This was a great experience, but I think it's worth mentioning that the pictures are misleading. Pacaya Volcano used to have live lava flowing a few years ago (and it probably will again soon), but these days it's all barren rock and a few hot air vents--not red glowing lava. If you're hoping to see a live volcano in action, you'll be disappointed. If you just want to go for a cool hike, this is a great option.

I did this hike with my mom, and we had a great time. Really well organized, excellent guide. I am often short of breath after recovering from covid, and my mom is 66, but the hike was totally doable. It’s about an hour of mostly uphill hiking, but our guide stopped every 10 minutes or so to teach us about the history and area and those breaks were great. Beautiful view at the top. No red lava, but it’s still hot enough to roast marshmallows! Great day trip from Antigua. Highlight of our trip!

Great trip, would happily recommend! There were two guides, one at the back, one at the front, the main guide spoke English and Spanish. It's a steep walk up but if it gets too difficult you can take a horse the rest of the way. If you do the afternoon trip I would recommend taking a headlamp if you have one, it was dark when we were descending so everyone had their phones out for light. Good walking shoes are recommended (my sneakers were fine), and I really appreciated my walking pole, especially in the rocky bits, but you can get poles before the walk.