Tegucigalpa Travel Guide

Introduction

241km (150 miles) S of San Pedro Sula; 86km (53 miles) S of Comayagua

Many travelers would rather not try to pronounce the name of the capital of Honduras, let alone visit it. (By the way, it's pronounced "Te- goo-si- gal-pa"). Whatever horror stories you have heard about Central American capitals, don't take them too seriously, though. While it isn't a favorite tourist destination like Copán, La Ceiba, or the Bay Islands, Tegus, as Hondurans call it, is actually a fairly pleasant place if you can get past the smog. True to its name, which means "silver mountain" in the indigenous language of Nahuatl, the city sits snugly in a valley at about 1,000m (3,000 ft.), sheltering it from the sweltering heat that plagues San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba. There are several great museums and churches within the colonial center, a great clump of cloud forest nearby, and the largest cathedral in the country, along with a revered pilgrimage site, is only minutes from the center.

The city was...