Money in Honduras

US dollars are the foreign currency to bring

Of the foreign currencies, the US dollar is the practical one for Honduras: banks and hotels change it readily, and much of the tourist trade accepts it directly. Money is changed at banks and hotel desks, and in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula also at exchange bureaus (casas de cambio). Unofficial street changers are best left alone.

Cash machines in the cities, on Roatán and in Copán Ruinas

Cash machines (cajeros automáticos) are easy to find in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba and on Roatán, the largest of the Bay Islands, and they generally accept Visa and Mastercard; Copán Ruinas has machines too. Villages and small rural towns often have none at all, so a trip into the countryside starts with enough lempiras in hand. Withdrawals are safest from machines inside shopping centres, in daylight and a little at a time, one of the precautions that apply across Honduras.

Cards at hotels and tour operators, cash for the rest

Visa and Mastercard are accepted at larger hotels, international restaurant chains and established tour operators, and on Roatán and in businesses that serve visitors elsewhere, cards work well. American Express is accepted far less often. Street food, local markets, local transport, rural hostels and most restaurants in Tegucigalpa's older neighbourhoods are paid in cash, in lempiras, so a reserve of cash backs up any card, above all outside the main cities.

Lempiras in small notes for everyday spending

Large lempira notes are hard to break at market stalls, in taxis and on buses, so small notes are worth keeping back for them. A bill paid in US dollars is usually settled with change in lempiras, which makes small lempira notes the money of daily spending even where dollars are taken.