Visit El Salvador, tourism El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador sneaks up on you: in lefty lounge bars in San Salvador, at sobering museums and war memorials, and along lush cloud-forest trails; it's a place of remarkable warmth and intelligence, made all the more appealing for being so unexpected.
Travellers tend to skip El Salvador, wooed by marquee destinations such as Guatemala and Costa Rica, and unnerved by stories of civil war and gang violence. But the war ended almost 20 years ago, and crime, while serious, is almost exclusively played out between rival gangs; tourists are virtually never involved. And though El Salvador has fewer protected areas than its neighbors, you get them practically to yourself – including pristine forests, active volcanoes and sparkling lakes. The only place you might find a crowd is on Punta Roca, El Salvador’s most famous surfing spot – it happens to be one of the best right point breaks in the world, yet is a ghost town compared to lesser swells in Costa Rica and elsewhere. And when it comes to cities, none in Central America is smarter or cooler than San Salvador, with first-rate universities, museums and galleries, a vibrant bar and live-music scene, and an array of progressive NGOs, both local and international.
Mapa de El Salvador
El Salvador's eastern interior is the least explored of all of its regions. Though San Miguel is the country's second-largest city (and an important commercial and transportation hub), the area has no hook - no national parks, no surfing spots, no phenomenal museums. But what eastern El Salvador does have is pockets of possibilities - a vibrant nightlife in San Miguel, appealing mountain towns, challenging volcano ascents, and artisan communities whose wares are sold throughout the country. The east is a historically vital economic and agricultural zone, with cotton, sugarcane, cattle and, of course, coffee.
Most people visit the eastern interior on their way to or from areas with more obvious tourist appeal, like Morazán and the Pacific coast. And there's nothing wrong with that. So as you're flying by on that painted Blue Bird bus, consider stopping to smell the flowers in Alegría or watch artists at work in Ilobasco. Heck, even sitting in the plaza in Sesuntepeque is a nice way to spend an afternoon after a week of beach-hopping.
Muelle del puerto de La Libertad, El Salvador
Northern El Salvador
A short bus ride from San Salvador are the small towns of northern El Salvador and the Chalatenango department. Suchitoto is the honey pot of the area, and possibly the country, attracting hundreds of visitors every week with its colonial good looks, laid-back attitude and artsy bohemian style. La Palma, up the road, has less flair than Suchitoto, but shares its artistic leanings - Salvadoran painter Fernando Llort taught his style and technique to local artisans, who now earn their livings creating the colorfully painted wood crafts that are so well known in El Salvador and abroad. Throughout the area are great hiking opportunities and lush mountain views, including those from the summit of Cerro El Pital, El Salvador's highest (but most easily climbed) mountain.
During the civil war the north saw intense fighting between the Salvadoran military and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) guerrillas. Villages here, including Suchitoto, bore the brunt of the military's tierra arrasada (scorched earth) campaign, in which entire towns, communities and farms were destroyed. Salvadorans fled en masse to Honduras, where 'temporary' camps just across the border became home to thousands of refugees for more than a decade, and became the source of tension between the two countries. Many refugees returned as the war wound down, and after the signing of the 1992 Peace Accords. Others, especially those who fled to the USA, have never returned - it is not uncommon to find Salvadoran immigrants who not only still haven't gone back themselves, but who in some cases refuse to allow their children to visit either. Those who did return formed new towns, like El Manzano, so refugees and former combatants whose hometowns were destroyed would have a place to call home.
Volcán Ilamatepec, El Salvador
Western El Salvador
Western El Salvador is a beautiful part of the country, and a must for an El Salvador itinerary. Three of the country's six tallest volcanoes are here, including the stark black cone of Volcán Izalco and the hulking Volcán Santa Ana, its sides crisscrossed with coffee trees. Santa Ana is one of El Salvador's most appealing large cities, while small colonial towns and indigenous villages pepper the famed Ruta de las Flores. Rounding out the region's attractions are the exuberantly blue Lago de Coatepeque, the country's best archaeological sites, and three national parks with hikes for all experience levels and vistas that will make your heart stop. And, unlike many other parts of El Salvador, traveling here is a breeze, with frequent public transportation, well-maintained roads, recommended guided excursions, charming hotels that don't cost an arm and a leg, and even camping. Local residents are open and gracious, and are increasingly accustomed to foreign travelers.
Western El Salvador is the country's main coffee-growing region, having eclipsed Alegría and San Vicente in overall production. You'll quickly learn to recognize the waxy leaves of coffee trees, and taller trees planted in huge grid patterns to block the wind. However, for all that coffee has brought the region (and country) in jobs and income, it has also been the vehicle of tremendous division and inequality. In January 1932, indigenous coffee workers mounted a short-lived uprising against slave-like working conditions, killing around a hundred landowners and officials; in response the Salvadoran army systematically killed some 30, 000 indigenous peasants, especially around the western towns of Izalco, Nahuizalco and Juayúa, in what is now known as La Matanza (The Slaughter). Working conditions have improved immensely since then, but harvesting coffee remains a difficult and low-paid job.
Laguna La Alegria, El Salvador
Ruta de las Flores
A winding ride through the heart of coffee country, this 36km stretch linking Sonsonate and Ahuachapán is named for the explosion of wildflowers found between October and February. Wander the colonial-style villages where chatty locals are quick to smile and coo over the novelty of blue eyes and backpackers. While locals consider the region perfect for lazy Sunday excursions, the adventure-minded can discover great hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking.
Bus 249 runs frequently between Sonsonate and Ahuachapán, stopping in all the towns along the way, including Juayúa, Apaneca and Ataco.
San Salvador
The cosmopolitan center of El Salvador is a city cranking with energy. Witness the buses stuffed with limbs akimbo, bountiful bars and downtown, where vendors overtake the pavement, allowing traffic a cool inch on each side. Commerce, from street to swanky mall, thrives. It is partly about consumption, partly about curiosity – San Salvador's appetite for the new is voracious.
It's easy for the first impression of the city to be daunting. Crime, after all, looms large. Travelers may see headlines of gang violence, meet survivors of the war or bump into the rifleman guarding the neighborhood ice-cream parlor. As San Salvador may be a city of impressions, however, it's also one of encounters. People are unusually eager to greet visitors and offer a hand. This confident, lefty metropolis has great music and museums on offer, as well as hipster bars and coffee shops. There's enough going on here to extend a trip a day or two, or even a week, in order to explore.
Travelers should visit the parks and centro during daytime only, and take taxis after dark. The gang area of Soyopango (east of town) should be avoided. If you're at all intimidated, exploring the city on a Sunday offers a slow start.
Chalatenango
The first thing you notice upon arriving in 'Chalate' is the huge military garrison on the plaza. FMLN guerrillas controlled the regional capital during the early part of the war, and the government established a major military presence here to rein in revolutionary activity. The scars have faded - at least on the surface - and Chalatenango hums with activity. The only reason you'll find yourself here is if you're headed to the nearby villages; it makes a decent base to explore the area or to spend a night if the last bus leaves without you.
Parque Nacional Los Volcanes
This park (admission US$1; h8am-5pm) is a natural treasure, encompassing three major volcanoes (Cerro Verde, Volcán Santa Ana and Volcán Izalco) and thousands of hectares. It's a major bird sanctuary, with many migratory species passing through, including emerald toucanets, jays, woodpeckers, motmots and 17 species of hummingbird.
Active Volcán Izalco is the youngest in the group. Its cone began forming in 1770 from a belching hole of sulfuric smoke and today stands 1910m high. Izalco erupted throughout the 20th century, spewing smoke, boulders and flames and earning its reputation as 'the lighthouse of the Pacific.' Today, this bare, perfect cone stands devoid of life in an otherwise fertile land.
Without Izalco's stark drama but 400m higher, Santa Ana (also known as Ilamatepec) is El Salvador's third highest point. Its eruption in October, 2005 triggered landslides that killed two coffee pickers and forced the evacuation of thousands. The barren and windy summit affords spectacular views of a steep drop into the crater on one side and Lago Coatepeque on the other.
Assaults used to be a major problem, but the park service has instituted a mandatory guide service. Tourist police are posted along the trails and at the summits. Crime has dropped dramatically, but you should not hike solo.
Four-hour guided hikes to either volcano (Izalco US$1; Santa Ana US$1.80) begin at 11am only so don't arrive late! This also means you can't do both in one day. Wear sturdy shoes. A short alternative is a 40-minute nature trail which offers views of the lake and Volcán Santa Ana. It starts in the parking lot.
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