With El Salvador creeping into many “places to visit in 2018”, you may be wondering where to go and what to do. Recently, I took my first trip and Walter’s family showed me all their favorite spots to visit. Walter and his family have taken numerous trips during his childhood. While visiting family is a must-do-first-stop, the next stops are the wealth of fun and exciting places to visit in El Salvador. Below are some of Walter’s, and now my, favorite stops after all the hugs and “hola”s.
- Beach time: With beaches less than an hour from San Salvador, it’s easy to enjoy coastal El Salvador. Two suggestions would be:
- El Tunco – Great for surfing, a really cool backpacker spot, loads of restaurants, and just a town over a fun fish market to explore
- Costa Del Sol – A vast sandy beach great for swimming and tanning that feels like your own private beach
- Hiking: With volcanoes, mangroves, beaches, and countryside the hiking possibilities are endless. Two of our favorite hikes are
Taking in the view from the top of Santa Ana
- Santa Ana Volcano – This hike is found within the Cerro Verde National Park, where you can also reserve cabins. The hike takes roughly 4hrs round trip, with a strenuous uphill hike to the top. The hikes begins as a group hike at 11 am with security guards. The group quickly spreads out to a quieter hike. Once you reach the top they will round up everyone to come down at a certain time if you have not already headed back.
- Puerta del Diablo (Devil’s Door) – This hike is right outside San Salvador and is a fairly short hike; however, it has a great view and so much to do and see on the street. One other thing everyone must do is try the national food of El Salvador, pupusas and our FAVORITE place was at this hike. There is a Flinstones themed pupusa place that is fantastic.
- Mayan Ruins:
- Joya de Ceren – An ancient Mayan town that was covered in ash from a volcano, keeping it perfectly preserved, Joya de Ceren was our favorite of the two ruin sites we visited. The tour was awesome and to see the homes and how the way of life was over 1400 yrs ago was amazing.
- Tazumal – Pictured above, Tazumal are the ruins of an ancient temple site. There was also a tour at this site but it was all in Spanish so I could not say if it was good. My Spanish is at a beginner level. That said you can walk all around and even ON some of the ruins.
4. Drive the Ruta de Flores:
- Driving here is a bit terrifying in itself, but if you are willing to tackle the traffic, then spending time exploring the small towns along the Ruta de Flores is worth it. We also saw some travelers taking buses to the various towns.
There are colorful towns with markets and shops all along the way where you can spend time shopping, snacking, and exploring the activities. Some of our favorite stops included Ataco and Juayúa.
5. Coffee Tour
- El Salvador is good at many things but one of the best things to take away is COFFEE. We stopped at El Carmen Estate for our tour and they blew us away with a fantastic tour and even better coffee! Even Walter’s mother who doesn’t like coffee said she could get into drinking coffee if she could have a cup of their coffee every morning.
You will learn everything about how your cup of coffee is processed after the beans are picked. The second best part of El Carmen Estate is that you can stay at their hotel and enjoy their large array of activities; or you can use it as a home base to explore other activities, such as the labyrinth or volcanic hot springs nearby. If I had to pick just one activity to do, I would probably choose this one over and over again.
Bonus Suggestion: Check out the cacao tour and feed wild monkeys. If you happen to find yourself traveling to the Eastern side of El Salvador, we highly suggest stopping by Puerto Barillas in the morning to get a tour of an active cacao plant, where you can actually taste chocolate in its original form. After the tour they can take you by a guards home where he has befriended and protected a group of monkeys from the Civil War. Now if the monkeys are in the mood, they will come swinging in at his call for the chance to grab a tasty banana right out of visitor’s hands.