Skip to content
Crowded market day with traditional dress

Western Highlands · Highland market of colour and ritual

A K'iche' Maya town whose twice-weekly market is one of the most colourful in the Americas. Here, Catholic and Maya traditions blend on the steps of a 16th-century church.

Overview

On Thursdays and Sundays, Chichicastenango transforms. Traders from across the highlands arrive before dawn to fill the plaza and surrounding streets with textiles, masks, pottery, flowers, produce and livestock. It is a working market as much as a spectacle, where K'iche' families buy and sell exactly as they have for generations.

Overlooking it all is the Church of Santo Tomás, built around 1545 on top of a Maya temple platform. Its 18 steps are said to represent the months of the Maya calendar, and you will often see spiritual guides burning copal incense and offering prayers on them. It was here, in the early 1700s, that the friar Francisco Ximénez transcribed the Popol Vuh, the sacred K'iche' book of creation.

We usually visit on market day from Antigua or Lake Atitlán with a private guide who can explain the rituals, introduce you to traders and steer you to the best textiles. An overnight stay lets you see the market being set up at dawn, before the tour buses arrive.

Best time to visit

  • JanBestBest time to visit. Dry season.
  • FebBestBest time to visit. Dry season.
  • MarBestBest time to visit. Dry season.
  • AprBestBest time to visit. Dry season.
  • MayRainyRainy season.
  • JunRainyRainy season.
  • JulRainyRainy season.
  • AugRainyRainy season.
  • SepRainyRainy season.
  • OctRainyRainy season.
  • NovBestBest time to visit. Dry season.
  • DecBestBest time to visit. Dry season.
Best months● Rainy season (May–October): mornings usually clear, afternoon showers

The market runs year-round on Thursdays and Sundays, and the dry season from November to April offers the most pleasant weather. In December, the fiesta of Santo Tomás (13–21 December) brings processions, masked dances and the palo volador. During the May to October rains, mornings are usually dry enough for the market, with showers arriving later in the day.

Highlights

  1. 01

    Market day

    Wander through a maze of stalls overflowing with huipiles, carved masks and fresh produce, and watch highland life unfold around you.

  2. 02

    Church of Santo Tomás

    Watch spiritual guides burn copal on the church steps, where Maya and Catholic rituals have coexisted for centuries.

  3. 03

    Pascual Abaj shrine

    Climb a forested hill to a sacred Maya site where ceremonies are still held, with permission and an experienced guide.

  4. 04

    The colourful cemetery

    Brightly painted tombs, each colour carrying its own meaning, make the town cemetery a moving and photogenic place to visit.

Things to do

  • 01Browse the Thursday or Sunday market with a private guide
  • 02Watch copal ceremonies on the steps of Santo Tomás
  • 03Visit the Pascual Abaj shrine
  • 04Walk through the painted cemetery
  • 05Shop for textiles and carved ceremonial masks
  • 06See the Rossbach regional museum of jade and ceramics
  • 07Time your visit for the December fiesta of Santo Tomás

Practical tips

Arrive early
The market is at its most authentic in the early morning, before the tour groups arrive around 10am.
Bargain kindly
Haggling is expected but should be good-natured. Your guide can give you a sense of fair prices for quality pieces.
Respect the church
Do not use the main front door or steps, which are reserved for religious use, and do not take photos inside the church.

Chichicastenango FAQ

The main market is held on Thursdays and Sundays. Sunday tends to be the busiest and most colourful, with more local worshippers.

More questions? See our Guatemala FAQ.

Every tour is private and fully adjustable around your dates and pace.

See all tours

10 days, 9 nights Antigua · Western Highlands · Lake Atitlán · Petén

Classic Guatemala

Daily breakfast · 7 guided activities · All private transfers · Domestic flight

  • Walk Antigua's cobbled streets and ruined convents with a historian guide
  • Chichicastenango's market on a Thursday or Sunday
  • Private boat days between Atitlán's Maya villages
  • Tikal at first light, plus a sunset over Yaxhá's lagoons

From$3,650per person

≈ $7,300 for two · international flights excluded

View tour

8 days, 7 nights Antigua · Western Highlands · Lake Atitlán

Highlands & Markets

Daily breakfast · 6 guided activities · All private transfers

  • Overnight in Chichicastenango to see the market wake up
  • Backstrap weaving with a women's co-operative in San Juan
  • The hot springs of Fuentes Georginas in the cloud forest
  • San Andrés Xecul's technicolour church

From$1,790per person

≈ $3,580 for two · international flights excluded

View tour

Tell us a little about your trip. Your specialist will reply within one working day with ideas, not a sales pitch.

Email us