El Salvador

Planning your trip

San Salvador and around

Western El Salvador

Western Pacific coast

Northern El Salvador

Eastern El Salvador

Eastern Pacific coast

Background

Practicalities

Index

El Salvador is a lively country and the people are just as friendly – some say more so – than in the rest of Central America. Ornately painted and colourful buses bump from place to place, just as they do in Guatemala and Honduras, but El Salvador has better roads and the quality of the buses is superior to that of neighbouring countries. While the rest of Central America relies on tortillas, Salvadoreans fill them with beans, cheese or meat and call them pupusas. Pinning it down is difficult but there’s a slightly different feel here from neighbouring countries.

Guidebooks tend to urge caution, but in reality El Salvador is no more dangerous than other Central American countries. During the civil war, Salvadoreans sought refuge abroad; now they’re returning, bringing with them a gang culture and other less-than-favourable imports from the United States, although as a tourist you are rarely subjected to any of these social problems. Despite the high rate of gang-related crime, frequent natural disasters and a tourist infrastructure less developed than its neighbouring countries, there are some compelling reasons why you should visit El Salvador: dramatic volcanic landscapes, blue-green lagoons, horizon-filling panoramas and golden beaches. In the northern hills around El Poy and Perquín the trekking is divine, with far-reaching views across staggered horizons. The stark cinder cone of Volcán Izalco offers a challenging but rewarding trek from the slopes of Cerro Verde, while El Imposible National Park provides the chance to visit a forest. Along the coast, choose from surfing, diving or simply lazing around and watching the endless display of Pacific sunsets.

Best of El Salvador

top things to do and see

Puerta del Diablo

The commanding views through the ‘Devil’s Door’ – a natural portal formed by two giant steep slabs of rock – encompass the urban sprawl of the capital San Salvador, the numinous peak of San Vicente volcano and, on a very clear day, the Pacific ocean. See Here.

Ruta de las Flores

Soak up the warmth, colour and disarming rural charm on the Ruta de las Flores (‘Route of the Flowers’). The procession of cobblestone towns and villages are alive with colour and colonial beauty. Aromatic coffee fincas, gastronomic fairs, local arts and crafts, and bucolic highland scenery are among the attractions in the area. See Here.

Joya de Cerén

Dubbed the ‘Pompeii of the Americas’, the ancient farming community of Joya de Cerén was buried under 14 layers of volcanic ash around the year 590 AD, perfectly preserving it until its accidental discovery in 1976. Today, this UNESCO World Heritage Site continues to be excavated and offers an intimate glimpse of daily Mayan life. See Here.

Cerro Verde

The lost world volcanic landscapes of the Cerro Verde National Park – one of El Salvador’s finest natural attractions – include the massive crater lake of Lago Coatepeque and no less than three volcanic cones: Cerro Verde, Izalco and Santa Ana. There is also some great trekking, wildlife and flowers. See Here.

El Zonte, Tunco and Sunzal beaches

Pounded by world class surf, the black sand beaches of El Salvador’s Pacific coast have long been sought out by intrepid waveseekers. In recent years, the emergence of low-key resorts and bohemian party towns are drawing a new sort of traveller to the region. See Here.

Parque Nacional El Imposible

Named for its perilous ravines and generally challenging terrain, the so-called ‘Impossible’ National Park is a wonderland of primeval forests and exotic wildlife, the most biodiverse place in El Salvador. It’s worth the extra effort to get to this remote and special wilderness. See Here.

Suchitoto

On the shore of the expansive Suchitlán lake, the well-to-do colonial town of Suchitoto is regarded as the cultural capital of El Salvador. Its traditional good looks, tranquil airs and emphasis on the arts are fuelling its popularity and renaissance, and make it a must-see in the northern region of the country. See Here.

Route planner

putting it all together

El Salvador is subtly different to the other Central American nations. You could shoot through the main highlights in 10 days or else hang out for two to three weeks and soak up the nuances; if you’ve got the time, you’ll enjoy the difference. With so many crossings and borders, the options for travel in and around El Salvador are very flexible. Points of interest are spread throughout the country so there is no natural route to travel. In some parts of the country the infrastructure for tourism is quite rudimentary, but in others (such as the capital and nearby places of interest and some of the beach resorts) it is well developed.

Life in El Salvador focuses strongly on San Salvador. All roads lead towards the capital with just a few exceptions. Planning your trip will involve either a visit to San Salvador or at least travelling through it. Fortunately the country is so small that the capital can make a convenient base, thus avoiding the hassle of dragging your bags across the country.

One week to ten days

volcanoes and colonial towns

Worth a day’s visit, San Salvador is a cosmopolitan city with a variety of architectural styles that have been created by the multitude of rebuilding projects in a history dogged by earthquakes. The city centre is always busy and widely thought of as unsafe at night, so newcomers are best advised to head for the western areas around Boulevard de los Héroes, with its shopping malls and restaurants, and the residential districts of Escalón and the Zona Rosa with its major shopping malls with fancy stores, branded boutiques and restaurants and nightclubs.

Throughout El Salvador volcanoes dominate the landscape, and the scenery is one of its main attractions. Just south of the capital, and easily accessible from the city centre by bus, Parque Balboa has fine views of Volcán San Vicente through the dramatic Puerta del Diablo (Devil’s Door) and from the Mirador in the centre of the mountain village of Los Planes de Renderos.

A short distance west of San Salvador you can do a day trip to the country’s main archaeological sites of San Andrés and the Joya de Cerén, where a Maya settlement has been preserved under volcanic ash. There are no grand temples and sculptures, but the dwellings and everyday objects found here are the only ones of their type preserved from the Maya era in Central America.

Just west of the Joya de Cerén, Parque Nacional Cerro Verde is a good spot to explore for a few days, with its prospect over Izalco and Santa Ana volcanoes and the deep-blue waters of the beautiful Lago de Coatepeque. Closed for two years after earthquakes, Cerro Verde recuperated its unique flora and fauna, was declared a protected natural area and is now open to foreign visitors.

Southwest of Parque Nacional Cerro Verde is the Ruta de las Flores, a handful of villages climbing the volcanic chains with good scenery and waterfalls, pleasant hiking and a smattering of crafts. It’s worth taking a day or two to travel along some of this route by bus or car, starting at the interesting town of Sonsonate.

After the Ruta de las Flores, you could either head further west still, towards the Guatemalan border, to the Parque Nacional El Imposible, one of the largest national parks in Central America, or south to the Pacific towns of Tunco, El Sunzal and El Zonte on the Costa del Bálsamo. These places have great surf and black sand beaches and make a good spot to kick back for a few days before returning to San Salvador.

Three weeks or more

archaeological sites and surfing

With more time, you could visit the places mentioned above at a more leisurely pace and explore the surrounding areas. Take a few days in San Salvador to take trips to nearby places like Cihuatán, El Salvador’s largest archaeological park and the largest city in Mesoamerica at the time of the Toltecs, north of the centre, or Parque Balboa to the south. Panchimalco is an old village south of the capital where cultural traditions are kept alive by a growing handicraft industry. The community hosts the yearly Procesión de Las Palmas, a spectacular floral procession in the beginning of May.

The Pacific coast at La Libertad is only a short trip south from San Salvador and is a good place to start exploring the Balsam coast to the west, the surfing beaches and to get a feel for the country as a whole. East of La Libertad, the beaches of the Costa del Sol are definitely worth a stop for a few days for their long stretches of sand and estuaries. Further east of the Costa del Sol is the Golfo de Fonseca with secluded beaches which you can explore. From the port of La Unión, you can take a boat to the islands in the gulf. It’s just a short trip from here to the Nicaraguan border at El Amatillo.

Inland from the Costa del Sol is the city of San Vicente, with an impressive volcano nearby, and the transport hub of San Miguel, as well as many small traditional towns. Those interested in the recent civil war can visit Perquín, north of San Miguel near the Honduran border. From Perquín it’s easy to cross the border for Gracias or Tegucigalpa in Honduras.

Heading west from San Salvador, after exploring the Parque Nacional Cerro Verde, you could stay in Santa Ana, a good base for visiting the archaeological sites of Tazumal and Casa Blanca. There are very few pockets of undisturbed land in the country, mainly because El Salvador is farmed intensively. On the border with Guatemala and Honduras, however, is Montecristo, a remnant of cloudforest administered jointly by the three countries. You can reach Montecristo from Santa Ana via Metapán and it’s worth staying the night so you can hike to the summit.

Returning to Metapán, you can then head east towards vast Cerrón Grande reservoir, set in beautiful scenery. On its shores is Suchitoto, one of the best preserved colonial towns in the country, and currently enjoying a revival. Northwest of Cerrón Grande, near the Honduran border, are the towns of La Palma and San Ignacio, where handicrafts of brightly painted wood and other styles are made. If you’re going to Honduras, head to the border town of El Poy, north of San Ignacio, if you want to drop into Santa Rosa de Copán.