The traditional metropolis of Copan was one of the crucial essential facilities for the Maya civilization in Central America, and at the moment ‘Copan Ruinas’ is among the greatest Mayan ruins you possibly can see in Honduras!
Copan was house to the Mayans for nearly 2,000 years, and it was solely rediscovered within the sixteenth century. On a go to to Copan, you possibly can see the intricate carvings, temples, and ruins surrounded by jungle, and there are even colourful parrots flying round within the timber!
The archaeological website of Copan Ruinas sits proper subsequent to a quaint however trendy city of the identical identify, and you’ll go there on a day journey (or longer) from San Pedro Sula in Honduras, in addition to from different locations in Central America, together with Guatemala or El Salvador.
This journey information will clarify find out how to get to Copan Ruinas by bus or driver, what to anticipate when touring the Mayan ruins, find out how to see the parrots, and every part else you should know earlier than you go!
The place Is Copan Ruinas Positioned?
Copan Ruinas is a city situated in western Honduras, close to the border of Guatemala. The Mayan ruins of the identical identify are situated simply exterior of city.
The space to Copan Ruinas from San Pedro Sula is barely about 180 kilometers (110 miles) because the crow flies, however the drive takes near 4 hours due to the winding, bumpy roads.
How To Get To Copan Ruinas Honduras
The easiest way to get to the city of Copan Ruinas is by automobile, bus, or tour.
Sadly, there’s no airport to fly on to Copan Ruinas. The Honduran authorities constructed an airport there in 2015, nevertheless it was by no means opened.
The closest place you possibly can fly in Honduras is San Pedro Sula (code: SAP), in any other case it’s additionally potential to go to Copan Ruinas overland from Guatemala or El Salvador. You possibly can store for flights in Central America on Skyscanner.
From Tegucigalpa or San Pedro Sula, you possibly can take the Hedman Alas bus to Copan Ruinas. It’s continuous and air-conditioned. Opinions are blended about their service high quality, so don’t anticipate luxurious, nevertheless it’s the most cost effective solution to get to Copan Ruinas, and no less than they appear to be secure.
You should buy bus tickets on the Hedman Alas web site.
Copan Ruinas Honduras
The opposite choice for attending to Copan Ruinas is to hire a automobile and drive your self, or rent a personal driver to take you there.
Trifinio Excursions can present a technique transfers to the city of Copan Ruinas from San Pedro Sula, in addition to some locations in Guatemala or El Salvador, though their service is fairly dear so it’s solely a superb worth when you have a singular itinerary or when you plan to remain within the city for greater than a day or two.
Final, however not least, a day tour package deal may be one of many best and most effective methods to go to Copan Ruinas as a result of it consists of the entire transport and every part else you should go see the ruins after which get again in your method. I’ll record some good tour choices beneath.
Greatest Copan Ruinas Excursions
Listed below are some good choices if you wish to go to Copan Ruinas with a tour:
We’ve used Viator and GetYourGuide for plenty of excursions and actions around the globe, and so they’re nice. Extremely beneficial!
Copan Ruinas is legendary for its carvings
How To Get To The Mayan Ruins At Copan
When you arrive within the city of Copan Ruinas, it’s straightforward to get to the Mayan ruins. They’re only a quick distance exterior of city, roughly one kilometer from the Copan Ruinas city middle.
You possibly can stroll to the ruins from city in about quarter-hour, or you possibly can rent a tuk-tuk taxi to drop you off there for a pair US {Dollars}. I believe the tuk-tuk is the perfect thought as a result of it’s so low cost and simple.
For those who booked a tour of Copan Ruinas, they’ll take you straight to the ruins so you may get began sightseeing instantly.
Copan Mayan Ruins: What To Anticipate
The ruins of Copan are unfold over a reasonably large space, with temples, statues, staircases, tunnels, residential areas, a ball court docket, and even a cemetery.
You possibly can see the primary highlights of the park in about 2 hours or so, and the entire space is well walkable. More often than not, you’ll be strolling on grass or flat rock. Simply watch your step when you climb the steps, as a result of a few of them are tough and uneven.
Whereas different Mayan ruins like Tikal and Chichen Itza are primarily identified for his or her spectacular buildings, the Copan ruins are stuffed with fantastic carvings and historic hieroglyphics!
Lizard face
The ball court docket at Copan
• Greatest Issues To See At Copan Ruinas
- Monument Plaza. This grassy open plaza is among the first stuff you’ll see once you enter the archaeological park. It has a bunch of wonderful Mayan statues unfold out across the space, and a pyramid formed platform you possibly can climb for higher views of Copan.
- Ball Court docket. Mesoamericans beloved their ball video games, so naturally there’s a ball court docket at Copan. In a while, you may also see nice views of the ball court docket from above on the acropolis. It’s one of the crucial iconic pictures of Copan Ruinas.
- Hieroglyphic Stairway. This stone staircase has 62 steps and a couple of,200 glyphs, making it the longest identified hieroglyphic textual content of the Mayan civilization. The textual content continues to be being reconstructed at the moment.
- Acropolis. The acropolis was the center of Copan. It’s divided into an east and west court docket with a number of stone carvings and statues. A few of these are usually not very apparent at first, so take your time otherwise you would possibly miss them!
Intricate statues at Copan Ruinas
• Parrots At Copan Ruinas
You possibly can see a number of superb pink parrots at Copan Ruinas! These are scarlet macaws, the nationwide chicken of Honduras, and so they like to hang around within the timber close to the doorway of the archaeological park.
The birds are wild, so please keep in mind to not contact or feed them. They’ve sharp beaks and I’m certain they might do some harm in the event that they wished. Additionally they want a particular eating regimen to remain wholesome like within the wild.
Nonetheless, so long as you don’t trouble them, the parrots at Copan Ruinas are very relaxed, and it’s straightforward to rise up near them and take some nice photos. They are often seen wherever within the ruins, however close to the doorway is mostly the perfect place to identify them.
If you wish to see much more parrots in Honduras, you possibly can take a look at the Macaw Mountain Fowl Park, which is only a quick distance north of Copan Ruinas city.
You possibly can see a number of parrots at Copan Ruinas
Scarlet macaw within the treetops
• Entrance Charges
- Archaeological Website: $15 USD (370 Honduran lempira)
- Tunnels (Optionally available): $15 USD
- Museum (Optionally available): $7 USD
- Information (Optionally available): $30 – $40 USD per group
These days, you possibly can pay the Copan Ruinas entrance price with money or bank card. I used a international Visa bank card with no points.
• Opening Hours
The Mayan ruins are open seven days every week, every single day of the yr, from 8 AM to five PM. This consists of the museum and tunnels.
Jungle lined ruins
Greatest Time To Go to Copan Ruinas Honduras
Morning is the perfect time of day to go to Copan Ruinas as a result of you possibly can keep away from the worst warmth and crowds.
In the course of the daytime, temperatures can attain 32° Celcius (90° Fahrenheit), so it’s far more nice to tour the ruins within the morning when it’s nonetheless comparatively cool. Once I began touring the ruins at about 9 AM, there weren’t too many vacationers in any respect, however leaving later within the day was a really totally different story!
Any month is okay for visiting Copan Ruinas. The moist season on this a part of Honduras runs from Might to October, so that you’re extra prone to encounter rain in these months. Nonetheless, it provides the ruins a pleasant inexperienced background of jungle foliage, in order that’s a plus, particularly when you plan to take photos.
The dry season in Copan Ruinas runs from November to April, so these months have the perfect likelihood of good, sunny climate. The temperatures are additionally a bit cooler and extra manageable from November to January, with daytime highs of lower than 26° Celcius (80° Fahrenheit).
Wall element close to the ball court docket
Is Copan Ruinas Protected?
Honduras doesn’t have an incredible fame for security, however the Copan Ruinas space is called one of many most secure components of the mainland. That goes for the quaint little city of Copan Ruinas, in addition to the precise Mayan ruins simply exterior of city.
Individuals who go to Copan will let you know it’s a reasonably secure place to go to, and I must agree primarily based by myself expertise as a solo traveler. I carried my Fuji digicam and took a number of photos on the Mayan ruins, however I saved it hidden discreetly in my bag after I was strolling round city or on the ruins.
It’s true that Honduras has one of many highest homicide charges on this planet, however apparently the majority of that is from drug gangs combating one another, and different violence within the cities. Vacationers are usually not the goal. That doesn’t imply we’re proof against it, however the primary place to watch out is in massive cities like Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula.
Numerous worldwide vacationers come to Copan Ruinas yearly, and I haven’t heard of any latest experiences of crime, robberies, or violence towards vacationers. I’ll replace this journey information if something adjustments. General, I believe it’s fairly secure.
If you would like some additional peace of thoughts, you possibly can additionally deliver a hidden journey belt (like this one on Amazon) and put a few of your valuables in it. That’s what I did with my telephone, money, and bank cards on my first go to to Honduras.
Different Suggestions For Copan Ruinas Honduras
- The place To Keep: There are many secure and comfy accommodations in Copan Ruinas city. I stayed at Lodge La Escalinata, which has a pleasant proprietor, free breakfast, and jungle views from the terrace. Two different good choices are Hostel Iguana Azul or Terramaya Boutique Lodge.
- The place To Eat: There are many good eating places to select from in Copan city. My favourite was Los Asados close to the city middle — nice meals and big parts! I obtained blended meat with rooster, beef, and sausages, plus a facet of plantains and refried beans. Another good locations to eat are Sol de Copán, Cafe Through Through, and Mayan Harvest cafe.
- What To Put on: Costume for the tropics! Temperatures may be sizzling and humid right here within the daytime, so that you’ll need to have light-weight summer season clothes. I wore shorts and flip flops. Simply keep in mind to decorate modestly since Copan is a crucial place for the locals.
- Foreign money: Some locations settle for bank cards, together with the Mayan ruins, the place you should utilize your card to pay the doorway price. Nonetheless, plenty of locations on the town are money solely, together with most of the accommodations and eating places. Carry some money in case you want it. You possibly can pay in Honduran lempira or US {dollars}.
Extra carvings within the Copan acropolis
- Bogs: There are public bogs on the entrance to the Copan archaeological park, however no bogs when you get to the ruins, so that you’ll need to deal with enterprise earlier than you begin touring the ruins.
- Snacks & Drinks: There are little retailers on the entrance of the park the place you should purchase snacks and drinks. I obtained some bottled water right here after an extended day of touring the ruins.
- Cell Service: There’s cell service on the Copan park if you should make a telephone name or ship a textual content message. That is useful when you’re anticipating a driver to select you up after touring the ruins.
- Drones: They don’t enable drones on the Mayan ruins. They’re fairly strict about this, so I wouldn’t advocate bringing a drone in any respect.
- Bug Spray: I didn’t discover any bugs or mosquitoes at Copan in the course of the dry season, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a good suggestion to use bug spray simply in case. That is very true when you go to close to the moist season, when there are prone to be extra bugs.
- Wildlife: Clearly there are the parrots (scarlet macaws) at Copan Ruinas, and you’ll see many other forms of colourful birds within the treetops as nicely. For those who’re fortunate, you may also see monkeys or different animals within the space.
Hieroglyphic stairway
Is Copan Ruinas Price It?
I loved Copan Ruinas despite the fact that the drive was a bit lengthy and tedious. I in all probability wouldn’t rank these Mayan ruins up there with one thing actually epic like Tikal Guatemala, however I’ve already seen Tikal earlier than, and this was one thing new.
One of many good issues concerning the considerably distant location is that it has saved it from getting too touristy or crowded. Positive, there are many snug accommodations and eating places, however the entire space continues to be quaint and it feels such as you’re off the overwhelmed path, which I appreciated.
General, when you get pleasure from archaeological websites, tradition, historical past, and wildlife, then I believe Copan Ruinas is unquestionably value a go to!
Extra Central America Journey Suggestions
Thanks for wanting! I hope you loved this information for the Mayan ruins of Copan Ruinas in Honduras.
Don’t overlook to take a look at my different journey weblog posts for Central America and South America earlier than you go!
Blissful travels!