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Laid out as a grid system of brightly coloured houses interspersed with lively cafes and colonial buildings, Antigua is certainly attractive. Once the religious, political and administrative centre of the country, its preferred occupation is now singular; namely the pursuit of time-wasting.

Antigua is a pleasure- haven, a retreat for tired backpackers to take time out and forget that they are in Central America. Street vendors and cafes rich with books in English provide all the distraction you need to forget the dust of Guatemala. And yet whilst it is a breath of fresh air, the swarm of Spanish schools, English speakers and other backpackers littering the streets can be slightly suffocating. (Warning: do not come to Antigua to learn Spanish – no-one seems to speak it!). Visiting Antigua is best left for the midpoint of the trip to ward off pangs of home sickness and take a break from ‘real travelling’.

To kick off, head down to the rainbow café where you can get a shot of caffeine and a chance to peruse their wide selection of books in English. You can’t just borrow a book to sit down with, but you can rent or buy one, and thus set yourself up for a peaceful afternoon of escapism. Their iced teas are superb and portions of food generous. They also have a specials menu with a list of exotic sounding Thai dishes – the ‘Thai’ concept is more far-fetched than Far East, but tasty all the same.

For those who are still itching to see things and explore, its reassuring to know that seeing the sites of Antigua can be done between coffees and involves traipsing around a few colonial buildings and an old convent. We started with Casa Popenoe, a mansion built in 1636 and originally owned by a royal official Don Luis. It was destroyed by the 1773 earthquake and left to ruins until it was bought by Dr Popenoe, who restored it to its present beauty. He was the first man to bring the avocado to California, and now an avocado tree in the corner of the courtyard remains as a trademark.

The house is beautifully kept, adorned with antique furniture. Water is collected in a large stone bath outside from a pipe that is kept brimming with the water that rolls off the conveniently located mountains. But perhaps the best bit is hidden modestly at the top, where winding stairs lead you to the post box. Here lies the city of a hundred pigeons, their discarded boxes souvenirs of their working days when pigeons would carry messages from the house to every corner of the vast landscape that stretches below the window.

Although this room is a ghost room, the rest of the house is very much in use, occupied by Popenoe’s children. For this reason you can only visit it between the narrow slot of 2-4pm when, tired of strutting around their abode, the children retire to siesta and open their doors.

The other main site in Antigua is called the Convento de las Capucinas, and is a convent founded in 1736 by nuns from Madrid. It was one of the strictest in Guatemala, permitting only 25 nuns at a time who, having passed the gate, vowed from then on to cut off all contact with the outside world. As prisons go, it is frighteningly beautiful. In the centre of the courtyard stands a fountain where water ebbs noisily into the bowl so that from all the rooms you can hear the deceptively free trickle of nature. The bedrooms, miniscule and arranged concentrically around this point, are dizzying in their identical formation. It is easy to get lost in this three-tier column since everything is so identical that the stone passageways appear like halls of mirrors. However, getting lost is not advisable – one passageway frighteningly ends in an iron barred cell.

What is most astonishing about this place is how expansive and open it all seems. The women, only allowed to talk to people through grilles and receive their food via wooden turntables may have been shielded but were certainly not blinded. Windows in the stone walls take you beyond into the hills.

However, you are quickly brought back into the fold when you glimpse the main view which takes you to a hill on which sits a vast wooden cross surrounded by people worshipping.

The more active explorers may be tempted to venture on a day trip to Volcano Pacaya. Warning: this is no average excursion; come prepared! We got the shock of our lives, when, having signed ourselves up for what we thought would just be a nice stroll up a hill, we were taken on a three hour army training exercise. I can best describe it as climbing a mountain, and then when you reach the top, beginning all over again to scramble up a giant black sand dune. My only reassurance was hearing the man in front of me claim ‘I’ve done five marathons and this is hardest thing yet.’ The top is dramatic (the ground suddenly ends and there is a screen of smoke) but no gushing red larva and generally it is nothing you couldn’t recreate with a few rocks and a car exhaust. Only attempt if you are in need of a good workout and want to boast to your friends that you climbed a volcano.