Volcano climbing in beautiful Guatemala

Guatemala is often overlooked as a travel destination, its reputation for crime and association with civil war major factors in keeping people away.

However, for ten years the country has been relatively stable, its political instabilities and major human rights abuses quickly becoming things of the past.

Today Guatemala is an extremely beautiful and interesting place to visit, and still very cheap.

It is the largest country in Central America and is bordered by Belize, Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador, and for the majority of tourists, travelling there is a safe and rewarding experience.

The old Spanish colonial town of Antigua is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. Only an hour away from Guatemala City, many people prefer to head straight there, bypassing the capital entirely.

This pretty town with its baroque architecture and cobbled streets is well geared to travellers and is full of enough markets, bars and restaurants to keep you entertained for weeks. In fact, with over 75 language schools, people often end up staying for months.

Overlooking the town are three of the country's 33 volcanoes; the imposing Agua, Acatenago and the still active Fuego.

It is possible to climb all of these, but the most popular trip from Antigua is to the nearby Pacaya National Park. The park boasts a live, 2,552 metre high volcano that has erupted continually for the past 40 years, with hundreds of small explosions sighted there every day.

Robberies in the area used to be a problem, but since most tour groups started to employ armed guards to escort tourists through the park, reports of crime have reduced significantly.

It requires quite a lot of effort to reach the summit as the last hour of the climb is mostly navigating epic dunes of ash and rubble. For every step you take up, you fall three back down, however, the experience is lots of fun despite the tough going.

The views from the top of the surrounding hilly countryside are amazing and you can look right into the volcano's crater and see rivers of floating lava running down from its peak. The volcano's heat warms the ground, giving a pleasant respite from the cold and is great to lie down on while psyching yourself up for the climb back down.

Half a day's drive from Antigua and surrounded by three more volcanoes is beautiful Lake Atitlán, the deepest lake in Central America.

Surrounded by sleepy Mayan villages, farms and coffee plantations, it is the perfect place to relax and spend a week swimming, sunbathing and generally chilling out after your hard work in Antigua.

Frankie Elliott