Copán
A Maya royal city in a valley by the Guatemalan border, with the longest hieroglyphic text the Maya left behind.
- Arrival
- San Pedro Sula, Ramón Villeda Morales · SAP
- To the ruins
- About 2 h 50 by road from SAP
- Private jets
- Customs and an FBO at SAP
- Best time
- November to April
The city
Kings, stelae and a stairway of glyphs.
People lived in the Copán valley for more than two thousand years. A dynasty founded in AD 426 made it the capital of a Classic Maya kingdom, and its kings filled the Monument Plaza with carved stelae. The thirteenth of them, known as 18 Rabbit, was captured and put to death in 738 by the ruler of Quiriguá; within a century the royal line had ended.
The little town of Copán Ruinas lies about a mile from the site core, and most foreign visitors still come in overland from Guatemala. A new visitor centre, paid for with Japanese cooperation, now sells tickets online. Come between November and April, when February and March bring under 30 mm of rain.
- Hieroglyphic Stairway Sixty-two steps cut with some 2,200 glyphs, first laid in 710 and enlarged about 755.
- Monument Plaza The greatest gathering of sculpted stelae at Copán, among them Stela A, raised in 731.
- Rosalila A sixth-century temple found almost whole inside Temple 16; a life-size copy stands in the site museum.
Arriving
By jet to San Pedro Sula, then the valley road.
Copán has a small aerodrome at Río Amarillo, opened in 2015, but it has seen almost no traffic and its reopening was only announced in September 2026. For now the arrival is San Pedro Sula, the busiest airport in Honduras, about 148 km away as the crow flies and close to three hours by road.
- Mexico City 1 h 50
- Panama City 1 h 55
- Bogotá 2 h 55
- São Paulo 8 h 25 long-range jet
- Nice 12 h 25 long-range jet
When to go
November to April.
The dry months run from November to April. March and April are the sunniest, with eight hours a day, and the afternoons reach 30 °C by April. In May the rains arrive, and June and September each bring more than 280 mm.
- 24° J 43
- 26° F 29
- 29° M 28
- 30° A 42
- 30° M 149
- 29° J 286
- 27° J 250
- 28° A 215
- 28° S 280
- 26° O 164
- 25° N 76
- 24° D 60
Where to dine
Dinner by candlelight.
No MICHELIN Guide covers Honduras. This five-course dinner is one of Frommer’s best dining bets in the country, and it sits in the top price band on Tripadvisor.
- Hacienda San Lucas Frommer’s Maya Chortí $$$$ On a hillside above the Copán valley
Elsewhere in Honduras
More reasons to come.
Flying to Copán?
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