El Salvador

Key facts

• Region: Central America — Sovereign states
• Capital: San Salvador
• Currency: US dollar (USD)
• Languages: Spanish
• Main airport: SAL — Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport, serving San Salvador
• Best time to visit: November to April, the dry season; the Pacific coast is wettest from May to October

Overview

El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America and one of the least visited by international tourists, despite good roads and a compact geography that is easy to cover. It is best known for its Pacific surf beaches and for a chain of colonial towns and volcanoes in the western highlands. It uses the U.S. dollar, which simplifies budgeting for North American visitors.

Airports

Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport (SAL), widely known by its former name Comalapa, is the main gateway and sits about 45 km southeast of San Salvador. Ilopango International (ILS) on the edge of the capital handles smaller regional and charter traffic. There is no significant domestic commercial network, since the country can be crossed by road in a few hours.

Main cities

San Salvador is the capital and main urban centre, with a small historic core and the country's principal museums. Santa Ana in the west is a colonial city and the base for the Santa Ana volcano. Suchitoto is a small colonial town above Lake Suchitlán and one of the most attractive in the country. San Miguel is the largest city in the east, near the eastern volcanoes and coast.

Places to go

The Ruta de las Flores (Route of the Flowers) is a chain of highland towns including Juayúa, Ataco and Apaneca, known for weekend food fairs and coffee farms. The Santa Ana Volcano offers a popular guided hike to a crater lake. Joya de Cerén is a UNESCO World Heritage site, a Maya village buried by volcanic ash and often called the Pompeii of the Americas. Tazumal near Chalchuapa is among the country's largest Maya ruins. The Pacific surf beaches of El Tunco, El Zonte and El Sunzal are the main beach destinations, with El Zonte known locally as Bitcoin Beach. Lake Coatepeque fills a volcanic caldera near Santa Ana.

Getting there

Cheapest cached round-trip fare into El Salvador, refreshed every 6 hours:

Where to stay

Practical information

Frequently asked