minutes’ drive from Chichicastenango is Solola is the capital of the department of Sololá and the administrative seat of Sololá municipality. It resides around Lake Atitlan. The Solola Market is open every day however Tuesday and Friday are considered larger market days. A new Market is currently under construction in the town square of the city. Lost will be the plywood stalls, a maze of shops and traffic.

This Market is a hub for fresh produce for the region. A large truck delivery bay inside the market receives, wholesale and full pickup loads of fresh produce mostly. The Solola Market is an authentic local Indigenous market worth visiting. A large selection of handmade products can be found.

20 minutes’ drive from Solola and you arrive in Panajachel which is considered the gateway to Lake Atitlan for most travelers. The Panajachel market is open every day. Is in a covered building built for those that sell at the market after Walmart arrived in Panajachel. This market is more of fresh product, meats, fish from the coast, fruits and vegetables.\

The main village that has market days on Lake Atitlan is Santiago Atitlan which is Sundays and it is a very busy local market. The actual market building is a bit basic and for some weeks at heart how fresh meat is displayed may find offensive including the smell. The market is clean, the meat has always gotten me. On the streets surrounding the market, it is a make shift tent city of vendors selling everything. The Church in Santiago is worth the visit, having significant facts about the Civil War and an American priest who died attempting to protect the village.

Xela is 2 hours’ drive from Lake Atitlan by Chicken Bus, Xela is a huge sprawling city. You will find that Xela has the feeling of more of an Industrial city than one for tourists. Xela has two markets Minerva Market and Market Democracy. Both are traditional markets selling everything and anything. Not my first pick for markets.

Throughout Guatemala’s small village and towns, you will find a local market. I hope these words have been informative. I love wondering about Guatemala Markets, they are individually different and unique. #SeeYouInGuatemala.