Guatemala's highlands run from Guatemala city north to the Mexican border. In the South are a range of volcano's and Cuchumatanes mountain range in the North. There are still three active volcanoes in the region. The climate is pleasant with warm afternoons and cool nights. The area is still predominately Mayan, agricultural communities. The Mayans still hold onto their traditional dress, their traditions, cultures, and their own languages (Mayan dialects).

. The mayans have lived in this region for 2000 years. In the Classic Mayan period (300-900ad) the highlands were outside the stunning building that took place to the north. The Toltec, from central mexico, invaded at the end of the eleventh century. The Toltec installed themselves as an elite ruling class. The region then broke into a series of competing small empires. These breakups are now present in the form of the many different dialects spoken.

In 1523 Pedro de Alvarado invaded with an army of 120 horsemen, 300 soldiers and 200 mexican warriors. The different tribes of the region could not form an alliance and Alvarado brutally overwhelmed the tribes of the Highlands one by one. One of Alvardos best allies was the new world disease brought by his army. They devasted the population and did not return to pre-conquest levels until this century.

The Highlands offers lots of variety and opportunity to see the towns and life. From the unmissable Chichicastenango market, Lago Atitlán, Xela and its stunning surrounding pueblos, north to the remote and highly traditional towns of the Ixil triangle and Todos Santos with its famous fiesta "Day of the Dead" on November 1.