Experience the best of Tegucigalpa

Tegucigalpa began as a silver-mining settlement in the sixteenth century and lies in a valley at about 1,000 metres, with pine-covered hills around it and the Choluteca River running through. It forms a single municipality with Comayagüela across the river. The Plaza Morazán is flanked by the eighteenth-century Cathedral of San Miguel Arcángel, and the Museo para la Identidad Nacional tells the story of Honduras from its earliest peoples.

On El Picacho, the hill above the city, a park with a zoo and a statue of Christ looks out over the rooftops. The Basilica of Suyapa shelters the small statue of the Virgin of Suyapa, patron of Honduras, which draws pilgrims each February. La Tigra National Park, a cloud forest, lies to the north-east, and Valle de Ángeles is a mountain village of leather and woodcraft shops.

Baleadas, wheat tortillas folded around refried beans, cream and cheese, are the national street food, and the plato típico adds grilled meat, plantain and rice. Honduran highland coffee is served everywhere. The altitude keeps temperatures mild; the dry season runs from November to April, and heavy showers fall from May to October.