Travel to Honduras: what to see, when to go and itineraries

About twelve kilometres from the border with Guatemala, the colonial town of Copán Ruinas lies barely a kilometre from the archaeological site, UNESCO-listed in 1980. The Hieroglyphic Stairway, carved stelae and tunnels beneath the acropolis call for a full day, ideally with a guide. From San Pedro Sula, allow three to four hours by road. Two nights let you add the macaw park, the Luna Jaguar hot springs or a coffee farm in the surrounding hills.

Off La Ceiba, Roatán, Utila and Guanaja sit on the Mesoamerican Reef, which extends all the way to Belize. Ferries reach Roatán in just over an hour and Utila in about an hour. Roatán has the most developed beaches, around West Bay and West End, Utila a backpacker vibe and dive schools, Guanaja the calm of a barely built-up island. Plan four to five nights, and avoid October to January, the rainiest and windiest period on the Caribbean coast.

La Ceiba is the base for Pico Bonito National Park, whose peaks exceed 2,000 metres, and for rafting on the Cangrejal River, doable in half a day. To the west, Tela gives access to Jeannette Kawas park and the headland of Punta Sal, between jungle and empty beaches. The Garifuna villages along the coast, such as Triunfo de la Cruz or Sambo Creek, keep alive a language, music and dances recognised by UNESCO. Three nights are enough to combine nature and culture.

Halfway between San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, Lake Yojoa, the country's largest natural lake, is about two hours from the former. Its shores attract birdwatchers, and the Pulhapanzak waterfall, some forty metres high, lies half an hour to the north. Further south, Comayagua, a former capital, keeps a colonial cathedral whose clock is among the oldest on the continent. One or two nights by the lake neatly break the journey between the two cities.

In the western mountains, Gracias is a small colonial town that serves as the gateway to Celaque National Park, whose summit reaches about 2,850 metres, the highest point in the country. The climb takes two days with a night in a shelter, through moss-covered cloud forest. Around it, Lenca villages such as La Campa keep traditional pottery alive, and hot springs help you recover after the hike. Plan three nights and warm clothes: nights are cool at altitude.

Set in a valley at around 1,000 metres, the capital is mostly a place to pass through, with its historic centre, San Miguel Cathedral and the Cristo del Picacho viewpoint. Around thirty kilometres away, Valle de Ángeles and Santa Lucía, former mining villages with tiled roofs, offer a quieter half-day among craft workshops and pine forest. One night is usually enough, getting around by recommended taxi or ride app rather than on foot.

To the east, the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, UNESCO-listed in 1982, covers a vast roadless forest reached only by small plane then dugout canoe. Remote and affected by drug trafficking, La Mosquitia can only be visited on a guided expedition of several days, after checking French foreign ministry advice. To the south, the Gulf of Fonseca, shared with El Salvador and Nicaragua, is home to the volcanic island of El Tigre and the village of Amapala, an hour by boat from the mainland.