Lake Atitlán in 6 days

The main arrival point and the only real town on the shore, its main street running down to the dock past textile stalls and cafés.

A car-free village of dirt paths and yoga retreats; the Cerro Tzankujil reserve has a Maya site, swimming platforms and an 8-metre jump.

The liveliest village and the budget travellers' base, with hostels and Spanish schools by the water and a Tz'utujil market and church uphill.

Women's cooperatives weave on backstrap looms with natural dyes; a twenty-minute demonstration goes from raw cotton to dyed thread.

A short, steep climb in the dark above San Juan to the lake's best-known view: three volcanoes lined up as the water turns blue.

A day hike to 3,020 metres, about 1,400 metres of ascent through coffee plantations and cloud forest, with glimpses of the lake near the top.

The largest and most traditional lake village, home of Maximón, a cigar-smoking folk saint in a suit who receives offerings of liquor and tobacco.

About 1 hour 30 north of the lake, one of Central America's largest indigenous markets fills the town centre every Thursday and Sunday.