Guide to Honduras


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Region by Region: 

 San Pedro Sula
 El Cusuco National Cloud Forest Park
Lake Yojoa and Pullapanzak Waterfall
 San Fernando de Omoa Fortress
 Lancetilla Gardens and Tela Garijuna Communities

San Pedro Sula
Located in the northern part of the country, San Pedro Sula is only a few miles from the coast and has always played a major role in Honduran history.

The city was founded in 1536 by Don Pedro de Alvarado. The Spanish conqueror gave it the name of Villa de San Pedro de Puerto Caballos but after five years it had became known as San Pedro Sula, the name Sula deriving from the local dialect Usula, and meaning 'valley of birds'.

San Pedro is divided into four quadrants based on the old Spanish system of building cities: Northeast, southeast, northwest and southwest. All the streets are numbered, with avenues leading from north to south and streets from east to west.

There is a large market downtown on 1st Street. The most important commercial street is Third Ave. Note that while there are plenty of public buses, taxis are plentiful and reasonably cheap. However, ask the bell boys at your hotel the going rate before setting out and make sure you negotiate a price for your trip before getting in.

As far as hotels go, you are spoilt for choice. San Pedro Sula's many hotels compete to provide the best service for their customers. There are many medium and small hotels that offer good service and fair rates for travelers on a tighter budget.

San Pedro Sula has some of the best restaurants in Honduras. Some may seem expensive by local standards, but it would be very hard to find better value for your dollar elsewhere. Many restaurants have begun the practice of adding a 10% service charge on the bill so it is a good idea for you to check before you leave a tip.

Along with great restaurants, San Pedro offers a variety of entertainment for the night owls. There is a casino catering exclusively to foreigners, movie houses, bars and plenty of nightclubs.
Basically this place has everything covered!

Aside from its fantastic restaurants, museum and cultural center, San Pedro makes a good place from which to launch your discovery of Honduras. The city not only has many places of interest in its outlying areas, but being connected by the most complete network of highways in Central America, it is easy for visitors to see them.

The Guamilito market, between 8a and 9a Avenidas and 5a and 6a Calles N.W., offers the most complete selection of honduran handicrafts in San Pedro Sula. The market is also a good place vegetables and flowers. When shopping remember to barter as prices here are not fixed and bartering is the customary way of doing business.

The Museum of Anthropology and History is located at the corner of 3a Avenida and 4a Calle N.W. San Pedro Sula claims this is the most modern and complete museum in all of Central America. Its aim is to give the visitor an insightful view into the rich history of the region. This area - the Valley of Usula, as it was known to the natives prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquerors - was inhabited by the Paya Indians. They established agriculture and trading routes between what is now the modern state of Honduras and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

The museum is divided into two large exhibition halls which display the anthropological findings in the Valley dating from the archaic period (3,500 years B.C.), to the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, and up to the present day. Included in this modern facility is an auditorium, labs for research, and a complete library of anthropology.
Entrance fee to the museum is a mere L.5.00, making this educational attraction a real bargain. The museum is centrally located at the corner of 3a Avenida and 4a Calle N.W.. It is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00am to 4:00 pm

Located just west of San Pedro Sula, in the impressive Merendon Mountain Range that dominates the city, this cloud forest is probably the park with the best infrastructure for tourists in Honduras.

It is easily reached by taking the western highway towards Copan, turning at the entrance to the town of Cofradia and continuing up to the village of Buenos Aires. This village is relatively close to the park and its visitors' center. However, the dirt road from Cofradia is not easy, and during the rainy season, it is imperative to drive a four wheel drive vehicle.

The center has basic installations, including camping facilities, running water, and toilet facilities. Information on the different trails in the park is available as well as on the the different species that call it home. Perhaps the most famous of these is the enigmatic quetzal, thought by many to be the loveliest of all tropical birds. Plentiful here, the quetzal is endangered throughout much of Central America because of loss of habitat and for centuries has been hunted for its beautiful long beautiful tail feather.

The best place to obtain information on the park is the Hector Rodrigo Pasto Fasquelle Ecological Foundation, located at the corner of 1a Calle and 5a Avenida N.W., just above the Pizzeria Italia. The park can be visited as a day trip from San Pedro Sula. It takes around two and a half hours to reach the visitors center from downtown San Pedro Sula, and visitors should aim to arrive very early in the morning in order to see the most wildlife.

The largest natural lake in Honduras, Lake Yojoa is a haven for black bass fishermen. It also offers some of the best bird watching opportunities in Honduras. Motmots, toucans, parrots and many other tropical birds live around the lake and the two protected national parks that surround it: Santa Barbara and Azul Meambar.

The lake is a 90 minute drive from downtown San Pedro and if you take a short detour, you'll be able to also visit the impressive Pullapanzak waterfall.