Honduras w/o the Bay Islands

I'm sorry I can't offer more advice about off the beaten track villages - I'm a diver and my husband flyfishes so we've spent about half of the 3 months we've vacationed in Honduras on Utila, Roatán, and Guanaja. Most of the rest has been in Copán which I absolutely love; please consider studying at the Ixbalanque school and if you do, tell them hi from Stacey, one of their biggest fans. I miss them and will return again some day. I also had a good experience at the Central American Spanish School with bases in La Ceiba and on the Bay Islands. Let me know if you'd like more information about the schools.

We also had a great time at the Omega Lodge outside La Ceiba - great rafting, horseback riding, kayaking, and hiking.

There are loads of photos, blogs, and full travelogues linked below. Can't wait to hear where you decide to head and how it goes!

I agree with the recommendations for Copan and Omega Lodge at La Ceiba.

If you love quaint colonial towns, here is an idea: You can cross the border from Copan, stop at the next junction (few km inside Guatemala) and take local buses towards Esquipulas in Guatemala. Its church is an interesting pilgrimage site, and you will see beautiful small twons along the road.

Then cross the border from Esquipulas to Metapan and continue to Santa Ana in El Salvador. That town seems almost caught in a time bubble, I absolutely loved it. From there, you can ride the daily bus to the top of Cerro Verde / viewpoint for Izalco volcano.

I cant comment on the other areas of Honduras necause I was so crazy to cram in this sidetrip to El Salvador, so only visited Copan, La Ceiba, SPS and Roatan...

In SPS dont miss the small but interesting museum about ancient sites dug up by archeologists in the region.

You can certainly spend a month wondering around the mainland. I've spent many a month or 6 weeks at a time on the mainland without going to the bay islands. The north coast is worth some time but is culturally very different from the interior. Copan is worth a visit but usually fairly touristy although I was there a couple of months ago and it was devoid of tourist. Me and a Spaniard had the ruins to ourselves. Gracias is my favorite Honduran town. Near there are some cool old towns, La Campa, San Manuel and San Sebastian but I couldn't imagine spending more than a couple nights or one each in them. Harder to get to but worth it to see the Sunday market is Belen Gualcho. La Esperanza is worth some time and also some day trips such as to Yamarangilla. I may be in a minority but I love Tegucigalpa but if big city not your thing you could stay in Valle de Angeles or Santa Lucia both nice places outside Tegus. If you have time to burn Catacamas will give you a taste of Olancho but not really colonial flavor. A little time around Lago de Yojoa would also be in order.
Mark

Thank you all for the great feedback re where to go w/o the Bay Islands. I feel like I could definitely, and quite easily, spend a month on the mainland of Honduras.

head east into la mosquitia for someone a bit different! and the lenca areas in the south are beautiful

We found a place called Erandika which is a (the?) town where opals are mined. Takes at least a full day to get there from Copan. A few years back when we visited, I got the impression that we were maybe one of only a few handfuls of foreigners to have been there. Not a word of English spoken, except that some kids had memorized a couple of English kids songs taught to them by Peace Corps workers perhaps. The town had one cobblestone street, one hotel (pretty nice actually), not more than a couple of places that passed for restaurants, no bank etc. Drinking alcohol was prohibited in the town (probly some contrabando around), and the people were all really nice to us. Every day when we woke up, there would be a line of locals politely waiting outside our room, either to try and sell opals or just to see the Gringos. Had to push start the bus (which came only every few days) to move on.

I liked Valley of the Angels north of Tegus, and for Culture and history try Trujillo.

Roatan does have some cultural offerings but they are off the beaten path in towns like Punta Gorda which is a world heritage site, or Jonesville Most travelers seam to stick to West End and not take the time to look around the island.

Would not go to Tela!