Copán Archaeological Site: UNESCO World Heritage Maya Ruins Day Trip from San Salvador
4.6
16 Ratings
San Salvador
Embark on a fascinating day trip from San Salvador to the Copán Archaeological Site, a UNESCO World Heritage Maya ruins. Discover the ancient Maya civilization and its intriguing history with a knowledgeable guide.
Duration: 16 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Copan Ruinas - Visit this amazing mayan site UNESCO Protected and considered as the Paris of the Mayan Civilization
What's Included
  • Air-conditioned vehicles for comfort
What's Not Included
  • Lunch
  • Entrance fees to museums and tunnels
  • English speaking driver
  • Admission fees at the arcaheological site
  • Border fee / Migartory Processes
  • Entrace of Copan Park
  • $10 pick up to other location (San Salvador hotel, airbnb) per Tour.
  • $20 pick-up cost at El Tunco an Zonte Town Entrance(per Tour).
Additional Information

Embark on a day excursion to the Copan archaeological remains, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site, starting from San Salvador. Your journey begins at the break of dawn, traversing through Guatemala and Honduras to arrive at Copan, famed for its pre-Columbian Maya ruins. Wander the landmark with an expert, who will illuminate the storied past and importance of these edifices.

  • May be operated by a multilingual guide on site
Location
InterContinental San Salvador-Metrocentro Mall, an IHG Hotel
Y Avenue Sisimiles
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(16 Ratings)
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Albert_c
Jan 14, 2024
On-time, well organized tour with Salvadorean Tours. - Vitello, a fluent English-speaking driver and guide picked me up right on time in a new 10 person van. He let me sit up front as I was the first one to be picked up at 4am at the default pick up location in Zona Rosa. We then went to some different hotels to pick up another 3 people on the tour, both English and Spanish speaking. By 4:30am we were on the road to Copan. The journey to Copan took us through Guatemala, so we had to pass Guatemalan customs twice (once on the way there, once on the way back). Lineups on the border were not too bad, but probably added an extra hour to the total 6hr drive. (Make sure your passport has at least 3 blank pages for this trip: Guatemala stamps each time upon entry and exit - got a total 7 stamps in one day!) And fill out the pre-arrival online form for Honduras on the van and that you have some USD cash to pay for the entry permit). With the border crossings, it means we got off every 2 hours on average to stretch our legs. Bring some water and snacks for the long drive, or you can buy at the border stops. At Copan, the local English speaking guide, Juan-Carlos (who has been doing this for 40 years) took us on a 2-3 hour tour of the ruins. Make sure you buy the extra ticket to tour the tunnels and keep your receipt with you - the cost of the local guide is included, but not the entry ticket to the actual site. After the ruins, we went for lunch and a quick walk around the town which took no more than an hour. The lunch restaurant is highly rated, clean and world class but also affordable. No need to exchange for Lempiras, as they take credit cards. Hit the road back at around 3:30pm and made it back to San Salvador by 9/9:30pm. Don't plan anything for that evening in San Salvador as getting back on-time likely won't happen, there's some interesting spots along the way that can be requested to stop by for pictures, and traffic/border lineups are highly variable. The tour was able to add on a drop off for me at a different location (the airport) right at the end of the trip after dropping everyone else off so I could catch my flight early the next morning. Highly recommended as the easiest way to get to Copan from San Salvador, and worth the price considering the length of the tour and the distance covered in a small group in a comfortable van.
Review provided by Viator
Eric_h
Sep 18, 2023
Excellent Day!!! - Omar Arevalo was our driver. He picked us up timely at our hotel 4:30am. He was very pleasant and answered all our questions about El Salvador and other countries. He pointed out all the highlights like the volcanoes we passed. Omar helped us through customs and dropped us off directly with a guide. After a great tour with Marvin at Copan, Omar took us for authentic Honduras lunch. Highly recommend this experience. Request Omar to be your driver and request Marvin as your guide at the Copan Ruins. 10 of 10 stars!
Review provided by Viator
Yu
Aug 8, 2022
Copan day trip - Very comfortable transfer, very patient helpful guide, and so helpful during the many border crossings. Thanks for a great day in copan!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Hassan_c
Feb 18, 2022
Excellent tour, and we’ll worth the long drive. - Copan was excellent and the level of detail on these relics were incredible to behold. Our driver Omar was excellent and extremely patient throughout, especially at the border crossings for Guatemala and Honduras. Our tour guide Marvin was also extremely knowledgeable and gave us plenty of opportunities to ask questions throughout. Make sure you bring printed copies of your vaccination status and Covid tests as that held us up at the border crossings. Also bring cash with you (USD or local) for the crossings as there aren’t any ATM’s. Also eat breakfast beforehand or bring some food with you as the first service station stop will be a couple of hours into the journey.
Review provided by Viator
Yohann_r
Jan 22, 2022
Great great day - Amazing day! Well-coordinated and the ruins are beautiful, so many scarlet macaw! Highly recommend for anyone who also wants to see Honduras
Review provided by Viator
Mariaamineh_c
Aug 13, 2019
Copan Trip - We enjoyed the trip, Eduardo and the driver made our trip easy and fun. Eduardo is funny and entertain us all the way. In addition, Eduardo gave us a geographic l overview of the region and shows us the various landmarks on the way. Also, he coordinated with Tito, the guide in Copan. Tito gave us all the historical details and shows us all the ruins. It was an excellent trip, and I recommend Salvadorean Tours for this trip, the best price and service.
Review provided by Viator
100countryman
Dec 28, 2018
Safe Driver and worth while - We did the day trip from San Salvador while this is a long day it certainly was worthwhile. We spend about 90 mins at the site which was enough really. Highlights were going into the temples and underground to see the older temples underneath. This was an additional cost and local guide was additional for this Site itself was similar to other Mayan ruins so if you have been travelling along the route there will not be much new here The restored steps where nice
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ampadee_t
Jun 9, 2024
Copan Archaeological site - It's not really a specific memory for me since I have seen several Mayan sites and the most famous status is not even there in the site.
Review provided by Viator
Simon_k
Apr 22, 2023
Copán ruins awesome - Copán is really really beautiful. Driving there takes five hours. Driver was sadly oneandahalf hours late bcs of "car problem", so I was way too tired BCS I waited 90 minutes outside at the street. Driver and Tourguide were very kind. Ask for the tunnel tickets to walk under the pyramids, sadly it's not included in the tour. Copán was an awesome experience and I'm happy I did that. Sadly way way too expensive for that.
Review provided by Viator
Justinpz8794ml
Jan 21, 2022
Salvadorean Tours need to be more organized with this tour - I took this tour on Monday, 17th January As the day tour involves going through the Guatemalan border before heading to Copan, Honduras, the tour didn't tell me until nearly the last minute that I needed to get a COVID test for Guatemala as the country changed their requirements due to the new variant. After managing to get tested before the tour, the company sent me a driver who could only speak Spanish, not English. The company also failed to inform me that one of the requirements to enter Honduras is to fill out a pre-check online form. So I had to hastily fill out the form on my phone while waiting in line at the customs office. Driver and I finally get to Copan only to find it was closed because Mondays are "cleaning" days and stop the spread of Covid. Thankfully the local guide in Copan managed to get special permission for me to see the ruins. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see everything like the temple buried inside another temple, which I was told was very beautiful. Only reason I'm not giving this a lower rating is because the I managed to see the sights after all and enjoyed it, and the drive got me there and back to San Salvador safe and sound. I hope this tour company can improve from here.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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July 2024
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