Saturday is the big market day in San Ignacio when traders come from all over Cayo to sell fresh produce, handicrafts and clothing. The dozen or so food stalls set up in the middle of the action serve quick-fire street food – cheap and tasty. Smaller versions of the market happen most other days of the week.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
6.78 MILES
Set on a leveled hilltop, Xunantunich (shoo-nahn-too-neech) is one of Belize's most easily accessible and impressive Maya archaeological sites. Getting…
27.78 MILES
Once one of the most powerful cities in the entire Maya world, Caracol now lies enshrouded by thick jungle near the Guatemalan border, a 52-mile, roughly…
Green Iguana Conservation Project
0.41 MILES
On the lush Macal Valley grounds of the San Ignacio Resort Hotel, this excellent program collects and hatches iguana eggs, raising the reptiles until they…
22.72 MILES
The Classic Maya sites of Yaxhá, Nakum and El Naranjo form a triangle that is the basis for a national park covering more than 37,000 hectares and…
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East Acropolis & Structure 216
22.62 MILES
Near the site entrance is the high point of Yaxhá (literally): Structure 216 in the East Acropolis. Also called the Temple of the Red Hands, because red…
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22.81 MILES
The trio of pyramidal temples at the North Acropolis are built atop older structures dating back to 100 BC. Comprising of seven platforms, the…
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22.2 MILES
This impressive sight is also impressively hard to get to, requiring 4x4-only driving or horses. Nakum was a significant port on the Holmul river, a…
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9.65 MILES
Barton Creek rises high in the Mountain Pine Ridge and flows north to join the Belize River near Georgeville. Along the way it dips underground for a…
Nearby San Ignacio attractions
0.22 MILES
In the former hospital behind the town hall, the House of Culture has regular art, history and cultural exhibitions, as well as being a local meeting…
4. Green Iguana Conservation Project
0.41 MILES
On the lush Macal Valley grounds of the San Ignacio Resort Hotel, this excellent program collects and hatches iguana eggs, raising the reptiles until they…
1.04 MILES
High atop a hill about a mile south of San Ignacio, Cahal Pech is the oldest-known Maya site in the Belize River valley, having been first settled between…
1.41 MILES
Branch Mouth is the meeting place of the Mopan River, coming from Guatemala, and the Macal River, flowing down from Mountain Pine Ridge. The confluence of…
7. Chaa Creek Natural History Center & Butterfly Farm
3.44 MILES
Hike up the tree-covered hillside above the Macal River to reach the Chaa Creek Natural History Center & Butterfly Farm, a small nature center with…
3.48 MILES
Set along the banks of the Macal River, beautiful Chaa Creek is a 365-acre nature reserve offering extensive facilities to lodge guests and nonguests…