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Visitor
Activities and Attractions
Recreation
From sight seeing to scuba diving, Honduras has a
range of attractions within a short distance of all major
Honduran cities. Country clubs have swimming pools, tennis
courts and golf courses. Lake Yojoa, an uncrowded volcanic
lake with world class bass fishing, is only a few miles
from the main Tegucigalpa-San Pedro Sula highway. The
National Energy Company arranges visits to an other beautiful
lake, created when the El Cajón hydroelectric project
was build.
Mayan archaeological sites are scattered throughout the
country. The most renowned is Copán, a two hour
drive from San Pedro Sula. This uniquely preserved site,
in a sylvan setting, presets not only the Mayan monuments
and stele, but also the living areas and life style of
the ancient Mayas.
Caribbean beaches are an hour's drive from San Pedro Sula
and the Bay Islands are only a twenty minute flight. These
verdant Caribbean islands are noted for their barrier
reef, second in length only to Australia's. Well-equipped
resorts provide excellent scuba diving
and snorkeling.
 Copan
The Copan Ruins are located in the western part of Honduras,
about 60 kilometers from the border with Guatemala. Copan
- known as Xukpi to the Maya - was the dominant Mayan
city in the south of their territory. Its rich stone sculptures
and intricate hieroglyphs make Copan a feature attraction
along "La Ruta Maya". This beautiful village
with cobbled streets passing among white adobe buildings
with red-tiled roofs is 1km from the famous Maya ruins
of the same name. The village has a lovely colonial church
and an aura of timeless peace. The archaeological site
at the ruins is open daily and includes the Stelae of
the Great Plaza, portraying the rulers of Copán,
dating from 613; the ball court and hieroglyphic stairway;
and the Acropolis, which has superb carved reliefs of
the 16 kings of Copán. There are hot springs
a one-hour drive from the village, and the nearby picturesque
mountain village of Santa Rita de Copán
has a beautiful plaza and a peaceful colonial church.
Tegucigalpa
There are plenty of attractions around Tegucigalpa, including
the huge Gothic BasÃlica de Suyapa, 7km (4mi)
southeast of the city center. The Virgen de Suyapa, patron
saint of Honduras, is believed to have performed hundreds
of miracles. Santa Lucia, 13km (8mi) east of the city,
is a charming old Spanish town with meandering lanes and
a beautiful church. Valle de Angeles, 11km (7mi) past
Santa Lucia, is an old Spanish mining town restored to
its 16-century appearance. La Tigra National Park, northeast
of the city, is one of the most beautiful places in Honduras.
Located at an altitude of 2270m (7446ft), the pristine
7482-hectare (18,480-acre) park preserves a lush cloud
forest that is home to ocelots, pumas, monkeys and quetzal.
Comayagua
Comayagua was the capital of Honduras from 1537 to 1880,
and retains much evidence of its colonial importance.
The cathedral in the center of the town is a gem. Built
between 1685 and 1715, it contains much fine art and boasts
one of the oldest clocks in the world. The clock was made
over 800 years ago by the Moors for the palace of Alhambra
in Seville, and was donated to the town by King Philip
II of Spain. The first university in Central America was
founded in Comayagua in 1632 in the Casa Cural, which
now houses the Museo Colonial. The museum has religious
art spanning four centuries of colonial rule. Comayagua's
first church was La Merced, built between 1550 and 1558;
other fine churches include San Francisco (1584) and La
Caridad (1730).
Tela
Tela is many travelers' favorite Honduran Caribbean beach
town. It's a small, quiet place, with superb seafood,
several good places to stay and some of the most beautiful
beaches on the northern coast. It's basically a place
for relaxing and enjoying the simple life. There are plans
to boost tourism in the area, so see the place while it's
still unspoilt and quiet. The best beach is east of the
town, in front of the Hotel Villas Telamar. It has pale,
powdery sand and a shady grove of coconut trees.
Trujillo
The small town of Trujillo has played an important role
in Central American history. It was near Trujillo on August
14, 1502, that Colombus first set foot on the American
mainland. The town sits on the wide arc of the BahÃa
de Trujillo and is famed for its lovely beaches, coconut
palms and gentle seas. Though it has a reputation as one
of the country's best Caribbean beach towns, it's not
usually full of tourists, except during the annual festival
in late June. Apart from the attractions of the beach,
there is a 17th-century fortress, the grave of William
Walker and a Museo Arqueológico. To the west
of the town is the Barrio Cristales, where the GarÃfuna
people live; this is the place to go for music, dancing
and revelry.
 The
Bay Islands
Thirty miles off the northern coast of Honduras, the Bay
Islands group is an oval chain of eight islands and 65
small cayes forming the largest and most southerly chain
of Caribbean islands at the end of the barrier reef.
Utila is a low sandy piece of land and the cheapest
of the Bay Islands to visit and basic budget accommodation
and facilities predominate. It has caves you can walk
to, one of them reputed to have been the hideout of the
notorious pirate Henry Morgan. But the only real reason
to visit Utila, unless you happen to like being bitten
by sand fleas, is to go diving. It's a half-hour boat
ride from the town of East Harbor to a chain of small
islands called the Cays and a bit further to Water Cay
which is surrounded by some of the best coral reefs in
the Caribbean.
 Roatan
is the largest and most popular of the Bay Islands, also
the most expensive. It has some interesting places to
visit, including Oak Ridge, built on a caye around a deep
inlet, Port Royal and French Harbor. Some of the resorts
here rank among the best sun and sea destinations in the
world - perfect for honeymooners or anyone who likes to
be totally pampered while doing not much of anything.
But again, the main reason people come to Roatan is to
dive and all parts of the island feature hotels large
and small with excellent facilities for exploring the
region's marine wonderland.
Guanaja, the easternmost of the group, was declared
a forest reserve in 1961 and is now also a marine national
park. Diving and other aquatic activities again are the
main attractions.
Getting to the Bay Islands
You can fly direct to Roatan from Miami, Houston and New
Orleans or take connecting flights from Tegucigalpa or
San Pedro Sula. All three islands are serviced by regular
flights from the mainland port of La Ceiba, with connections
from Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula.
Shopping
Unlike neighboring Guatemala, Honduras is not known for
its textiles. But it is gaining a reputation for its mahogany
and cedar wood carvings (the small chests are especially
beautiful) and for its primitive paintings of mountain
villages. (The beauty of the paintings is often enhanced
by hand-carved mahogany frames.) In the gift shop at the
Copan ruins, you'll find small replicas of stelae, carved
in stone, that are quite well done. You can also purchase
jade jewelry, statues and other carvings that local artists
have faithfully reproduced from artifacts recovered by
archaeologists.
 Expertly
woven baskets and hats also are available throughout the
country, as are quality leather goods. Honduras factories
now make brand-name purses and other leather items and
ship them to the U.S. Many name designers have their leather
purses assembled in San Pedro Sula, where they are sold
for reduced prices -- without the designer name, of course.
You can also buy Honduran cigars, which rival those from
Cuba in taste and quality. Cigars are made at the Royal
Tobacco Factory, which was founded in 1765 and is not
far from the town of Copan Ruinas. Cuban cigars also are
readily available in many parts of the country, but do
not try to take them back to the U.S. It is illegal.
Haggling over prices is not as popular in Honduras as
it is elsewhere in Central America. Where prices are marked,
a request for a precio mejor (better price) is likely
to net at best a 10% descuenta (discount). If prices are
not marked, expect to haggle for a somewhat, but not greatly,
lower price. Be aware that the local shops recommended
by tour operators and taxi drivers generally pay for the
privilege. Prices at those shops may be somewhat higher
than others.
Festivals
There are festivities in just about every town to celebrate
saint's days. The fair for the Virgen de Suyapa, patron
saint of Honduras, is celebrated in Suyapa, 7km (4mi)
southeast of Tegucigalpa, during the first two weeks of
February. Services and festivities attract pilgrims from
all over Central America. Carnaval at La Ceiba is celebrated
during the third week of May with parades, costumes and
street music. There are other popular fairs in Copán
Ruinas (15 to 20 March), Tela (13 June), Trujillo (24
June), San Pedro Sula (last week in June) and Danlí
(last weekend in August). The Feria Centroamericana de
Turismo y Artesanía, a Central American international
artisans' and tourism fair, is held annually from 6 to
16 December in Tegucigalpa. Another cultural fair is held
in Copán Ruinas from 15 to 21 December.
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