Insight Guides Guatemala, Belize and The Yucatán

Insight Guides

• Publisher: Insight
• Print ISBN: 9781780051093
• eBook ISBN: 9781780056180
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Travel

Insight Guide Guatemala, Belize and the Yucatn is a comprehensive, full-colour travel guide to this fascinating region and the legacy of the Maya peoples who once inhabited it. The countries and their people are brought to life with hundreds of evocative photographs. Our Best Of Guatemala, Belize and the Yucatn section highlights the Mayan world's unmissable sights and experiences, while a comprehensive Travel Tips section gives you all the practical information necessary to plan your trip. Our independent listings are selected by local writers to bring you the region's best hotels and restaurants.

Lavish magazine-style features offer a unique insight into contemporary life of this part of Central America, from Guatemelan clothing and eco-tourism in Belize to the Tikal ruins in the Petn jungle and a new feature on nature in the Yucatn.

A detailed Places section, with full-colour maps cross-referenced to the lively narrative written by multiple experts, guides you around the region, from the Yucatn's ancient Mayan city Chichn Itz and Belize's world-renowned dive sites to Guatemala's Lake Atitln in a collapsed volcano.

Accommodations

Price Categories

Price categories are for two people sharing a room, including breakfast:

$ = under US$40

$$ = US$40–70

$$$ = over US$70

Guatemala

Accommodations in Guatemala range from luxury colonial hotels to backpackers’ hostels. There are plenty of budget hotels to choose from and an increasing number of boutique places. Pensiones or hospedajes have very basic rooms, and these guesthouses are usually run by local families.

Room rates are at their highest and harder to find during Semana Santa (the week leading up to Easter Sunday), Christmas to New Year, and July and August.

Belize

Belize offers a brilliant choice of accommodation ranging from comfortable budget hotels to luxurious beach resorts, country cottages to jungle lodges.

There are a few large internationally owned chain hotels and plenty of small private lodges, hotels, and guesthouses. Travelers with special interests are well catered for – there are remote dive resorts on the outer cayes, lodges catering for the eco-tourist and the bird-watcher, and jungle health resorts for those in need of serious pampering. Styles and atmospheres differ wildly: the environment makes a difference, as does the personality of the owners. Many of these places have American and European owners, who make their marks on the feel of the places.

For accommodation in lodges and on some cayes, it is difficult to give price guides as they usually offer deals which include diving or fishing trips, or rainforest treks. The packages are mostly quite expensive, but very convenient and usually worthwhile. There is also a compulsory government hotel tax of 9 percent added to prices, and most hotels add a service charge of 5–10 percent.

Hotel prices vary greatly depending on the season. The price categories are high-season rates, usually charged between November 15 and May 15 (but may vary between hotels). Prices may drop dramatically in the low season.

The Yucatán

The Yucatán can cater for pretty much all tastes: options run from glittering beach palaces to small town hotels with whirring roof fans. For extra graciousness, there are elegant hotels in restored colonial haciendas, and there’s a growing number of charming, individually run small hotels and B&Bs, especially in Mérida and Campeche. As alternatives to big resorts, the coasts and islands offer a seductive variety of romantic palm-roofed cabins by the beach – from basic to luxury-standard – and some of the most enjoyable places to stay are in the most apparently remote locations.

Hotel prices are higher overall – often a lot higher – in Cancún, Isla Mujeres, Cozumel, and the Riviera Maya than in the rest of the Yucatán, and have soared recently in Tulum. Hotel rates, especially in resort areas, rise about 10 or 15 percent in the peak season, with additional price hikes for Christmas, New Year, and Easter.

Guatemala

Guatemala City

Hotel Chalet Suizo

7 Av 14-34, Zona 1

Tel: [phone]

A very w...

Table of contents

• How To Use This E-Book
• Introduction: The Maya World
• Guatemala, Belize & the Yucatán’s Top 10 Attractions
• Editor’s Choice
• The Region Today
• Decisive Dates
• Maya Roots
• Insight: Uncovering the Mysteries of the Past
• Regional Cuisine
• Outdoor Adventure
• Introduction: Guatemala
• Modern History of Guatemala
• Highland Life
• Guatemalan Wildlife
• Introduction: Guatemala
• Guatemala City
• Antigua
• The Western Highlands
• Insight: Rainbow Colors of Guatemalan Costume
• The Pacific Coast
• The East
• Petén
• Insight: Tikal – Jewel in the Maya Crown
• Introduction: Belize
• Modern History of Belize
• Flora and Fauna of Belize
• Insight: Belize – a Model for Ecotourism?
• Belize’s Barrier Reef
• Introduction: Places
• Belize City
• Northern Districts
• The South
• The Cayes
• Introduction: The Yucatán
• The Maya in the Yucatán
• Modern History of the Yucatán
• The Coast of the Yucatán
• Insight: Yucatán’s Natural Wonderland
• Tourist Trap – or Paradise?
• Introduction: Places
• Northern Yucatán
• The Caribbean Coast
• Campeche and Chiapas
• Transportation
• Accommodations
• Eating Out
• Activities
• A-Z: A Handy Summary of Practical Information
• Understanding the Language
• Further Reading