Flores is the capital city of Peten, the nortern department of Guatemala.

It`s a small cozy island. You can walk around it in 15 minutes. With the famous ruins of Tikal nearby, Flores soon grew very touristic. The steep small streets are full of hotels, restaurants, travel agencies and typical stores.

In the middle of the island, at the highest point, you `ll find the park where locals sit on the stairs and watch football and basketball games. The catholic church is famous for having one of the few black Jesus Christs.

Next to the church is the information center of ecological tourism, Cincap, with woodcarving art and other typical stores.

Nightlife in Flores is quite low. Most tourists go to sleep early because they are heading to Tikal at 5.00 am in the morning. In front of the island however are some local bars and is the local disco at friday and saturday. Apart, there is live music at the Las Puertas bar across the street from Los Amigos. These guys also run the local cinema which plays different movies twice a day.

Around the island is a boulevard with nice docks where you can take a swim in the warm water!

Other nice things to do around Flores are:

Petencito, Arcas, El Remate, San Jose, San Miguel, Uaxactun, El Zotz.

These sites are also mentioned on the previous information page!

But don`t forget: The place with the best ambience on the island is still Youth Hostel Los Amigos!

Banks:
Flores has only one bank, located right next to the church in the park.It`s open from 9.00 am to 16.00 pm. This bank doesn`t have a cash machine. These are only in Santa Elena.

The closest cash machine is just across the bridge, three blocks ahead. It`s called ¨Banco Agromercantil¨. In the main street in Santa Elena are many other banks. All of there accept Visa and Master card. If you have a Maestro or Cyrrus card, Banco Industrial is the only bank where you can get money: It is located in the Calle Principal in Santa Elena. The best place to change euros, dollars, pesos and travellers cheques is at Banquetzal in the Santa Elena main street, but you can also change these currencies across the island for a lower rate. At Los Amigos we change only dollars.

Post office:
Flores has a post office which is located around the corner from Los Amigos. You can also buy stamps and leave your cards to be posted at Los Amigos.

Telephone:
In Flores are two internet cafe`s, Tikal Net and Peten Net, that offer international phone calls for Q 3 per minute through internet. At Los Amigos we offer broadband internet and international phone calls as well for Q 3 a minute (regular phone line).