Traveling down the Honduran territory seems an easy task. The small and charming Central American nation of barely 76,500 square miles was conquered by Spanish colonizers, yet the splendor of this land goes beyond imagination. Honduras packs quite a wallop for tourists of all stripes. It’s a nation whose complex beauty and cultural richness sways between tradition and modernity, where life is lived on the fast lane and people look back with nostalgia when they leave. Its people and towns open up their hearts to make travelers feel like home.

Today’s Republic of Honduras is the result of an assorted and profound half-breeding process that’s reflected in its streets, buildings, gaudiness, flavors and sounds. The first dwellers of this land were the Chibcas, the Lencas and the Mayans, three civilizations that shone with glowing grandeur and passed on a rich heritage full of great architecture, craftsmanship and culture.

MILLENARY HERITAGE Ancient civilizations walked all across this territory, sowing the seeds of magic and history. Today, thousands of tourists are drawn by the mystery that shrouds Honduras.

The Mayan metropolis of Copan reached its pinnacle of glory with countless sculptures and architectural values that eventually made it become the heart of the Mayan world.

The ruins of Copan allow visitors to turn back time and get wrapped around in the spell that tastes of genuine history and wisdom. A multitude of museums and archeological parks (El Sapo, El Puente or Las Estelas) let us breathe the airs of the legend.

There are numerous indigenous villages all across the territory and all of them have helped forge the culture of this country –and they’re still doing so, because most of them still preserve their traditions.

COLONIAL CHARM Spanish colonization –as everywhere around the Americas- gave way to a cultural fusion with picturesque values of its own. Many a city sill boasts colonial buildings. Tegucigalpa, the nation’s capital –known locally as simply Tegus- shows off cobblestone streets. The historic center is hemmed in by colonial-style edifices, many of them currently housing museums. Many other cities with important features of their own panned out to be major colonial hubs. Walking down its streets is the best way to learn about the history of pre-Hispanic Honduras. Conayagua was a major financial center that lay equidistantly between the two oceans that bathe the nation. Its colonial buildings are the finest decorations of the country’s streets.

Omoa (north) and Choluteca (south) are coastal walled cities that still remain standing. Major colonial charms can be found in such towns as Yuscaran (formerly a mining city), Santa Barbara (featuring numerous mansions and churches, including the Bogran Castle) and Santa Rosa, with a picture-perfect historic core and the Flower of Copan Cigar Factory.

UNTAMED NATURE Honduras offers us great scenery for contemplation and adventure. The Pico Bonito National Park is a mountain range that stretches out from the east to the west. Unexplored and jaw-dropping landscapes take us to the green charms of the tropical jungle, a place that harbors magnificent flora and wildlife species. Plentiful rivers like Cangrejal, in Pico Alto, invites adventure seekers to take a challenging swim or ride, let alone climb the highest peaks of the cloudy woodlands.

The country’s largest protected area is La Moskitia, a vast and equally unexplored region teeming with tropical jungles. The natural reserves of Platano River, Rus Rus and Tawahkan, as well as the Patuca National Park, are all perched on these lands.

And far beyond the greenish mountain ranges, the Honduran Caribbean runs through an array of beaches, islets and keys that call for gazing and relaxation. Cochinos and Arrecifes keys, and the beaches of Tela and La Ceiba, are dream landscapes of amazing beauty.

Bay Islands (Islas de la Bahia) is famous for its sea bottoms where Mother Nature has carved wonderful masterpieces. The site is great for scuba diving, especially when divers are aware of the fact that the world’s second-largest coral reef is off the Honduran coasts –rated as one of the globe’s top-five diving sites.

Down to the south, the Gulf of Fonseca invites travelers to scour the mangrove thickets and enjoy the shores of black sands.

Honduras is, above all, a challenge to the senses, a country of kind and nice people whose spontaneous smiles and happiness seem endless. Sauntering down this land is like living the past, the present and the future of a nation where creation remains hidden, waiting to be unearthed.