Valhalla is a working macadamia farm and restaurant at km 52.5 on the road to San Miguel Dueñas, a short hop southwest of Antigua, and the facial with its macadamia oil is free; the current homepage publishes no farm-tour fee. What you pay for is the food: the famous macadamia pancakes cost Q80–Q85 on the 2026 menu, and the menu adds a 10% gratuity to every bill. It opens every day at 8:00 a.m. and stays open until 9:00 p.m. Thursday to Saturday.
The farm has been at this since the 1980s: its founders, Lawrence Gottschamer and Emilia Aguirre, started the Valhalla Experimental Station in 1985, and the restaurant signs itself “Open since 1989”. Everything below is from the farm’s own website and 2026 menu, read on 24 September 2026, plus two travel guides for the bus route.
Pair it with a morning at Earth Lodge — its ATV Fincas tour ends here — or a coffee tour. For the town around the farm, see our San Miguel Dueñas page.
What it costs
USD is approximate, converted at about Q7.63 per US$1 (Banguat reference rate, 23 September 2026); the current Banguat reference is Q7.64 (live rate).
| Item | Price | ~USD | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry and farm tour | Current fee not published; confirm directly | — | Homepage checked 23 Oct 2026; free tour reported in farm copy from March 2022 |
| Facial with macadamia oil | Free | — | Farm homepage (“get a free facial massage with our oil”) |
| Macadamia pancakes (six flavours) | Q80–Q85 per plate | ~$10.50–$11 | 2026 menu |
| Turn any pancake into waffles | +Q5 | — | 2026 menu |
| Family BBQ combo for 4 (1½ lb ribs, ½ lb smoked pork loin, a whole chicken, sides) | Q625 | ~$82 | 2026 menu |
| Family BBQ combo for 8 (3 lb ribs, 1 lb smoked pork, 2 whole chickens, sides) | Q900 | ~$118 | 2026 menu |
| Service | 10% added to the bill | — | 2026 menu: goes directly to the kitchen staff |
| Spa treatments | not published | — | 50% deposit and 24 hours’ notice; call 5356-7734 |
The pancake batter is the farm’s own, made with macadamia flour and macadamia nuts and served with macadamia butter and fruit. The six flavours on the 2026 menu are traditional, blueberry, white chocolate macadamia, bananas Foster, dark chocolate macadamia and strawberry. The rest of the menu leans on macadamia-smoked BBQ — ribs, smoked pork and whole chickens in the family combos — plus omelettes, burgers, pizza and pasta.
What the menu does not let us do is pin each pancake flavour to its exact price: the price column (five at Q80, one at Q85) is not aligned to the flavour names in the published file, so we give the range.
A correction: our things to do in Antigua list used to price a Valhalla farm tour at $25–40. We found no source for that, the farm’s own March 2022 material said the tour was free, and we corrected that list on 24 September 2026.
Opening hours — read this before you go late
The farm is open every day from 8:00 a.m., and its homepage and 2026 menu say the kitchen stays open until 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday to Wednesday is where its own website contradicts itself:
| Where on the farm’s site | Sunday–Wednesday close |
|---|---|
| Homepage | 4:00 p.m. |
| 2026 menu (PDF) | 4:00 p.m. |
| Restaurant page, English line and one Spanish line | 4:30 p.m. |
| Restaurant page, another Spanish line | 3:30 p.m. |
The restaurant page also lists Friday–Sunday dinner in one English paragraph, conflicting with Thursday–Saturday elsewhere. Confirm dinner days before travelling. It says groups can be served at other times with advance notice. Our advice: on Sunday to Wednesday, prefer a morning visit and confirm directly. For dinner, confirm the day and closing time directly.
Contact: 00502 7831 5799 and info@valhallamacfarm.com (farm and restaurant); 5356-7734 for spa bookings.
The farm tour: what you actually see
The farm pitches the visit simply: come and learn how macadamias are grown and processed, see its reforestation project, try its products, get a facial with the oil and hang out in the garden. What makes Valhalla different from a generic farm stop is the story behind the trees:
- 1984 — the founders acquired macadamia seedlings from the California Macadamia Society, then one of the most advanced gene pools of the species.
- 1985 — they founded the Valhalla Experimental Station and, through selective breeding, developed local varieties that produce commercially without grafting.
- Since then — the farm says it has planted hundreds of thousands of macadamia trees across Guatemala by donating seedlings to farming communities, and its 2026 menu adds that it has done the same in Nicaragua since 2015.
The farm’s stated case for macadamia is that the trees fix carbon, help prevent erosion and are a year-round source of employment and income; the menu tells diners that their visit helps plant more macadamia trees.
Getting there from Antigua
| Option | Cost | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken bus to San Miguel Dueñas | Q4 in 2019; no newer published fare | 15–20 min (2019 guide) | From Antigua’s bus terminal; ask for Las Macadamias and sit near the front |
| Earth Lodge ATV Fincas tour | Q515 (~$67) | 4–5 hours | Sold by Earth Lodge; starts 9 a.m.; lavender farm, La Azotea coffee farm, then Valhalla |
| Your own car | — | — | Km 52.5, Carretera a San Miguel Dueñas, Sacatepéquez |
The bus route is the standard budget way: any camioneta bound for San Miguel Dueñas passes the farm, and A Little Adrift, a travel guide updated in August 2025, says the driver will drop you at the right spot if you ask for Las Macadamias. If the bus sits at the terminal for a while before leaving, that is normal. Our chicken bus guide explains the terminal. The farm lies southwest of Ciudad Vieja, so the two combine easily.
We found no published tuk-tuk or Uber fare to the farm, so we do not quote one — agree the price before you get in.
What to buy
The farm shop sells salted and unsalted macadamia nuts, dark and white chocolates with macadamia, macadamia butter and macadamia flour, all made locally without preservatives, according to the farm. Its skin-care line — macadamia oil, moisturising cream, soaps and a solid shampoo — is the same oil used for the free facial.
If you would rather not carry it: the farm delivers around Antigua every Tuesday and Thursday, and, the farm says, usually to Guatemala City on Tuesdays with a Q200 minimum for capital orders.
Book a day out from Antigua
Tours around the Antigua valley
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Where to stay
Sleep in Antigua. The farm is a short bus ride out of town on the San Miguel Dueñas road, and the buses start at Antigua’s terminal. It works as a half-day: pancakes and the tour in the morning, back in Antigua for the afternoon — or a late dinner on a Thursday to Saturday.
Where to stay in Antigua Guatemala
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Nearby
- Earth Lodge — wellness resort above Antigua whose ATV Fincas tour finishes at Valhalla.
- ATV tours in Antigua — every ATV route out of Antigua with prices and the driver’s-licence rule.
- Ciudad Vieja — a former capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala; the farm lies southwest of it.
- Antigua coffee tours and cooking classes.
- Things to do in Antigua and all our activities.
Verified on 24 September 2026 against Valhalla’s own website (home, restaurant, about, spa and products pages) and its 2026 menu PDF, Qué Pasa magazine’s March 2022 listing written by the farm, A Little Adrift (updated 2 August 2025) and OkAntigua (2019) for the bus route, and Earth Lodge’s ATV tour page. USD equivalents are approximate at the Banguat reference rate of Q7.63 per USD (23 September 2026). Where a figure is unpublished — spa prices, tuk-tuk fares, the current bus fare — we left it out rather than guessed.
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Before you pay, check each plan's medical-evacuation limit and its rules for hiking and adventure activities. Three options, as each company describes them on its own site:
- Genki Traveler: a monthly subscription for up to 12 months that covers up to €1,000,000 for unexpected medical care while traveling abroad, at public and private doctors and hospitals.
- SafetyWing Nomad Insurance: the Essential plan is travel medical insurance paid every 4 weeks; the Complete plan is full health insurance with extra travel protections.
- Faye: single-trip plans sold to residents of U.S. states (not U.S. territories); its FAQ lists emergency medical cover of up to $250K and emergency medical evacuation of up to $500K, and adventure and extreme activities need a paid add-on for medical cover.
Limits, prices and the altitude rules side by side: travel insurance for Guatemala · insurance for volcano hikes
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Valhalla macadamia farm tour free?
It was advertised as free in March 2022; the current homepage checked on 23 October 2026 publishes no tour fee, so confirm directly. The farm’s own copy, published in Qué Pasa magazine in March 2022, reads that you get a free tour of the orchard, samples of macadamia nuts and chocolates, and a free facial, and that entrance is free. The farm’s current homepage still invites visitors to take a tour and get a free facial massage with its macadamia oil, and lists no charge. You pay for what you eat and buy.
How much are the macadamia pancakes at Valhalla?
Q80 to Q85 a plate on the farm’s 2026 menu, which lists six flavours: traditional, blueberry, white chocolate macadamia, bananas Foster, dark chocolate macadamia and strawberry. The batter is made with macadamia flour and nuts and served with macadamia butter and fruit. Any pancake can be turned into waffles for Q5 more, and the menu states a 10% gratuity is added to the bill and goes directly to the kitchen staff.
What are Valhalla's opening hours?
Open every day from 8:00 a.m. Thursday to Saturday the kitchen stays open until 9:00 p.m. From Sunday to Wednesday the farm’s own pages disagree on the closing time: the homepage and the 2026 menu say 4:00 p.m., the restaurant page says 4:30 p.m. in one line and 3:30 p.m. in another. Prefer a morning visit and confirm opening days directly, because the restaurant page also conflicts on the days of service.
How do you get to Valhalla from Antigua?
Take any chicken bus to San Miguel Dueñas from Antigua’s bus terminal and ask the driver for Las Macadamias; a travel guide updated in August 2025 says the driver drops you in the right spot. The farm is at km 52.5 on the San Miguel Dueñas road, southwest of Ciudad Vieja. A 2019 guide put the ride at 15 to 20 minutes with buses every 30 minutes for Q4, but we found no newer published fare. Earth Lodge’s ATV Fincas tour, Q515, also stops at Valhalla.
Can I buy macadamia products at Valhalla?
Yes. The farm sells salted and unsalted macadamia nuts, dark and white chocolates with macadamia, macadamia butter and flour, plus skin-care oil, cream and soaps made with its own oil. It also delivers around Antigua every Tuesday and Thursday and, the farm says, usually to Guatemala City on Tuesdays, with a Q200 minimum for capital orders.
Does Valhalla have a spa?
Yes, a wellness spa. Reservations need a 50% deposit and at least 24 hours’ notice; the farm asks you to call 5356-7734 to arrange it. We found no spa prices to quote.
