North America
Central America
Guatemala

Northern Lowlands

The Northern Lowlands of stretch from the foothills of the Cuchumatanes, Chama, and Santa Cruz mountain ranges northwards, including the northern part of the Alta Verapaz department, the extreme north of El Quiché department, and all of Guatemala's extensive Petén department.
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Photo: Dennis Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Tikal and Flores.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.
is a large archaeological site in the department of Petén. During the Classic Period it was one of the largest and most important of the Mayan cities.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.
is a town in Petén, . The town proper is an island on Lago Petén Itzá, connected to land by a causeway, on the other side of which lie the twin towns Santa Elena and San Benito.

Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0.
is a large pre-Columbian Middle and Late Preclassic Maya settlement, located in the north of the modern department of El Petén, . It is part of the Mirador- Karst Basin of northern Guatemala.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Uaxactun and Piedras Negras.

Photo: Davidgermain, CC BY 3.0.
Uaxactún is a village and ancient Maya city in a remote area of 's Northern Lowlands, beyond the more famous ruins of .

Photo: Authenticmaya, CC BY-SA 2.5.
is a Mayan archaeological site in near the Usumacinta River. The site was a large city, known for its large number of sculptures.

Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a Pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization located in what is now the department of , . It dates to the Late Classic Period, and was founded by an offshoot of the dynasty of the great city of in AD 629 in order to control trade routes in the Petexbatún region, particularly the .

Photo: Authenticmaya, CC BY-SA 2.5.
is an early Maya archaeological site located in the Petén department of the Northern Lowlands of .

Photo: HJPD, CC BY 3.0.
is a Maya site located in northern 's Petexbatun Basin, in the department of . The first settlements at date to the Late Preclassic period.

Photo: Chixoy, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a town located in the southern portion of the Northern Lowlands in . It is much hotter here than in the highlands as it is in the deep valleys between the mountains.

Photo: Sapfan, Public domain.
is in on the border with and is usually a place that most travelers merely pass through, but it does have some stelae and zoomorphs in a square not far away.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Seibal, known as El in Spanish, is a Classic Period archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the northern of , about 100 km SW of .

Photo: Joanbanjo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is an ancient Maya ruin situated in southern Petén close to the departmental border with Alta Verapaz, in the Northern Lowlands of . It is known for having one of the largest palaces in the Mayan world.

Photo: Authenticmaya, CC BY-SA 2.5.
is a protected natural area in the Peten jungle of the northern lowlands of . The reserve is the largest tropical jungle outside of the Amazon.

Photo: Nanosmile, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a city in the Peten department of the Northern Lowlands of . is an excellent base of operations for visiting Maya ruins in western Petén, usually by river.

Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a municipality in the El Petén department of . It contains 26,269 people. The municipality includes the Maya archaeological sites of Ixkun, Ixtutz, Ixtonton and .

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0.
is a set of crystalline pools over the Río Cahabón in Alta Verapaz, . It consists of a natural 300 m limestone bridge, under which passes the Cahabón River.

Photo: Wiki-Ed, Public domain.
is a small village on the north shore of Lago Petén Itzá in the Petén department of the Northern Lowlands of .

Photo: Duglas ivan, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a municipality in the department of El Petén in . The municipality is formed by the town of , located on the north-western shore of , and 55 rural communities, with a total population of 20,295 people.

Photo: Clemens Schmillen, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Raxruhá is a town and municipality in the north of the department of Alta Verapaz. The municipality, which was formerly a part of , was founded in 2008. At the 2018 census, the municipality population was 36,832.

Photo: Martin Haeusler, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a small, relaxed little village on the east side of Lago Petén Itza. Some travelers looking for peace and quiet opt to stay here rather than Flores as a base for exploring the lake and the region. It's also the closest jumping off point to .

Northern Lowlands

Latitude of center
16.9° or 16° 54′ north
Longitude of center
-89.9° or 89° 54′ west
Wiki­data ID
Q28913861
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Satellite Map

Discover Northern Lowlands from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Catalan to Italian—“Northern Lowlands” goes by many names.
  • Catalan: “Terres baixes del nord (Guatemala)”
  • Italian: “Pianure settentrionali del Guatemala”

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About Mapcarta. Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “Northern Lowlands”. Photo: Dennis Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0.