• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

From left, Copán Ruinas; Hacienda San Lucas.   (Photo: Courtesy of Anthony’s Key Resort; Simon Kuyvenhoven)

Copán, on the Honduran mainland, has some of the world’s oldest Mayan ruins (less trafficked than the ones you’ve seen in Mexico). To see them, carry some well-concealed cash to pay off local guides, and take a flight to the industrial city of San Pedro Sula. From there, hire a driver to take you along the winding, two-and-a-half-hour drive up the mountains. At the ruins, hire a guide to hear history and legend alike, and pay an extra fee to go through the tunnels. Make a day of it by taking a tuk-tuk from the ruins to Macaw Mountain, where rescued parrots and other exotic birds are kept at a serene nature park. Then tuk-tuk over to the town of Copán Ruinas, where a local market sells traditional black and beige pottery made by the Cuenca Indians as well as hand-embroidered shirts. Stay the night at the ecofriendly, solar-powered Hacienda San Lucas, just above town—you can watch the sun set behind the mountains of Guatemala while dining on local fare at the hotel restaurant.

Published on Mar 19, 2008 as a web exclusive.