Excursion d'une journée à Copán au départ de Guatemala City

After visiting Tikal, it is hard to see other ruins because Tikal was so majestic!!! It was about 9 hours driving from Guatemala and it is not easy driving in Guatemala.

<p>a very long yourney which was not helped by me not speaking spanish and even though I had to pay double to join the group i was alone , would not recommend this to anyone who is a lone non spanish speaking traveller</p>

<p>My family decided to go to Copan as a cheaper an alternative to Tikal. The trip to Copan is about 5 and half hours one way but totally worth it. We were the only ones on the tour so it was like a private shuttle and tour! Once there we were greeted by the local tour guide. We had time to do the underground temples at an extra cost- although I did not think they were worth it since there was only two tunnels and most of it had been blocked off. My mother who had been to Tikal before told us that she actually liked Copan better because the story was more interesting and it felt less touristy! I really want to give a shout out to our outstanding driver, Juan! I cannot say enough about this man. Even though he told us beforehand he did not speak a lot of english, we ended up having a great time together and he really made an effort to answer all of our questions! He also translated the menu for us at the restaurant for breakfast and recommended an awesome restaurant in Copan for lunch! Juan opened the door and helped my elderly mother out of the van every time we got out which was extremely appreciated. It only cost about 8 per person to cross the border into Honduras and of course Juan took care of everything else for us so we didn't even have to leave the van. I have traveled to many places around the world and can tell you that its the people that really make the country- Guatemala is no exception- and in this case Juan really made the whole trip!</p>

<p>This trip has not been reviewed in a couple of years, and I think it really deserves to be reviewed. It was a great experience. We had an amazing driver, Walter, who navigated a delay in our route because of a bridge repair, and he was organized and on time everywhere. He was also a cautious, good driver. We left our hotel at 5 AM and arrived in Copan around 12 only because of traffic backup from the bridge the trip is supposed to take only 4-5 hours. We stopped at a great restaurant for lunch after the Copan tour. Copan itself is amazing and very different from Tikal and its high temples. Copan is known for its beautiful, intact statues and the hieroglyphic staircase. This is a very doable trip in one day-just be ready to be in the car for about ten hours. The scenery is amazing though, so it won't matter. The border crossing is easy too-Walter did everything for us brought paperwork to the border control people, gave us the customs forms, etc. and appeared to know the people too. The fee to cross was 13 per person Walter explained that it depends on the value of the dollar that day. I highly recommend this! The trip is through Gray Line Tours which is a reputable company there. It is also WAY cheaper than other sites and companies I looked at to go to Copan in one day from Guatemala City.</p>

<p>I definitely would not recommend this tour. First, our driver spoke VERY little English. Note, the driver IS different from the guide at Copan. The guide at Copan was very fluent in English; however, the driver, the person we spent the majority of the day with (all but the time at Copan) spoke very little English. This was frustrating for our group, to say the least. </p> <p>Second, nowhere on viator’s website or any of the booking information does it say that you’ll be charged 10 Quetzales upon exiting Guatemala and 30 Quetzales upon entering Honduras. Fortunately, our group had the cash handy, but this is the kind of information that MUST be disclosed somewhere.</p> <p>Lastly, our entire trip was underwhelming to say the least. Our time at Copan ruins was less than the 2 hours stated on the website; in fact, we spent only 1.5 hours at the ruins. We were not given the opportunity to “visit the on-site museum and see the excavated artifacts on display, or walk through the archeological tunnels underneath the Acropolis to view earlier stages of the immense Mayan Empire” as viator’s website says. Also, we had to ask another driver/guide (on a completely different tour) to intervene when our driver wanted to take us straight back to Guatemala City without taking us to the colonial town of San Jose del Copán to get lunch. </p> <p>All in all, I would NOT recommend this tour. I highly enjoyed my short time at Copan, but this tour experience left much to be desired.</p>