The best time to visit Guatemala is from late November to early April. This is the dry season, el verano, which is very pronounced on the Pacific coast and in the mountain basins of the center, but much less so in the northern part of the mountains, which is exposed to the trade winds coming from the Caribbean Sea. As for the Petén plateau, home to the fantastic Mayan site of Tikal, the dry season is shorter there. During the rainy season, from May to late October, the atmosphere becomes heavier, even at high altitudes, and the peaks of the volcanoes, necessary punctuations of Guatemala's grandiose landscapes, are too often lost in the mist.