Flores
Flores is a pastel colonial town on an island in Lake Petén Itzá, joined to the mainland by a causeway and walked around in fifteen minutes, and the base for Tikal 65 kilometres north in jungle that runs unbroken to the Yucatán. Two nights, the pre-dawn shuttle to the temples, the flight from the capital rather than the ten-hour road, and Belize or Mexico as the next country.
Flores in a nutshell
Flores: what to expect
We read 52,000+ planned stops in Guatemala on Stippl to see how Flores really gets planned.
Two nights in Flores, Tikal before dawn, and the island walked round at golden hour. Temple IV at Tikal stands above the canopy with the howler monkeys starting in the dark, Yaxhá sits 90 kilometres east between two jungle lakes with a fraction of the visitors, the shore walk round the island is the evening, the lake is swum and kayaked from the docks, El Mirador is the remote Maya city reached by a five-day jungle trek or a helicopter, and the rope swing is an institution. Most travellers give Flores 2 nights on Stippl.
Flores is the Petén, and the Petén is Tikal. The town is on 59.8% of the trips planned through Guatemala on Stippl and takes 12.5% of every Guatemalan stop, three in four trips carrying Tikal also carry Flores, and 22.2% of its stops are a single night, because people come, see the temples and go on to Belize or back to the highlands.
So fly in from the capital, sleep on the island for the view or in Santa Elena for the early bus, take the pre-dawn Tikal shuttle with an official guide, and give Yaxhá the second day if there is one. Skip the ten-hour road from the capital, since the flight is the one thing in the country worth paying for, skip the ten-hour Flores to Semuc leg unless it is planned as a whole day, and skip the wet season if the access roads matter, because they deteriorate by September.
Plan Flores in Stippl
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Maya archaeology travellers
Tikal is the reason, and Yaxhá and El Mirador run from here too, with three in four Tikal trips on Stippl passing through Flores.
Jungle and wildlife people
Howler monkeys, spider monkeys and toucans are ordinary at the sites rather than a special sighting.
Overlanders
The natural staging point between Guatemala, Belize and Mexico, with the buses to both borders leaving from Santa Elena.
Budget travellers
Cheap beds, cheap food, and the flight is the only expensive thing.
Two-night stayers
Most travellers give Flores 2 nights on Stippl, and 22.2% of stops are a single night.
Maybe not for you: anyone who wants more than two days of the town itself, since it is small and there is little to it beyond the ruins; and anyone expecting the highlands' cool nights, because the Petén is hot and humid all year.
The best time to visit Flores
The dry season
November to April
Hot days and clear skies, the jungle tracks firm and the sunrise at Tikal reliable, with February to May the driest window of all.
The hot end of the dry
April and May
Over thirty-four degrees by noon, the lake the only relief, and the pre-dawn shuttle the only sane way to see the temples.
The wet season
June to October
Afternoon downpours, the jungle at its loudest and greenest, the access roads to Yaxhá and El Mirador deteriorating, and the rooms at their cheapest.
The bird months
December to March
The migrants in and the resident toucans and parrots at their most visible, and the reason the lodges by the park fill with binoculars.
- Most travellers give Flores 2 nights on Stippl, and one in ten stay longer than four. Two covers Tikal and the island, and the third is Yaxhá or a day on the lake.
- The Tikal shuttle leaves before dawn. Around four in the morning for the sunrise slot and to beat the heat, and the ticket is bought the day before in town.
- The sunrise ticket is a separate permit. The park opens at six and the earlier entry costs extra, and the alternative is a night in the lodges inside the park.
- Only 2.22% of Flores stops on Stippl are no night at all. The lowest pass-through share of any Guatemalan stop bar the lake, because Tikal cannot be done from anywhere else.
- The wet-season roads decide Yaxhá and El Mirador. Yaxhá's track is fine in the dry season and slow after rain, and the El Mirador trek does not run in the wettest months.
- The Belize border is two hours away. The buses to Belize City and on to Mexico leave from Santa Elena in the morning, so the second night is the last in Guatemala for most people.
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Things to do in Flores
Tikal at sunrise
Temple IV above the canopy with the howler monkeys starting up in the dark, on a pre-dawn shuttle from the island or a night in the park.
Yaxhá
Ninety kilometres east between two jungle lakes, with a fraction of Tikal's visitors and a better sunset from the top of the temple.
The island's evening circuit
The shore walk round Flores at golden hour, with the lake on every side and the restaurants' terraces on the water.
Swimming and kayaking
Lake Petén Itzá from the island's docks or the north-shore villages, in the heat of the afternoon.
El Mirador
The remote Maya city with the largest pyramid by volume in the world, reached by a five-day jungle trek from Flores or by helicopter.
The rope swing
On the lake across the water from the island, an institution reached by boat for a swim and a beer.
The corners of Flores
The island
The pastel grid
Colonial lanes with the lake on every side, the restaurants along the shore, the evening walk at golden hour and every Tikal shuttle collecting at the door. For almost everyone, for one or two nights.
The view and the walk, at island prices and with the causeway traffic at dawn.
Santa Elena
The mainland town
The bus terminal, the market, the airport road and the everyday town the island is not, with cheaper beds and the early buses to Belize. For budgets and early departures.
The price and the early bus, and nothing to look at.
The lakeshore villages
The north shore
San Miguel and the villages across the water, reachable by small boat, with quieter water and the island seen from across it. For longer stays and swimming.
The quiet and the swimming, a boat ride from the shuttles.
The Tikal lodges
Inside the park
Three lodges at the park entrance, an hour north, for the dawn without the four o'clock shuttle and the jungle at night. For the sunrise and the birds.
The dawn on foot and the animals at dusk, at twice the island's prices.
See every Flores neighbourhood on one map
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Where to stay in Flores
The island for the view and the walk, Santa Elena for the price and the early bus, and the park lodges for the dawn without the shuttle. Most travellers give Flores 2 nights on Stippl, and the Tikal shuttles collect from every hotel on the island.
The island
$
Hostels and lakefront hotels in the pastel grid, €8 to €70 a night.
Santa Elena
$
Budget hotels near the terminal, €10 to €40 a night.
The lakeshore villages
$
Guesthouses and a lodge on the north shore, €15 to €60 a night.
The Tikal lodges
Three lodges at the park gate, €60 to €150 a night.
What to eat in Flores
The national stew, thickened with toasted seeds
The Petén stews that separate the region's cooking from the rest
The catch from Petén Itzá, fried or grilled
The comedor plate at comedor prices
The mainland's cheap evening meal
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Flores customs and what not to do
Ask before photographing
As everywhere in Guatemala, and in Santa Elena's market as much as in the highlands.
Tikal is a park and a site
An active archaeological site and a national park, and staying on the marked routes is enforced by the guards.
Heat dress, and modest in town
Shorts and a hat at the ruins and the lake, and something over the shoulders in Santa Elena's streets and churches.
Take an official guide
The difference in quality at Tikal is wide, and the unofficial sellers at the entrance are the ones to walk past.
The Petén is a frontier
A different feel from the highlands, more Caribbean and more cowboy, and the town is friendlier than the region's reputation.
Do
- Take the pre-dawn shuttle and the sunrise permit
- Hire an official guide at the Tikal gate or through the hotel
- Fly in from the capital; the road is ten hours
- Carry repellent daily; dengue is year-round here
Don't
- Leave the marked routes at Tikal
- Plan Flores to Semuc as a half day; it is ten hours
- Buy the Tikal ticket from a seller outside the official booth
What a Flores trip costs
Budget
€22–35
A dorm bed, comedor meals, and moving by chicken bus and lancha.
Mid-range
€52–86
A private room, the guided sunrise tour and restaurant dinners on the water.
High-end
€130+
A lodge inside the park, private transfers and the helicopter to El Mirador.
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Fun facts about Flores
The last independent Maya kingdom held out at Flores until 1697. On the island in Lake Petén Itzá, long after the rest of the Maya world had fallen to Spain.
The jungle around Flores runs unbroken to the Yucatán Peninsula. The largest tropical forest north of the Amazon, and Tikal is one clearing in it.
El Mirador near Flores is reached only by a five-day trek or a helicopter. A hundred kilometres north, with the La Danta pyramid the largest in the world by volume and still mostly under the trees.
Temple IV at Tikal stands 70 metres above the forest floor. The tallest pre-Columbian structure in the Americas, and the one the sunrise crowd climbs.
Tikal's plaza was a Star Wars location. The temples above the canopy stand in for the rebel base, in the shot from Temple IV that the sunrise tour delivers.
Three in four trips carrying Tikal on Stippl also carry Flores. The town is on 59.8% of Guatemalan trips, and it is the only base the temples have.
Local tips for Flores
A hub as much as a town
Tikal, Belize, Mexico and the capital all connect through Flores, and the Santa Elena terminal is where the border buses leave from at dawn.
The shuttle leaves before dawn
Around four for the sunrise slot and to beat the heat, booked the afternoon before through any hotel or agency on the island.
The island is walked
Fifteen minutes round the shore, and the tuk-tuks cover the causeway and Santa Elena for under a euro.
Flores to Semuc is ten hours
The leg everyone underestimates, and it appears by name in every warning, so it is planned as a whole day with an early start.
Repellent is a daily item
Malaria risk exists in the Petén lowlands and dengue is present year round, in a way that is not true of the highlands.
Two nights, and the door out
Most travellers give Flores 2 nights on Stippl, and only 2.22% of stops are no night at all, since the temples need the dawn.
Flores questions, answered
It is: most travellers give Flores 2 nights on Stippl, 22.2% of stops are a single night, and one in ten stay longer than four. People come, see Tikal and go, and the third night belongs to Yaxhá or the lake.
That is what nearly everyone does: three in four trips carrying Tikal on Stippl also carry Flores, only 2.22% of Flores stops are no night at all, and the pre-dawn shuttle from the island is the standard version. The alternative is a night in the lodges at the park gate for the dawn on foot.
Fly. An hour against eight to ten on the road, and the flight is the one thing in the country worth paying for. Put the flight into Stippl for the morning, then ask people in subreddits like r/guatemala whether they took the overnight bus back.
The island for the view and the evening walk, and Santa Elena for the price and an early departure, since the buses to Belize and the capital leave from its terminal at dawn. Most people take the island for two nights and the tuk-tuk across the causeway.
Every guide says so, and it means a four o'clock shuttle or a night in the park. The howler monkeys start in the dark, the mist lifts off the canopy from Temple IV, and by nine the heat and the day-trippers have both arrived.
A fraction of the crowds and a better sunset, at the cost of a longer drive and a second day. Flores is on 59.8% of Guatemalan trips planned on Stippl, and the ones with a third night are the ones that get to Yaxhá.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
Plan Flores in Stippl
Day-by-day planning, stays and budget in one app, with every place from this guide already on the map.
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