Yes, El Salvador is one of the easiest countries in Central America to backpack on your own: it’s small, it uses the US dollar, and buses reach almost every town worth visiting.
Most backpackers stick to a western loop of
San Salvador,
Santa Ana, the
Ruta de Las Flores,
Suchitoto and the surf coast at
El Tunco and
El Zonte, where hostels and English-speaking guides are easy to find. Dorm beds run about US$10 to 18, a pupusa lunch costs US$2 to 4, and a day budget of US$30 to 50 covers it all. Basic Spanish helps a lot on buses and in smaller towns like La Palma.
Ten days is the right length for El Salvador, enough for ruins, a volcano hike, the coffee highlands and a few days of surf without rushing.
With 5 days, stay in the west: two nights in
Santa Ana for the volcano and
Tazumal, then two or three nights on the
Ruta de Las Flores. With 10 days, add
Suchitoto and three nights at
El Tunco. With 15 days, you can add
La Palma and
Cerro El Pital in the north plus a day in
El Imposible. Distances are short, with most rides of 1 to 3 hours, so you spend your time visiting places instead of sitting on buses.
Yes, you can cover El Salvador without a car, since cheap buses connect all the main towns, beaches and trailheads.
Typical rides:
San Salvador to
Santa Ana takes about 1.5 hours for US$1 to 2, the capital to
Suchitoto about 1.5 hours, Santa Ana to
Juayúa about 1 hour, and the capital to
La Palma about 3 hours. Bus 249 runs the length of the Ruta de Las Flores. Hiring a guide or pickup only makes sense for
El Imposible, the last stretch to
Cerro El Pital, and airport runs, where a shuttle or taxi costs roughly US$25 to 40.
The places you shouldn’t miss in El Salvador are the
Santa Ana Volcano crater hike, the
Ruta de Las Flores, colonial
Suchitoto and the surf towns of
El Tunco and
El Zonte.
The volcano hike takes about 2 hours up from Cerro Verde, and from Santa Ana you can also reach
Tazumal in Chalchuapa, 30 minutes away. Base yourself in
Concepción de Ataco or
Juayúa for 2 to 3 nights to catch the weekend food fair. History lovers should add
Joya de Cerén, a village buried by ash around AD 600, an easy day trip from San Salvador. Give the coast at least 3 nights.
If you’re short on time in El Salvador, skip the east, including
San Miguel,
Perquín and the Gulf of Fonseca, since getting there and back costs 2 to 3 days.
You can also cut
La Libertad town itself, since it’s mostly a fishing pier and a bus hub, while
El Tunco and
El Zonte are 20 to 30 minutes west. One day is enough for
San Salvador, enough to see the anthropology museum and the El Boquerón crater. With only 5 days, staying in the west around
Santa Ana and the
Ruta de Las Flores works far better than racing to cover the whole map.
Yes, our itinerary-planner does exactly that. Set your trip length in days, give your interests and travel style, optionally give start- and end location and/or some mandatory stops you would like to include and the itinerary planner creates your personalized routes for El Salvador in seconds. Try it out!
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