Our Monthly Expense in Antigua Guatemala
Antigua, Guatemala was a spot that we called home for 28 days. We stayed about 20 minutes away from central Antigua by walking in a small community of Santa Ana. This had everything we needed, short distance to the major sites, public transport close by, a bakery and multiple tiendas. Every night the main square of Santa Ana was alive with street food vendors or 5 on 5 soccer games on the basketball court, kids lighting fireworks while adults socialized in the town square. We got to a point where we felt very comfortable in this town, even helping out a fellow dog in need!
This post breaks down our monthly expense in Antigua, Guatemala as a family of four on a low to mid-range budget. In total, we spent $2,636.98 for 28 nights for a total of $94.18 per day for our family of 4. Let’s see how that is broken down. All amounts shown are in US dollars.
Accommodation—$1,053.70 or $37.63 per night.
We found a 2 bedroom 2.5 bath home on AirBnb, in the town of Santa Ana. This had a small courtyard for the kids to play in, as well as a full kitchen. It was in a quiet part of Santa Ana, a small town not far away from Antigua. It met our needs with a washer and a dryer as well. There are plenty of hotel options in Antigua as well.
Eating Out – $194.29
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Caoba Farms Restaurant – Located at Caoba Farms, their farm to table restaurant has live music on Saturday’s, $46.36.
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Ice Cream – After our Pacaya Hike, the kids got some ice cream from inside Choco Museo. $5.18.
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El Bosque– Large outdoor space with multiple restaurants and beer garden. Area for kids with a playground. $45.34.
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Esquite– Street food. Open a dorito bag, pile in street corn, multiple types of cheese, multiple sauces and a coleslaw like mixture. $3.25
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Azote BG- restaurant in Finca la Azotea. $38.04
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Street Tacos- every night in central plaza of Santa Ana they had street tacos. We ate there 3 times for a total of $39.87.
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Santa Ana Square- additional street food meal with dessert. $16.25.
Groceries – $711.28
We spent $2.31 per meal for our family of 4 including snacks throughout the day as well. Check out our post here for more information on where to get your groceries.
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Organica–Very small organic store a few blocks from the central plaza in Antigua. $45.18
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La Bodegona- one of the main supermarkets. $249.43
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La Torre- another supermarket chain. $163.61
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Caoba Farms Tienda- They sell organic produce, no hormone/anti-biotic meats, no sugar added peanut butter, sauerkraut, artisanal products. $138.60
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Antigua Central Market- $56.05
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Tiendas- $20.90
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La Reposteria- local bakery that also had freshly picked eggs by the carton of 30 eggs. $37.51
Transportation – $225.66
I have specifically omitted our flight cost leaving Guatemala for the sake that readers will have to get to and from Guatemala from many different places in the world, and all flights and means of transportation will be different. We did use this credit card to help us book flights that also gave us Priority Pass lounge access while at the airport!
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Lake Atitlán to Antigua private Transfer- $120.32
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Antigua to Airport private transfer- $45.00
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InDrive– see our post Here on InDrive vs Uber. $16.87
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Uber– $26.50
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Tuk-Tuks- $5.96
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Bus- $11.01
Tourist Attractions – $398.63
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Volcano Pacaya-overnight hike with entrance fee and tips: $331.91
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Hobbitenango- check out our blog post about Hobbitenango here. $16.95
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Choco Museo- chocolate making. $30.00
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Finca la Azotea- Coffee tour on a working coffee plantation and bike rental. $15.98
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Fireworks– fireworks fun. $2.99
Miscellaneous – $43.05
We purchased books and art supplies for $13.20, an eSIM cellular data plan with Airalo for $17.00, home goods $12.85.
Total: $2,636.98
How did we do?
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We kept to our accommodation budget. We stayed further away from the center of Antigua in Santa Ana, which was a blessing as it was a perfect home for our family for 4 week.
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We ate locally and tried to eat more farmers market produce
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We kept to bus transportation when we could and elected for InDrive if it was out of the bus route.
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We did not do well with certain restaurants we went to. While they were tasty, and sometimes we were craving a burger or pizza, we could have stuck to local street food options instead.
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Our fun/tourist budget was higher than most places. Our daughter wanted to hike and camp on a volcano. It was an amazing experience that I do not regret spending the money on.
Our family of 4 enjoyed our time in Antigua, Guatemala. We felt at home there with the local flare of the neighborhood of Santa Ana while still being close to the touristy areas. We specifically loved the outdoor market for fresh produce, our Volcano Pacaya and our trip to Hobbitenango.
More on the Blog:
Learn how to get to Lake Atitlán from Antigua
