The largest, most extensive, most colourful, cheapest, best-known and also most chaotic market in entire Guatemala. 😊
Chichi – short for Chichicastenango 😉 – is a day trip from Antigua with around one or two changes and… really huge. No matter what you’ve seen before in other parts of Guatemala, here you’ll find everything in every possible colour, pattern and shape. And much much more. Chichicastenango is basically a village or small town that fills up with stalls and Guatemalans as well as tourists every Thursday and Sunday. There are shoes, jackets, trousers, T-shirts, jewellery, household goods, tablecloths, blankets, carpets, traditional costumes… Really EVERYTHING! As I said, I saw Guatemalan things in Chichi that I had never seen before. And they were really cheaper in comparison. Simply because locals and tourists come here to shop. But be careful! Just because it’s cheaper here doesn’t mean you’ll get the cheapest price straight away or that prices are the same everywhere. Bargaining is very important here. And the more winding the alley where you find your favourite item is, the more likely the price will be lower. I tested this out for fun for the same product and the prices were actually lower further inside than further outside.
Apart from that, perhaps one more thing: don’t even try to explore the entire market, because I am firmly convinced that it is absolutely impossible. The place is huge, chaotic and has so many twists, turns and unstructured winding paths that you’ll be lucky to get a good overview and find the cathedral at the end. 😀

Go or not? Even if you don’t want to buy anything or aren’t interested in souvenirs or anything like that, I think Chichi is simply pure culture and Guatemalan life. The market is so colourful, so diverse and so full of life and hustle and bustle that it’s an experience in itself. So I would definitely recommend Chichi 😊