Despite its dangerous reputation, Guatemala offers travelers a serene jungle getaway.

By Drew Limsky

I'm not particularly adventurous when it comes to travel, so when I agreed to go to Central America, I was thinking some beach and hammock time in Belize. If that got too rough, I'd head to the spa.

My partner Chris had other ideas. Having once served in the Peace Corps, Chris has been all over the world. He has a high tolerance for what he calls "the developing world" and what I refer to as filth and the dirt. "But Guatemala's right there," he protested. He kept saying it; I kept ignoring it. I was picturing gun-toting soldiers demanding bribes. He was thinking about the ruins, the volcanoes, and the lakes.

I scoured Fodor's and Lonely Planet for deal-breakers. The guidebooks issued carefully-phrased warnings running the gamut from malaria to daily rain to the occasional bandito hold-up on the highway. Not only that—"The book says that you have to wear pants everywhere because Latin men don't wear shorts," I told him. "The book says you have to bring a mosquito net,” and “Do you know that August is the rainy season?" My mother kept calling, saying the same thing, "I don't know why you're doing this."

I don't know either, but I'm glad I did, because it was the most memorable vacation of my life. So let's debunk some myths. On clothing: We went to heavily touristed areas, and people wore shorts everywhere. On mosquitoes and malaria: Check with your doctor, but the cities, mountain lakes, and other well-traveled areas are malaria-free. You'll get bitten by more mosquitoes in the Hamptons. On crime: We never experienced crime or felt unsafe. At a shopping center in Guatemala City, a guard armed with an AK-47 paced around, but you see that in New York subway stations now, too. On weather: Guatemala is justifiably called "The Land of Eternal Spring." The weather in August (during the "rainy" season) is not significantly different from the weather in January—sunny and 70 degrees during the day, a few degrees cooler at night. Sometimes, it rains a little after dark.

We flew out of LAX via Mexicana Air at around 1 p.m. We had a short layover in Mexico City and arrived at 10 p.m. in Guatemala City—a metropolis looking somewhat like Los Angeles, with mountains looming in the distance and a mix of modern apartment buildings and low-slung shops. The districts, or zonas, closest to the airport are the safest and most attractive in the city, with large American hotels and a wide array of fine restaurants.

We had chosen the Marriott for a soft landing—there’s a Marriott desk right at the airport with a free shuttle service. Chris and I were beat, so we ordered sandwiches and ice cream from room service, which turned out to be our priciest and most generic meal in Guatemala.

The next morning we found a taxi to take us to the colonial town of Antigua. It took about an hour and cost only $20. We stayed just one night, but saw so much that it felt like we spent a week there. Ringed by inactive volcanoes, Antigua is a city perfectly suited for walking, exploring, and stopping to have a great cup of chocolate con leche.

The Plaza Mayor is lovely with a picturesque fountain; local women bustle past carrying colorful wares on their heads. One of the most picturesque historical sites is the sunflower-yellow Nuestra Senora de la Merced, a 400-year-old church with an impressive arch that spans 5 Avenida Norte, one of the liveliest streets in the city, and the site of frequent nighttime festivals and live music. Great views are available from the roof of the city's largest convent, the Convento de las Capuchinas, built by Capuchine nuns in 1736.

Cafés with outdoor gardens are numerous. Behind nearly every door are restaurants and hotels set around bougainvillea-strewn Spanish courtyards. We stayed at the Hotel Aurora ($50 including breakfast in the courtyard)—a family-run place not far from the plaza. The room was charming with a pocket window and a transom over the doorway; the bathroom was small but functional; and the wood-frame bed was enormous.

We saw a half-dozen other impressive hotels. Touring them is one of the more worthwhile things to do in Antigua, giving you a good sense of the value of the American dollar. At the Casa Mayor ($60-$85), one room is accessible by walking over stone blocks set in a shallow pool; the French-owned Mansion El Pensativo ($70-$200) has manicured gardens, a comfortable sitting room, and a shimmering pool, which gives the inn a slight Palm Springs feel.

Two of the city's hotels have top restaurants and are not-to-be-missed destinations. The Casa Santo Domingo is a five-star property built around the ruins of a 17th-century monastery and the Posadas de Don Rodrigo is the social hub of the town. Walk through a series of three courtyards to get to the alfresco restaurant, where local chicken and steak dishes are tasty and the service is unfailingly attentive. Café Condesa is especially popular—try to snag a table in the garden, where a great lunch for two is just $10.

Travel agencies are as plentiful as Internet cafés in Antigua, and we quickly secured two seats on a tourist van to Lake Atitlan ($20 a piece). Just three hours later, we were in Panajachel, the village port of Lake Atitlan—a lake purported to be the most beautiful in the world by scribe Aldous Huxley.

Lake Atitlan, surrounded by three volcanoes, is itself a collapsed volcano. Small villages ring the lake, and most people get from Panajachel to the other villages by motorboat (around $2).

Some Italians staying there said the lake was as beautiful as Lake Como. I had to agree even though I've never been to Lake Como. We swam every morning; the water was perfectly clear but got rough later in the day. Good swimmers will enjoy the lake; there are even places to cliff dive from rock outcroppings. Don’t fear: Some perches are only about four feet above the water. We stayed for three days, but could have easily lingered there for a month.

Chris was dead-set on seeing the Mayan ruins of Tikal, so we headed back to the Guatemala City Marriott to make travel plans. The next morning, we flew Taca Air to Flores ($90), an island town set in the middle of Lake Peten about an hour from the ruins. Flores has a sort of seedy charm—with lots of bars and souvenir shops. We checked into Hotel Sabana ($55)—the rooms were ordinary, but the hotel had a small pool and a pleasant lakeside café. At around the same price, the centrally-located Hotel Peten looked even more appealing, but fills up quickly.

We caught a ride to Tikal, where we walked among the 1,000-year-old pyramids that were featured in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and saw howler monkeys swinging from vines. Some of the tallest pyramids are blocked off, we were told, because some climbers had fallen in the past. The most imposing pyramid still accessible to visitors could be scaled using a series of almost vertical wooden stairways, practically ladders. But once we reached the top, the view of the other pyramids peeking out of the jungle was thrilling.

Back in Flores, Chris was tired after our jungle tour, so while he took a nap, I dove into Lake Peten and swam in the direction of a house on its own island. It turned out to be a lot further than it looked. When I finally reached the island-house, I spotted a guy with the type of motorized gondola that ferries people around the lake, and in my rudimentary Spanish, asked for a ride back to the hotel for twenty quetzales. He smiled and agreed, and I made it back to the Sabana feeling very daring.

The next day, the driver we hired to take us into Belize said that there were cocodrilos (crocodiles) in the lake. "But don't worry," he said, "they never come to town, and they don't bother people." Which sums up Guatemala in a nutshell: you'll feel like an adventurer, but the dangers are mostly theoretical.

Some tips on travelling in Guatemala:

Money: Bring a combination of traveler's checks and cash. Credit cards are widely accepted, and ATM cards will work here (but you'll get quetzales, not dollars). Seven or eight quetzales equals one dollar.

Water and food: Drink bottled; avoid cut fruit and juices not from a bottle. We followed this plan and had no stomach trouble in Guatemala.

Language: You can get by with only English, but a little Spanish helps.

Travel safety: Everyone says to travel during daylight. Sometimes we didn't. We're still here.