Antigua · Things to do

The two-day climb to a camp high on the flank facing Volcan de Fuego, which erupts every few minutes through the night. It is genuinely hard, five to six hours of steep ascent at altitude and cold at the top, and you go with an agency that provides tents, food and warm gear. Booked from Antigua.

The yellow arch across 5a Avenida Norte, built so cloistered nuns could cross the street unseen. Free and permanently there; the standard photograph, with Volcan de Agua framed beneath it, only works early in the morning before the traffic and the crowd.

The mustard-yellow church at the north end of 5a Avenida, with a heavily moulded white plasterwork facade. The church is free to enter; there is a small charge for the ruined cloister behind it, which contains an enormous stone fountain.

The viewpoint on the hill just north of town, about twenty minutes up a stepped path, looking straight down the street grid to Volcan de Agua. The tourist police have long run escorted walks up at set times; ask at their office by the park and do not walk it alone.

A ruined 16th-century Dominican monastery on 3a Calle Oriente, rebuilt around a hotel but keeping six museums and two galleries on site, covering colonial art, archaeology and glass, plus a crypt. Worth the entry for the ruins and gardens alone.