Experience the best of San Pedro Sula

Pedro de Alvarado founded San Pedro Sula in 1536, and it sits in the Sula Valley, a flat, fertile plain in northern Honduras, with the Merendón mountains rising to the west. It is the country's main business centre and busiest crossroads, with the road to the Caribbean port of Puerto Cortés running north. The central plaza has a cathedral and shaded benches, and a museum of anthropology and history shows pre-Columbian pottery.

Cusuco National Park, a cloud forest in the Merendón range, is a short drive from town. Lake Yojoa, the largest natural lake in the country, lies to the south, with the Pulhapanzak waterfall near it and good birdwatching on its shores. The Maya city of Copán, with its carved stelae and hieroglyphic stairway, is a few hours away to the south-west, and Caribbean beaches at Tela and Omoa lie to the north.

Baleadas, folded flour tortillas filled with refried beans, cream and crumbly cheese, are the city's everyday food, with fried plantain, grilled meat and conch soup from the north coast. The weather is hot and humid, and most of the rain falls between May and November.