Questions on buses (and accommodation)

1. If you check the Hedman Alas schedules you should see links between the airport and San Pedro Sula listed as well. You can buy a ticket for the whole trip but you'll have to wait a bit at the San Pedro Sula station before the bus to Copán takes off. You can also easily take a taxi to the station for just a few more dollars; we've done it both ways due to timing.

2. Shouldn't be a problem. There's a Hedman ticket office at the airport to the left as you exit, across the wide sidewalk from where the taxis wait; probably no English spoken.

3. On arrival should be fine - we've never had more than 10 or 12 on the whole huge bus for that trip.

4. Here's a great spot to stay: Casa de Cafe

5. If you want to stay there, reserve ahead - they're popular. There are so many options that you could find something without reserving but maybe not your first choice.

6. It looks like the bus companies are consolidating into onestation - not sure just what's there yet. Please go and tell me all about it - I'm heading back in July. Otherwise just hire a taxi to get from one to the other. I think you could find a taxi to take you the whole way but have no idea of the price.

Keep us posted!

1. I enjoyed Don Udo's Hotel in Copan. It's about three blocks from the central square. Then again, almost everything in Copan seems to be within three blocks of the central square.

2. hopefulist is right -- there is a spankin' new, brightly lit, central bus terminal in SPS. I was there last month a few weeks after it opened. Hedman and Casasola both use the new terminal, and I'd be surprised if you could not find a bus going to Puerto Cortes in the same big terminal.

I was going to suggest Don Udo's as a place to stay also. It's a very clean and comfortable mid-range option (the people there were great too). I think I paid about US$40/night including tax for a single person in a double room with a fan. http://donudos.com/index.htm</a>

Edited by: NicoleSlaw

Thanks guys. The url for the bus company is really useful (I discovered a 5:30 bus as well). I've been traveling in SE Asia for so many years that it never occurred to me that a bus company would have a website! Even the buses seem fancy in Central America (my first trip south of Mexico).

Both hotels sound good and I'm trying to make a reservation at Casa de Cafe because they don't seem to have TVs in the rooms.

Will post about the bus to Puerto Cortes from San Pedro Sula.

Thanks!

There was no TV in my room at Don Udo's. If you can't stay at Casa de Cafe I'd think you could specify to Don Udo's that you don't want a TV (the ones without are probably the less expensive rooms anyway).

The buses in Central America are definitely not fancy. Hedman Alas is, but it's only one of many shockless-schoolbus-with-missing-doors options! :) Trust me, in Honduras I also rode in a 15-passenger minibus crammed with 25 people, a Bluebird where my backpack had been stuffed in the backseats and then ROLLED out the open door, and hitchhiked where buses were not available. Your SE Asia experience will come in handy!

Hotel Mar Jenny is a decent stay in Copan Ruinas as well, although I will say I HATED their tours tout. Really obnoxious guy, insisting on shooting down every single plan I had in the country and inserting his "party towns w/ girls" suggestions. Which, as a girl....why??? I don't think of him as regular staff though. Anyway, I had a private room w/ bath, hot water, towels & toilet paper (to me, that puts it almost out of "budget" range!) and TV, although the TV sadly had only a single Spanish-music-video channel. That was $10. So you can probably get something really swish for $20.

We just stayed in the Acropolis Maya Hotel in Copan. We didn't have reservations, just turned up and asked if they had rooms. They seemed to have plenty. Cost us $50 a night inc tax for a room with 2 double beds, TV and air-con.

We were in Copan for 4 days and there were 3 power cuts during that time (one only lasted about an hour, but the others lasted about 8 hours, 8am-4pm & 4.30pm-12.30am). It seems the locals know when to expect them, so if you need to use the internet or anything else reliant on electricity, you might want to find out if any outages are scheduled, so you can work around them!

Quick update on my stay at Copan Ruinas. I've always dismissed Central America as a boring backwater compared to the more exciting SE Asia and boy, was I wrong! I loved Copan Ruinas, the laid back atmosphere, and even the hitching of rides in pickups to get from one place to another. The archaeological site is fascinating (this from someone who has visited Palenque and most Mayan sites on the Yucatan P), the hot springs fun, walking around on the hills delightful, and that Sculpture Museum was an eye-opener. The thought of wending my way back to New York overland, well, nuff said!

Stayed at Casa de Cafe and it was an excellent choice. Friendly, no attempt to sell anything at all, good advice. Very personal, obviously carefully thought out, and I strongly recommend it. Don Udo's looked nice too but I can't comment on the experience. The one advantage of Don Udo's is that it is much closer to the comedors and restaurants than Casa de Cafe is. Not that the latter is far but if you have to run a gauntlet of barking dogs (I know, they don't bite!) to get there. Dogs or no dogs, I'll definitely stay at the Casa de Cafe the next time as well.

The bus to Cortes. Citul and one other company run services right from the Gran Central terminal in San Pedro where Hedman Alas now rests as well. No need to change terminals. Impala Directo runs better buses to Cortes from a terminal a short (60 lempiras) distance away from the Hedman Alas terminal. I used Citul and though labeled as directo, it was anything but directo. My Honduran friends tell me that it is always better to switch terminals and hop onto Impala Directo. Not a big deal either way, IMHO.

Thanks all for the great advice. It is good to know that, even with its new and fashionable makeover, TT is still a great place to get great information!

Glad you enjoyed your stay in Copán and thanks for the update. I'm looking forward to spending a few weeks there this summer.