Things to do in Tegucigalpa
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Chiminike
Chiminike is Tegucigalpa’s excellent children’s museum. Situated about 7km south of downtown, it caters to kids of all ages, from a peaceful infant/nursing area to adolescent-level displays on Maya history. It’s refreshingly frank: the area about the human body has exhibits on the hows and whys of farting, vomiting, sneezing and body odor, while a crawl-through digestive tract starts at the mouth and ends with a slide through an oversized rectum.
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Museo Nacional de Historia Y Antropología Villa Roy
The Museo Nacional de Historia y Antropología Villa Roy is housed in the former home of ex-president Julio Lozano (near Calle Morelos), an opulent two-story mansion overlooking the city. Fascinating, if somewhat intense, the museum traces a chronological path through Honduran history, from independence, through the Liberal reform period, to modern-day Honduras. Displays are long and detailed (and in Spanish only). The section on the Vaccaro brothers and the rise of Standard and United Fruit companies will be interesting even to casual visitors, as few events have more deeply shaped Honduras’ past and present.
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Museo de Historia Natural
Just down the hill from the Basilica de Suyapa is the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH). Typically called Ciudad Universitaria, it houses the Museo de Historia Natural in the biology building. The museum, however, is a serious downer despite the upbeat listing in Honduras Tips.
It houses a sad collection of stuffed birds and animals, many with eyes missing, and feathers and fur coming off in clumps. Only the whale skeleton and petrified dung display are remotely memorable, but still not worth the effort, even for kids.
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Restaurante Lai-Lai
This Chinese restaurant is housed somewhat improbably in a beautiful converted colonial mansion, with azulejo (painted tile) floors and an inner courtyard with filtered sunlight from above. The food is a step up from similar restaurants - not exactly refined, but quite tasty. The 'personal menus' come with three different items and a tall glass of soda, and there are of course the mongo 'family' plates typical of many Chinese restaurants.
Service is uneven, but at least the building will occupy your eyes while you wait.
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CONVERSA Language School
Tegucigalpa's go-to Spanish school offers excellent one-on-one classes that are popular with diplomats, business people and NGO administrators. For travelers, La Ceiba, Western Honduras and the Bay Islands - not to mention Guatemala, the Spanish school mecca - are more likely places to spend a week or two taking language classes.
Three types of courses are offered on a monthly basis: Intensivo (120 hours), Semi-Intensivo (80 hours), and Diario (40 hours). Homestays, all within walking distance of the school, can be arranged .
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Café Paradiso
Coffeehouse lingerers will like this coffeehouse/gallery near El Arbolito, one of the coolest spots in the downtown area. Order international food - ham and cheese croissant, yogurt cup with granola, small salads - and check out the goings-on at the extensive bulletin board in front. Artsy, mostly English-language movies are shown Tuesdays; Thursdays are for poetry readings or other live cultural performances. High-speed Internet is also available.
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Tre Fratelli
A blast of cool air and a huge mural of San Francisco welcome guests to this popular and reasonably-priced Palmira restaurant. It's a chain, yes, but one serving reliable Italian food. The long list of pasta includes seafood lasagna and fettuccini inferno, made with spicy shrimp and chicken sausage. There are also several main dishes - meat and fish mostly - and pizza. A spacious outdoor patio is nice when it's not too hot.
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Café la Milonga
This terrific Argentinean grill has much more than just meat – and is much more than just a restaurant, for that matter. The extensive lunch and dinner menu includes sandwiches (several veggie options available), thick wedges of quiche (spinach, eggplant, broccoli, Lorraine), empanadas (chicken, beef or spinach) and of course excellent cuts of meat, in 8oz or 12oz portions that are melt-in-your-mouth tender.
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Basílica de Suyapa
The most important church in Tegucigalpa, and therefore in Honduras, is the Gothic Basílica de Suyapa.La Virgen de Suyapa is the patron saint of Honduras; in 1982 a papal decree made her the patron saint of all Central America. Construction of the basilica, which is famous for its large stained-glass windows, began in 1954; finishing touches were still being added when we visited.
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Harley Davidson Café
There aren't enough bikers in Honduras to make a real biker bar, but you get the general idea here. Outdoor tables, buckets of Port Royal and 2-for-1 bar food make for an everyman atmosphere, which can be a welcome alternative to the too-cool scene elsewhere. Friday nights feature live classic rock shows, complete with loaner Harleys on a trailer outside and gyrating Harley girls.
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Galería Nacional de Arte
Located in what was once a 17th-century convent, the Galería Nacional de Arte is well worth a visit. Seven exhibition rooms house modern artwork, colonial-era paintings and religious artifacts. There is also a small exhibit of pictographs found in Honduras – all replicas – but interesting nonetheless. Most signage is in English and Spanish.
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Centro de Documentación Historica
The Centro de Documentación Historica is a museum tracing the history of Honduras from independence to the present. The displays are interesting enough, but other museums cover the same ground just as well (sometimes better). The building housing them is the real gem, having served as the Casa Presidencial (Presidential Palace) from 1920 until 1992.
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Licuado Shop
There's an awesome licuado shop at the northwest corner of Parque Central next to Little Caesar's pizza. Literally a hole in the wall, there are a couple tables inside, but just as many people take their drinks to go, to enjoy in the park. A thousand combinations are offered, it seems, all made with fresh fruit and a base of either water, milk or fresh orange juice.
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Restaurant Aiwa
A huge marquee–like sign and swinging glass doors make it easy to mistake Aiwa for a movie theater; inside, the air-cooled dining room has gleaming tables and floors, and waiters zipping around with huge plates of chop suey, chow mein and more. Portions are enormous – a regular plate serves two, a family plate serves four or more.
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Taco Loco
A cheap option in a high-price neighborhood, this crazy little taco shop (it has a hot-dog logo but tacos on the menu) offers up flour or corn tortillas, and a choice of beef, pork or chicken filling. An order of cebollas lloronas (grilled, literally ‘cry baby, ’ onions) is worth the extra few lemps.
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Rincón Mexicano
This ‘Mexican corner’ is indeed a quiet little place where you can escape the noise and exhaust of Av Colón traffic. The menu has all the usual suspects: tacos, mole, tortas (even ‘drowned tortas, ’ a specialty of Guadalajara), plus American variations including fajitas and burritos.
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Mercado San Isidro
You can find just about anything for sale, excellent artesanía included, in this chaotic market in Comayagüela. However, there’s a catch-22: pickpocketing and snatch-and-run theft are common, and the market is the last place you want to carry anything valuable, especially a wad of money.
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Food Stands
At lunch, the food stands in front of Iglesia Los Dolores fill the air with the smoke, sounds and smells of sizzling meats, and people ordering, eating and talking. There's a little of everything here - pupusas, baleadas, soups and, of course, grilled beef and chicken. A must-do if you like street food.
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Iglesia Los Dolores
Iglesia Los Dolores, northwest of the cathedral, is worth a visit, with a plaza out front and religious art inside. On the front of Los Dolores are figures representing the Passion of Christ - his unseamed cloak, the cock that crowed three times - all crowned by the more indigenous symbol of the sun.
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Iglesia La Merced
An 18th-century church, Iglesia La Merced, faces Parque La Merced. In 1847, the convent of La Merced was converted to house Honduras' first university; the national gallery was established there in 1996. The well-restored building is itself a work of art, and is as impressive as the paintings inside.
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Artesanía Shops
There is a string of artesanía shops on Av Miguel de Cervantes a couple of blocks past the bridge that separates downtown from Colonia Palmira. Browsing them, you'll find the capital's largest selection of Honduran folk art, from Lenca pottery to homemade paper products from the Moskitia.
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Parque Naciones Unidas el Picacho
On the north side of Tegucigalpa is Parque Naciones Unidas El Picacho, established to commemorate the UN’s 40th anniversary. Besides excellent views of the city, there’s a soccer field where games are held on Sunday, and a somewhat decrepit zoo.
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Museo Para la Identidad Nacional
Tegucigalpa’s newest museum is the ambitious Museo para la Identidad Nacional, which is intended to encapsulate the whole of Honduran history, from pre-Colombian civilization to the present day. It still hasn’t achieved that to great end. Admission costs and hours vary.
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Centro Comercial Jerusalem
This small shopping center has a handful of cheap but clean eateries, most offering típica, sandwiches and snacks. Delitortas on the 3rd floor (mains L$20 to L$40) is known for its good daily specials, but be sure to check out the other options.
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