Pacaya Volcano Tour from Antigua
The Pacaya volcano tour from Antigua Guatemala: about 32 km by road, a guided hike to steam vents and lava fields, what each tour costs and includes, the park fee and the horses.
A Pacaya volcano tour from Antigua takes about six hours: a bus ride of about 32 km to San Vicente Pacaya, a guided hike up through forest and old lava to a plateau of steam vents, and the view across to Agua, Fuego and Acatenango. The one to book first is Volcano Expeditions’ From Antigua: Pacaya Volcano Tour in English/Spanish, from US$23 a person (checked November 2026), with hotel pickup at 17 points in Antigua and marshmallows to toast on the volcano. The park entrance is paid on top.
The calendar shows the start times for the date you pick. On the dates we read, 27 November 2026, 20 January and 10 March 2027, one adult paid US$23, and two adults paid twice that on 20 January. You can reserve now, pay later and cancel free until 24 hours before.
Getting to Pacaya
Pacaya stands in its own protected area, the Parque Nacional Volcán de Pacaya y Laguna de Calderas. From Antigua it is about 32 km by road to San Vicente Pacaya, the town the tours drive to. CONAP, which runs Guatemala’s protected areas, puts the park’s visitor centre at the fork between San Vicente Pacaya and San Francisco de Sales, and the drive from Guatemala City at about an hour by the CA-9 south, turning off at km 37.
The tours give the bus ride from Antigua as about an hour: Volcano Expeditions' itinerary shows an hour each way (its description says about 1.5 hours), Marvelus Travel's a 1-hour journey and Old Town Outfitters' just over an hour to the park office.
The hike
Pacaya is 2,544 m high (CONAP, 2008), lower than Acatenango by more than 1,400 m. On Volcano Expeditions' tour you walk with a local guide through forest and along a rocky path between walls of hardened lava to the plateau, where the main crater is seen from a distance. There you toast marshmallows over a steam vent and look across to Agua, Fuego and Acatenango, then walk back down to the bus.
The time on foot differs by tour. On Guatemalan Adventure's day tour it is about 2.5 hours, or you ride up by horse. Marvelus Travel's trek is a 2-hour trek in its description and 4 hours at the volcano in its itinerary. A four-star review of Volcano Expeditions' tour from 13 September 2026 calls the climb short, around 1.5 hours up, but a fairly steep incline.
Lava and the crater
Whether there is lava to see depends on the volcano’s activity on the day, and no tour can promise it. On Marvelus Travel's and Guatemalan Adventure's tours the crater itself is off limits for safety. CONAP’s page tells visitors to check the state of the volcano when they arrive.
The Pacaya tours side by side
| Tour | From | Length | Start | Park fee | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacaya Volcano Tour in English/Spanish (Volcano Expeditions) | US$23 | 6 hours | Hotel pickup, 17 points in Antigua | Not included | Spanish, English |
| Pacaya Volcano Trek (Marvelus Travel) | US$23 | 6 hours | Hotel pickup, 17 points in Antigua | Not included (Q100) | Spanish, English |
| Pacaya Volcano Day Tour (Guatemalan Adventure) | US$119 | 6 hours | Pickup in Guatemala City or Antigua | Included | Spanish, English |
| Pacaya Volcano Day Hike (Old Town Outfitters) | US$165 | 6 hours | Antigua at 08:00, or 14:00 for a sunset hike | Included, with a picnic | Spanish, English |
| Pacaya Volcano ATV Adventure (Simon S.A.) | US$125 | 7 hours | A meeting point in Antigua; no hotel pickup | Included | English, Spanish |
| Hike to Pacaya Volcano from Antigua (Voyageur Tours) | US$35 | 6 hours | Hotel pickup at selected hotels | Not included (Q100, cash) | Spanish, basic English |
From-prices a person: GetYourGuide checked November 2026, Viator checked November 2026. The park fee figures in brackets are each tour’s own.
The two cheapest are the same price and the same length. Simon S.A.'s ATV trip is the one for riding rather than walking: quad bikes from San Vicente Pacaya over volcanic sand and lava fields in a private plantation and on to the Calderas lagoon, rain or shine, limited to 10.
The park fee
CONAP’s page for the park publishes no entrance fee, so we print none of our own. The tours that leave it out give it as Q100 (quetzales) a person: Volcano Expeditions, with children under 5 free, Marvelus Travel, and Voyageur Tours, in cash at the park entrance. Carry quetzales in cash.
Horses on the trail
On Pacaya, local handlers walk horses up the trail and offer rides. In the 350 newest reviews of Volcano Expeditions' tour, the oldest dated 13 April 2026 and the newest 5 November 2026, horses come up in 34, and 11 of those give three stars or fewer. The complaints are about handlers following the group closely and pressing the slowest walkers to hire a horse; a few say it felt unsafe on a narrow path, and one, of 2 November 2026, raises the horses’ welfare. Others were glad of a horse on the steep part.
A horse costs extra and is paid locally: about Q300 a horse, paid to the local providers, on Voyageur Tours' hike.
What else reviewers mention
Of the same 350 reviews of Volcano Expeditions' tour, 32 give three stars or fewer. Besides the horses, the low ones mention a fast pace on the way up and an unfriendly driver. Marvelus Travel's trek has 49 of its 350 newest reviews at three stars or fewer, the oldest dated 31 May 2024 and the newest 7 November 2026, with late pickups, a guide who spoke only Spanish and a summit lost in cloud among them.
For the bigger climb, Pacaya or Acatenango sets the two side by side.
More from Antigua
Volcano Hikes and Day Trips from Antigua with Open Dates
Volcano hikes and other trips from Antigua Guatemala with live availability. Pickup, what is included and the cancellation terms show before you book.
Pacaya in Six Hours
Volcano Expeditions' Pacaya tour: hotel pickup in Antigua, a guided hike to the plateau with a guide in Spanish and English, marshmallows over a steam vent and the view of three volcanoes.
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