Guatemala City Travel Risk — Elevated Risk (60/100)
Is Guatemala City safe right now? Checked 15 October 2026
Guatemala City scores 60/100 on our travel risk index (Elevated). The US State Department rates Guatemala Level 3 (Reconsider Travel, updated 12 Mar 2026); the UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of the country (updated 13 Aug 2026); Canada says: exercise a high degree of caution (with regional advisories). GDACS lists 1 minor (green) event within 100 km in the last 14 days. No change in government advice in the last 7 days.
Official US advisory · Level 3
Reconsider Travel
This decision takes precedence over the analytical composite shown on this page.
Political instability (score 40)
Government advisory (score 65)
September 27, 2026
Guatemala City, Guatemala has a current Travel Risk Calculator composite score of 60 out of 100 (elevated risk tier); the highest-rated risk category is government advisory at 65/100; the lowest-rated category is political instability at 40/100; last updated September 27, 2026. For official nationwide security advisories, entry requirements, and health notices, see the Guatemala travel risk page. Real-time conditions below include live weather, official advisory levels, GDACS disaster alerts, and current news.
Get a personalized assessment for your tripHow safe is Guatemala City to visit in 2026?
Guatemala City is currently under a US State Department Level 3 Reconsider Travel advisory. That official decision takes precedence. The 60/100 elevated composite remains visible only as analytical context and must not be read as permission to disregard the advisory. The highest-rated risk category for Guatemala City is government advisory (65/100), and the lowest is political instability (40/100). This page was last updated on September 27, 2026; the baseline category scores reflect analytical indicators, layered with live conditions throughout the day. Live conditions — weather and air quality every 30 minutes, US State Department advisory every 6 hours, GDACS disaster alerts every 30 minutes, CDC health notices every 12 hours, and news every hour — are cached at the source and refreshed automatically when stale.
Driven by: security (70/100) and natural hazards (83/100).
A score of 60 is higher than the scores of 84% of the 241 countries we cover.
AI safety snapshot · refreshed Oct 15, 2026
Guatemala City currently maintains an elevated baseline safety risk with a US State Department advisory level of 3. Additionally, travelers should note ongoing regional drought conditions affecting Guatemala and a Level 1 global health notice for Dengue.
AI-summarized strictly from the live public-source data below (US State Dept advisory, GDACS, CDC, Google News). Auto-refreshed at most once per day on the first visit. Not official advice.
Live conditions last refreshed: Oct 16, 2026 02:35 UTC
What should I do now?
- Run a real assessment. Open the calculator for live data (weather, advisory, news) layered onto this baseline.
- Government advisory (score 65/100): Read your country's current official advisory within 7 days of travel. Register with your embassy on arrival if available.
- Crime (score 60/100): Use registered taxis or ride-share apps. Keep electronics out of sight in public transit. Read recent reviews for your specific neighborhood.
- Check your country's advisory. The single most authoritative live signal. Linked at the bottom of every real assessment.
Day vs Night Safety in Guatemala City
Guidance based on our scores and official advice — not a measured score.
Exercise heightened caution even during daylight hours. Stick to primary thoroughfares, travel in groups where possible, and avoid navigating quiet residential side-streets alone.
Nighttime movement carries significant risk. Strictly avoid solo walking after dark; rely exclusively on hotel-arranged transportation or registered radiotaxis, and confirm destination security before leaving your accommodation.
Safety by Traveler Type in Guatemala City
Guidance based on our scores and official advice — not a measured score.
Solo travelers
Crime risk is elevated. Solo travelers should avoid quiet areas at night, keep a charged phone and offline map, and share a live location with someone.
Women traveling solo
General crime risk is elevated. Plan arrivals in daylight, avoid isolated areas, and prefer accommodation with 24h reception. We do not hold gender-specific incident data for Guatemala City, so also check the live official advisory above and local women-traveler communities.
Families with children
Health/disaster risk is elevated. Confirm medical-evacuation cover, identify hospitals near your accommodation, and check seasonal hazard (storm/heat/quake) before you book.
Older travelers
Health/transport risk is elevated. Confirm medical-evacuation cover, plan rest between transfers, and locate English-capable medical care on arrival.
Business travelers
Digital/money risk is elevated. Avoid public Wi-Fi for sensitive work, use a VPN, watch for card-skimming at ATMs, and carry minimal cash.
LGBTQ+ travelers
Local laws and social attitudes toward LGBTQ+ travelers vary widely by country and are not captured in our category scores. The official advisory/political indicators are elevated. Read your government LGBTQ+ travel guidance carefully and weigh trip purpose against current conditions.
Score layers
Safety categories
Source: Grounded open data research & citations
Quick facts
| Hospital access | medium |
|---|---|
| Airport risk | medium |
| Road safety | medium |
| Public transport | medium |
| Tourist scam risk | medium |
| Night safety | medium |
| Last updated | September 27, 2026 |
Live conditions in Guatemala City
Real-time data refreshed from public sources — weather and air quality from Open-Meteo, official advisory from the US State Department, disaster alerts from GDACS, health notices from the CDC, news from Google News. For an AI-synthesized briefing tailored to your specific trip, run a personalized assessment.
Official travel advisory
Level 3 · Reconsider Travel
Guatemala - Level 3: Reconsider Travel
Read full advisory → · US Department of State
Disaster alerts
Active Disaster Alerts
-
Drought is on going in The Bahamas, Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador ORANGE · ~416 km away · 2026-07-03
The Drought notification level is Orange.
“~N km away” = event centroid within ~500 km of this location; “country-wide” = a national/regional alert that may not be near this specific city. Source: GDACS · fetched 2026-10-16 02:35:22 UTC
Natural hazard calendar & history
5-Year Hazard Calendar (100 km Radius)
| Hazard | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Floods | — | 1 | — | — | — | 2 | 1 | — | 2 | 2 | — | 1 |
| Wildfires | — | — | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tropical Cyclones | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| Volcanoes | — | — | 2 | — | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 1 |
| Earthquakes (M5.5+) | 2 | 2 | — | — | 1 | — | 4 | — | — | — | 2 | — |
Most earthquake events within 100 km of Guatemala City happened in July (4 of 11 in five years).
Source: GDACS, USGS; five years to October 2026.
Significant Earthquakes (USGS M5.5+ within 150 km)
11 major seismic events recorded within 150 km over the past 5 years.
- Largest: M6.4 on 17 May 2023 (60 km away) — USGS details
- Most recent: M5.7 on 29 Jul 2025 (94 km away) — USGS details
For consular advice on women's safety, LGBT+ travel, and local laws, see the Guatemala travel advice & laws.
Check the official entry requirements for your nationality before you travel. See the Guatemala entry requirements.
Health notices
Health Notices for this Destination
-
Level 1 - Global Dengue WATCH · 2026-10-02
Dengue is a year-round risk in many parts of the world, with outbreaks commonly occurring every 2–5 years. Travelers to risk areas should prevent mosquito bites. Country List : Colombia, Vietnam, Maldives, Bolivia, Cambodia, Kenya, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Mar
-
Level 2 - Global Polio ALERT · 2026-09-23
Some international destinations have circulating poliovirus. Before any international travel, make sure you are up to date on your polio vaccines. Country List : Afghanistan, Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger, Nig
-
Level 1 - Global Measles WATCH · 2025-05-28
Measles cases are rising in many countries around the world. All international travelers should be fully vaccinated against measles with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to CDC's measles vaccination recommendations for international travel. Country List : Afghan
Source: CDC Travelers’ Health · fetched 2026-10-15 19:24:31 UTC
1991–2020 climate normals
Seasonal risk & best time to visit Guatemala City
The most weather-stable two-month window for Guatemala City is December–January, when typical daily temperatures run from about 13°C to 24°C and monthly rain averages 8 mm.
Seasonal planning flags include hurricane season in June–November. These are climate patterns, not forecasts.
Climate normals are planning context, not a short-range forecast. Source: Open-Meteo Climate API. Refreshed Sep 8, 2026.
Calculate risk for these travel dates Compare seasonal windows →
Practical safety map
Safety infrastructure nearby in Guatemala City
Guatemala City has 10 hospitals, 10 police stations, 5 embassies, 10 pharmacies and 5 fire stations within 7 km of the city center in the latest OpenStreetMap extract.
The interactive map loads when it approaches the viewport.
Facility list (works without JavaScript)
- Hospital: APROFAN
- Hospital: Centro de Salud Zona 1
- Hospital: Fundación Pediátrica Guatemalteca
- Hospital: Hospital Angeles
- Hospital: Hospital General San Juan de Dios
- Hospital: Hospital Los Cedros
- Hospital: Hospital Santa Margarita
- Hospital: Hospital Santa Rita
- Hospital: Liga Guatemalteca del Corazón
- Hospital: Liga Guatemalteca del Corazón - Central.
- Police: Alejandro Marure School
- Police: Antecedentes Policíacos
- Police: Comisaría Nº 11
- Police: Comisaría Nº 13
- Police: Dirección General Policía Nacional Civil
- Police: DPPS
- Police: DPPS
- Police: Policia Municipal de Transito
- Police: Policía Nacional Civil
- Police: Policía Nacional Civil
- Embassy: Embassy of Mexico
- Embassy: Embassy of Spain
- Embassy: Embassy of Sweden
- Embassy: Embassy of the United States
- Embassy: Honorary Consulate of South Africa
- Pharmacy: Unnamed pharmacy
- Pharmacy: Unnamed pharmacy
- Pharmacy: Ave Fénix
- Pharmacy: Cruz Verde
- Pharmacy: Doctor Roberto Coch
- Pharmacy: Farmacia Batres
- Pharmacy: Farmacia Galeno
- Pharmacy: Farmacia Galeno
- Pharmacy: Zona 1
- Pharmacy: Zona 1
- Fire station: Bomberos Municipales
- Fire station: Bomberos Municipales
- Fire station: Bomberos Voluntarios
- Fire station: Estacion Central de Bomberos Voluntarios
- Fire station: Estación Central de los Bomberos Voluntarios
Map and facility data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Locations can be incomplete or outdated; confirm before relying on them. See this destination’s numbers or browse emergency numbers by country.
Emergency numbers (Guatemala)
| Police | 110 |
|---|---|
| Ambulance | 128 |
| Fire | 122 |
| General | — |
See nearby hospitals, police, pharmacies, embassies, and fire stations on the safety map.
Essential local emergency phrases
Show this screen to first responders, hotel staff, or passersby if you cannot speak the local language during an emergency.
Medical access
| Hospital access | medium |
|---|---|
| Pharmacy access | medium |
| Emergency response | medium |
| English-speaking care | unknown |
| Evacuation complexity | medium |
The provided search results do not contain specific details regarding healthcare, hospital access, or emergency medical infrastructure for travelers in Guatemala City.
Common scam patterns
- Please send money messages. Foreign visitors are at risk of scams that can lead to great financial loss if friends and family are asked to transfer funds. Warn friends and family to be sceptical of such requests. Tip: Tell your family to contact you directly to check that you actually made the request before sending any funds.
Area notes
- Guatemala City. Exercise a high degree of caution overall due to the threat of violent crime and organized gang activity.
Nearest embassies & consulates
Find your home country's diplomatic mission in Guatemala for consular support, lost passports, or citizen emergencies:
Run a personalized assessment for Guatemala City
Get a tailored briefing in ~15 seconds, with live weather, advisories, and recent news.
Calculate my trip riskScore history
| When | Score change | Tier | Reason / source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 7, 2026 | 59 → 60 | elevated | Method change (scoring v2) scoring v2 |
| Sep 29, 2026 | 0 → 0 | unknown | Data update Grounded open data research & citations |
| Sep 27, 2026 | 43 → 59 | moderate → elevated | Method change (scoring v2) scoring v2 |
| May 15, 2026 | — → 43 | moderate | Data update Editorial baseline 2026-05-14 (round 2: Numbeo + WHO + State Dept + GPI + EPI references) |
Every editorial change to Guatemala City's composite score is logged here, with the source and reason for the change. Live data overlays (weather, advisories, disaster alerts, news) refresh continuously on their own cadences and are not recorded as score changes — see the Live conditions section above for current overlay state.
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Transparency & Sources
We document the baseline sources, coverage scope, and data inputs for this destination below.
Sources used
- SimpleMaps World Cities (CC BY 4.0): Coordinates, region, population for Guatemala City
- Travel Risk Calculator score (method v2): Security, crime and scams, health, natural hazards and current alerts for Guatemala City, from US, UK and Canadian advisories, INFORM, World Bank, UCDP, CDC, GDACS, USGS and OpenStreetMap
- Editorial baseline (Travel Risk Calculator): City-level threat scoring across 9 categories (crime, health, advisory, political, disaster, transport, environmental, digital security, money safety)
Live data overlays on this page refresh asynchronously on the source cadences shown above. Run an assessment to create a trip-specific briefing using your dates and traveler profile.
Baseline scope
- Category scores represent an analytical baseline, updated from official feeds and public records.
Coverage notes
- Transport-hub safety notes (airport, train stations).
Methodology · Full data-source registry · Report a correction
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Disclaimer
Travel Risk Calculator provides estimated travel-threat information for preparation purposes only. It does not replace official government advisories, medical advice, emergency alerts, immigration rules, insurance advice, police guidance, embassy information, or professional security consultation.