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General Information About Copan
Copan Ruinas is located on the Western side of Honduras, very near the border with Guatemala. It is only 12 km from the border crossing point of El Florido, and about 240 km from Guatemala City and 160 km from San Pedro Sula, which is the main Honduran gateway into Copan. You will find that Copan can actually turn out to be rather confusing. Most Hondurans think of Santa Rosa de Copan when you mention Copan. Santa Rosa is the capital of the department (local equivalent to a state) of Copan. The road from San Pedro Sula to Copan takes you through a large commercial town called La Entrada de Copan, (The Entrance to Copan) which is still 64 km. from Copan Ruinas.
From San Pedro Sula, your best bet is to purchase a tour package through one of the Honduran tour operators in San Pedro, or take advantage of the first class service now offered by one of the leading bus transportation companies in Honduras: Hedman Alas. They offer three daily departures from San Pedro Sula to Copan and back. Their departures tie into their own network of routes for outstanding connections via their San Pedro Sula terminal to Tegucigalpa, Tela and La Ceiba, making this the only direct service between Copan and Tegucigalpa as well as Copan and La Ceiba. Service is in a non stop air conditioned coach featuring movies and on board toilet. For updated information, please check our bus schedule routes from San Pedro Sula located in the bus transportation section of our guide.
Hedman Alas is also offering a Direct Non Stop service from Copan Ruinas to Guatemala City and Antigua, Guatemala in deluxe coaches. Over land, to or from Guatemala City will take you about 4 to 5 hours to traverse the 240km between Guatemala City and Copan Ruinas. As of 2005, the borders in the country are now open 24 hours a day, including the border crossing at El Florido; this means that the old hassle of arriving at the border before 5:00 p.m. is no longer an issue! They highway between Copan Ruinas and Guatemala City is totally paved, making the route comfortable and relatively fast. Another option is to take one of the minivans operating daily regular shuttle service from Antigua and Guatemala City to Copan. Hedman Alas, the premier luxury coach line in Honduras offers non stop service from Antigua and Guatemala City to Copan daily. Their offices are located at 2nd Avenue, 8-73, Zona 10, with telephone numbers 363 5072 to 78.
The local currency is the lempira, which has an exchange rate at time of print of approximately L. 19 to US 1.00. It is difficult to exchange currency other than US dollars and travelers checks. In Copan Ruinas you can exchange Guatemalan quetzales for lempiras, however the going exchange rate is normally about Q1.00 for L.2.00. There are three banks in Copan, the Banco de Occidente, is open Monday through Saturday from 8:00 to 16:30 hrs. Amongst other services, you can exchange US Dollars and Guatemalan Quetzales. The Banco Atlantida office is also located within the main square, offers cash advances on your VISA card and is open From 8:00 a.m. till 11:30 and 2:00 p.m. till 5:00 p.m. Finally, Banco BAC is located adjoining Banco Atlantida on the central park. They are open with the same schedule, and are the local reps for Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Banco BAC and Banco Atlantida both have ATM machines at their offices where cash withdrawals are possible.
Tap water is generally unsafe to drink in all of Honduras, and Copan is no exception. Most of the better restaurants and hotels treat their water, making it safe for you to drink. Purified water can be purchased at different places throughout town. Another safe alternative is to stick to bottled soft drinks or beer. La Casa de Todo and Maya Connections also offers economic purified water refills for your empty bottles, helping you save money and provide a relief to the environment by reducing the amount of trash created by plastic bottles.
Telephone and Fax. Hondutel, the local telephone company, is located one block from the main park. Check our map of town to locate them. Open from 8:00 to 21:00 hrs. daily. Another option is to make your calls and send your faxes from Maya Connections or La Casa de Todo.
E-mail & Internet. Modern times have arrived in Copan and there are a variety of establishments offering Internet access and e mail service. The most complete Internet Cafes in town are La Casa de Todo, Maya Connections, Inter@Cafe and another at the Yaragua Hotel. Another good option is Copan Net. The mail office is located just next to the Museum downtown.
Washing your clothes in Copan. An everyday problem for the long time traveler is where to get their clothes washed. Many of the hotels offer this service to their customers. Both La Casa de Todo and Maya Connections offer same day wash, dry, and fold service which allows you to drop your clothes off in the morning, go to the Ruins, take a tour or go about your business, and return in the afternoon to pick up your clean clothes.
The best, most complete book exchange in town is located at La Casa de Todo. In addition, this is the one and only place in town where you will be able to find a variety of books about the Mayan Civilization.
For those of you who find that your Spanish is not up to par, there is the possibility of taking advantage of your stay in Copan to do something about it. There are several Spanish Schools in Copan. Both The Guacamaya Spanish School & Ixbalanque Spanish School offer you the unique opportunity to learn Spanish with a one to one teacher to student ratio, and at the same time experience Central America by living with one of the local Copanecan families.
Immigration offices in Copan are located about a block and a half away from central park. They are not open every day of the week, so it is a must to ask to find out their schedule, every local immigration procedure can be done from this office.
The dry season, or "verano" in Copan is from December through April inclusive, with March and April being the hottest and driest months. The rainy season or "invierno" is from May through November, and the wettest months are August and September. If it really gets hot for you during the summer days, there is a great pool open to the public for a nominal fee within town. The Camino Maya Recreational center offers two clean pools, one for adults and the other for small children. In addition, there is good fast food restaurant on the premises where you can buy some food to satisfy your hunger!
For those looking for more information on Copan and Honduras, the Copan Ruinas Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, has opened an information center. They are located at the old school building directly in front of Central Park, where you will also find the children's museum as well as many handicrafts shops. In addition, La Casa de Todo and can provide with good local info at no cost!
A word of caution: Hondurans, and Copanecans in particular, love to celebrate any event and do so often with the use of firecrackers (which of course, the louder the merrier). They celebrate with total disregard to the time of day, and seem to prefer the wee hours of the morning. Many a tourist has hid under his bed thinking a revolution has just started outside of his room! Fear not, it is only someone having a good time and the only harm that will come to you will be the loss of some of your precious sleeping time!