Two Kaqchikel villages east of Panajachel: one with houses painted in the patterns of its weaving, one known for pottery and green terraces.
Santa Catarina Palopó, a short ride east of Panajachel, has painted hundreds of its houses in bold blues, turquoises and greens, using designs taken from the women's huipiles.
The project turned a quiet fishing village into an open-air gallery stepping up the hillside from the lake. A small free museum explains the patterns and their meanings.
Further along the shore, San Antonio Palopó climbs a steep slope around a white church, with terraced fields of onions below. It's the lake's ceramics village, with workshops making glazed plates and bowls in bright patterns.
A quiet road links the two, an easy walk of about an hour with lake views all the way.
A half-day on the east shore.
Take a tuk-tuk from Panajachel along the shore road to Santa Catarina.
Climb the lanes among the painted houses and visit the small museum.
Walk the quiet road east, with views across to the volcanoes.
Visit a ceramics workshop and climb to the church above the terraces.
Catch a tuk-tuk or pickup back to Panajachel for lunch.
Tuk-tuks and pickups leave Panajachel for both villages; agree the fare first. Some boats stop on request.
Ceramics workshops in San Antonio sell direct; textiles are sold in both villages.
These are lived-in homes; photograph the walls, not into windows or doorways.
Lake Atitlán practical notes →Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences.
