In late 2023, we spent 6 weeks in Costa Rica and were torn between enjoying the beautiful nature of the country while dealing with the downsides of traveling in the country. I wrote this post about how while it can be challenging to travel in Costa Rica, the benefits far outweigh the negatives and it still should be on most travelers bucket lists. Many people commented that I really need to see other countries in Central America before making any conclusions. We have been to Belize but El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua are all not as safe for tourists right now so our optimum next Central American country is Guatemala. We spent a lot of time while experiencing 2 weeks in Guatemala thinking about how it compares to Costa Rica so I have promised to write this post documenting our thoughts on the differences between the 2 countries. I know it is not fair to come to final conclusions but I think it is fair to share our personal feelings.
We spent only 3 nights in the capital city of Guatemala City but only spent 1 night in the Costa Rica’s capital of San Jose. Because of our short stays I can’t really compare the 2 but we enjoyed what we did see. We walked to the main plaza in Guate City and through a few tourist friendly neighborhoods. There are some bad zones in Guate that are not recommended for foreigners but there are also some fancier areas that we also didn’t experience. We only had one evening in the neighborhood of Alajuela (Costa Rica) but enjoyed seeing everyone out in the small zocolo enjoying their night in the town square. Comparisons on Central American capitol cities will have to wait for another trip.
One of the most interesting parts about Guatemala is the Mayan influence. A large portion of Guatemalans are descendents and many still speak languages other than Spanish at home. In Costa Rica, you really don’t see that much. Most people are Mestizo and only speak Spanish. Guatemala has the grandaddy of all Mayan Ruins in Tikal as well as many other Mayan towns. Costa Rica did not have as many Mayan Settlements and there isn’t any ruins that come close to comparing with Guatemala. On the other hand, Costa Rica has a lot of good beaches. Some surf beaches and a lot protected by reefs or bays that make it great for swimming. We didn’t visit the Guatemalan beach towns because it isn’t known for its beaches as is Costa Rica.
Both countries have incredible volcanos and mountainous regions that contain many different nature biome. Lots of different birds and wildlife in both countries that make it really exciting to visit. I was able to see 167 birds during my 6 weeks in Costa Rica while only seeing 59 during my time in Guatemala. That is not a very fair comparison, because I spent a lot more time looking for birds in Costa Rica and a lot more time in the mountain towns of Monteverde and La Fortuna. We saw a lot of fun birds in the jungle in Tikal, but we didn’t get to the cloud forests in Guatemala. They do have sloths, toucans and quetzals in Guatemala but we weren’t in the right places to see them. We saw a few monkeys in Tikal, but they definitely aren’t as plentiful overall as they are in Costa Rica. We saw monkeys in almost every place we went in Costa Rica as well as a lot of other small mammals. Costa Rica definitely has the edge in the nature category but you can still see a lot in Guatemala if you go to the right places.
I wrote last month about the costs and challenges of transportation in Costa Rica. The roads were lacking and many of the tourist towns did not have regular bus service. We were forced to pay for several expensive collectivos to get around the country. We were also dismayed at the lack of sidewalks in many places and just the lack of public infrastructure. Guatemala also struggles with some bad infrastructure. We were stuck in traffic a lot. It took us 2.5 hours to get the 25 kilometers from Guatemala City to Antigua. It wasn’t much better coming back on a Sunday afternoon and we heard others complaining about the tough traffic on a Monday morning. Our timing for needing transport wasn’t ideal. But we did have many more options on buses and collectivos between cities and their seemed to be a lot more competition that drove down a lot of the prices. We mostly used shuttle vans and prices in Guatemala were a lot lower than we experienced in Costa Rica. The sidewalks in cities and towns were a little better in Guatemala but we still didn’t see many pedestrian only streets that are gaining in popularity in a lot of the rest of the world. Both countries did have large town squares in every town similiar to the Zocalos of Mexico and the rest of South America. All in all both countries have a lot work to do on public infrastructure but it was cheaper and easier to get around in Guatemala.
Food is a major contributor in our happiness in a country. Costa Rica meals seemed to be focused on cheaper “casados” of a lightly seasoned filet of meat with rice, beans, grilled plantains, and a small salad without much dressing. Not a lot of culinary excitement. We did spend a lot of time on the coast and the fish and seafood were always the best options and provided us with some good meals. A lot of place had International food but we had a lot of very mediocre hamburgers and pizza that had prices similar to US prices. Some places had different menus for tourists and we never really felt like we were getting a good deal. Guatemala was way different. The Guatemalan food was flavorful and usually came with hand smacked thick tortillas that made everything taste better. There was still a lot of rice, beans, and grilled plantains but it usually came with some salsas that made it all taste good. The street food that had in Antigua was fantastic and we ate in a lot of memorable restaurants in that town. We also had a lot of international food that rarely disappointed with many fantastic burgers and pizza that were surprisingly affordable. Wine and beer was also very reasonable so most of our meals were around $30-$40 including 2 beers, 2 wines and 2 entrees. You can eat well for much cheaper in Guatemala.
The people in both countries were all really nice to us. I can’t fault the friendliness of the people we met in either country. I was able to understand the Spanish a bit better in Guatemala. The theory is that a lot of Guatemalans speak Spanish as their second language so it is slowed down quite a bit. That helps me a lot. But we were always able to communicate just fine in both countries and did not have many misunderstandings.
Costa Rica is often seen as ahead of other Central American countries because they do have pretty good health care, free education through college, and pension/social security program. Recently there have been a lot cuts in some of these programs causing some protests. I don’t understand the politics enough to really understand the specifics. Guatemala is one of those countries famous for years of government corruption orchestrated by a few large families that run the country. A new “anti-corruption” president has just taken office and given hope that maybe Guatemalans will get some of the social programs that Costa Rica has had. Again, I don’t understand the politics well enough to make any conclusions comparing the two. I am just hoping both countries can get their poverty rate down and create a bigger middle class. There is hope in both countries but also a lot of worry.
I guess the biggest comparison is if we want to return. We saw a lot of Costa Rica and don’t really have a strong urge to return any time soon. We still want to see the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and we may include that in a future trip to the Caribbean islands of Panama. But besides that, it might be a long while before we return to Costa Rica. Guatemala, on the other hand, has a big pull for us. We only saw a few locations in Guatemala but we really enjoyed those. We are adding those to our “return list” when we want to start doing even slower travel. We could spend a month on Isla de Flores, Antigua, or Lake Atitlan. And there is a lot more of Guatemala that we haven’t seen. I still believe that Costa Rica is a country that travelers should see, but overall, we prefer Guatemala. We will be back.