A number of cities are worth visiting - Guatemala City is the largest urban centre in Central America. Quiriguá is remarkable for its memorials of the ancient Mayan Empire while Zacapa, Esquipulas and Chiquimula have some of the finest colonial churches in the Americas. Guatemala is split almost down the middle, by a mountain range which forms two mountain systems: the Sierra Madre, which is parallel to the Pacific Ocean, and the Cuchumatanes Range, in Huehuetenango.

The vegetation of the area differs with the altitude, ranging from weeds, bushes and ferns to palms. There are more than 50 species of trees and hundreds of orchids and bromeliads. Butterflies, beetles, amphibians, lizards and snakes are plentiful. The most spectacular bird of the region is the quetzal - the national bird of Guatemala.