Serene San Juan La Laguna is a relative latecomer to the tourism scene and makes a good stop if you’d like to see a fairly sizable lakeside village that remains largely untouched by international tourism. It’s accessible by boat or via a road that branches off from the Pan-American Highway, subsequently twisting and turning down the surrounding mountainside.

If you’d like to stay here, Uxlabil Ecohotel (tel. 5990-6016 or 2366-9555, www.uxlabil.com, $48–72 d) has comfortable, tastefully rustic rooms housed in a large building overlooking the lake. There’s a large dock for swimming among plentiful grass reeds dotting the lakeshore here as well as a sauna, whirlpool tub, kayaks for rent, and horseback riding available on request.