Things To Do in Guatemala City

In many respects, Guatemala City is a great place for shopping, particularly if you're interested in Guatemalan arts and crafts. While it's much more fun and culturally interesting to visit one of the traditional markets, like that in Chichicastenango or Santiago Atitlán, you can find just about anything made and sold throughout Guatemala on sale in the city. Moreover, you can find these arts and crafts in large, expansive markets, as well as in small, boutique shops. Note: It is illegal to export any pre-Columbian artifacts out of Guatemala.

The Shopping Scene

There are two main markets in Guatemala City, the Mercado Central, or Central Market, in Zona 1, and Mercado de Artesanías (Artisans' Market), in Zona 13. Both are massive and stocked with a wide range of arts, crafts, textiles, and souvenirs available throughout the country. Aside from these, the greatest concentration of shops can be found in the Zona Viva. These shops tend to be higher-end, and you'll often pay a premium price for the same goods available at the markets. However, the markets are often flooded with low-quality items, which are often weeded out from the offerings at the higher-end shops.

In addition to the Mercado Central, Guatemalans love to shop for bargains along 6a Avenida in Zona 1. This busy city street is crammed with makeshift stands and kiosks selling everything from bootleg CDs and DVDs to housewares and clothing. However, be careful; this is a busy and crowded area, and pickpockets feast on tourists.

Middle- and upper-class Guatemalans tend to shop in modern malls. Some of the malls in Guatemala City include Centro Comercial Miraflores, Calzada Roosevelt, Zona 11; Centro Comercial Tikal Futura, Calzada Roosevelt, Zona 11; and Gran Cento Comercial Los Próceres, 16a Calle, Zona 10, all of which could rival those in other parts of the world.

Liquor -- The Guatemalan Zacapa rum is one of the finest rums in the world. The 23-year-old Zacapa Centenario dark rum is as rich and smooth as a fine cognac. This rum has won widespread acclaim in international tasting competitions, and the company claims that part of their success and secret lies in the fact that the rum is initially distilled at sea level, near where the sugar cane is grown, and brought to a separate facility high in the Guatemalan mountains to age. Zacapa rums also come in 15- and 25-year aged varieties. For decades, the Centenario came in a bottle entirely covered in a woven reed. Today, these bottles are increasingly rare, and while the newer packaging features only a thin band of the weaving, the rum is just as good. You can get Zacapa rum at liquor stores and supermarkets across the city (and country). However, you'll find the best prices, oddly, at the airport. It's convenient to know you can save that last bit of shopping until the last minute.

Guatemala City is a large, metropolitan city. However, its after-dark pleasures are somewhat limited. Part of this is due to the famously dangerous nature of much of the city, especially after dark. Many of the late-night offerings are confined to a couple of very concentrated and centralized "safe" areas, which gives the scene a little bit of an apartheid feel. Still, if you're looking for a concert, theater performance, or night on the town, you should be able to find something here to fit the bill.

The Performing Arts

Guatemala's performing arts scene is relatively thin, which could be due to the high levels of poverty and illiteracy.

The greatest number of high-quality performances take place at the Centro Cultural Miguel Angel Asturias, 24a Calle 3-81, Centro Cívico, Zona 1 (tel. 502/2232-4041), which features the country's largest, most modern, and most impressive theater. Offerings range from local and visiting ballet companies and symphonies to theater and modern dance. A couple of satellite theater and gallery spaces often host smaller events, which include conferences, poetry readings, and film cycles.

Another principal venue for the performing arts is the theater at the Instituto Guatemalteco Americano ★ (IGA; tel. 502/2422-5555; www.iga.edu), which is located at 9a Av. 0-51, Zona 4, on the outskirts of Cuatro Grados Norte. These folks maintain a steady schedule of events that range from children's and traditional theater to art film cycles and dance performances. Check out their website for current event schedules.

The Centro Cultural de España, Vía 5, 1-23, Zona 4 (tel. 502/2385-9066; www.centroculturalespana.com.gt), is located right on the main drag of Cuatro Grados Norte, close to the IGA. In addition to their small gallery space, they have a regular schedule of artistic, literary, and cultural events.

Your best bet for finding out what might be playing is to ask your hotel concierge, check the websites listed above, or pick up a copy of the free monthly Revue Magazine (www.revuemag.com), which is widely available at hotels and other tourist haunts around the country. If you can read Spanish, Recrearte (www.revistarecrearte.com) is another good source of information, with local listings for theater, concerts, and art galleries.

Ticket prices can range from Q30 to as high as Q450 ($4-$60/£2-£30) depending on the event and the star power of the main act.

The Bar Scene

For visitors and locals alike, there are two main after-dark destinations: the Zona Viva and Cuatro Grados Norte. Both offer a broad range of bars, restaurants, and clubs in a compact area that's safe and pedestrian-friendly. Most bars don't charge a cover unless there's a live act, in which case the cover is anywhere from Q15 to Q75 ($2-$10/£1-£5). Discos and dance clubs often have a cover of between Q15 and Q30 ($2-$4/£1-£2).

The Gay & Lesbian Scene

Guatemala is a largely Catholic, socially conservative Central American nation, and in general terms the nation can be rather homophobic. Public displays of same-sex affection are rare, and violence against prominent gay and lesbian activists is not unheard of. For these reasons, the local gay and lesbian communities are pretty discreet. Many gay and lesbian organizations guard their privacy, and the club scene is changeable and not well publicized.

For good, comprehensive information on the current situation for gay men, check out Gay Guatemala (www.gayguatemala.com), which appears in both English and Spanish. Information on the lesbian scene, and specifically lesbian clubs and bars, is much harder to come by. In general, the clubs and bars mentioned below tend to be predominantly gay, but all are pretty lesbian-friendly.

The most established gay and lesbian bars are Black & White, 11a Calle 2-54, Zona 1 (tel. 502/5904-1758); Metropole, 6a Calle, between 3a Avenida and 4a Avenida, Zona 1; Ephebus Bar, 4a Calle 5-30, Zona 1 (tel. 502/2253-4119); Genetic, Ruta 3, 3-08, Zona 4 (tel. 502/2332-2823); and El Encuentro, 5a Av. 10-52, Zona 1 (tel. 502/2232-9235).

Cinemas

All of the modern malls have multiplex cinemas showing late-run American movies, usually subtitled, but sometimes dubbed. Your best bets are the Cinépolis, Centro Comercial Miraflores, Calzada Roosevelt, Zona 11 (tel. 502/2470-8367; www.cinepolis.com.gt); Cines Tikal Futura, Centro Comercial Tikal Futura, Calzada Roosevelt, Zona 11 (tel. 502/2440-3297); and Cines Próceres, Centro Comercial Los Próceres, 16a Calle, Zona 10 (tel. 502/2332-8508). Check any of the local, Spanish-language daily papers for current schedules.