I spent 4 days in El Salvador in December 2025, visiting El Zonte, Santa Ana Volcano, Ruta de Las Flores, and San Salvador.
This is my review of what I enjoyed, what I didn’t, and what I would recommend when traveling to El Salvador.
Overall Impressions
I’d rate El Salvador a 6/10 overall, with the beach doing most of the heavy lifting to raise the rating. I’d come back in the future to spend more time on the coast and do additional hikes like Espíritu de la Montaña, but I wouldn’t repeat this exact trip.
Food
I enjoyed the food here more than the food in Guatemala (which I’d visited immediately prior to El Salvador). Food was noticeably more expensive overall. The food wasn’t mind blowing, but was consistently solid.
Safety
I felt extremely safe throughout the trip. There were no issues walking around after dark, including in El Zonte and San Salvador.
Transportation
- Uber is easy to use in San Salvador, but less reliable in the smaller surfing towns along the coast. Uber prices felt reasonable.
- We used Tunco Life for airport transfer to El Zonte and all of our tours, and they were convenient and reliable.
- Driving yourself looked difficult due to traffic, construction, narrow roads, and parking challenges.
Air quality was terrible, especially inland. Trash burning was common and caused noticeable pollution.
People
Very kind, polite, friendly, and welcoming people who seemed to genuinely love their country. We experience one isolated racism incident from a child in El Zonte (not malicious – the country is not very racially diverse – but worth noting).
Walkability
- San Salvador (San Benito neighborhood): Decently walkable, though sidewalks are inconsistent (parking often overlaps with sidewalks)
- El Zonte: Minimal sidewalks and uneven cobblestone roads, but cars generally yield to pedestrians
Cash
El Salvador has two national currencies – USD and Bitcoin. Almost every place we went to accepted card, with only a couple of exceptions, some small shops and one restaurant. Some places offer discounts if paying with cash.
Review & Breakdown by Location
El Zonte (Base)
Beautiful black sand beach on El Salvador’s Pacific Coast and a well-known surfing destination due to its huge waves. I don’t surf, but boogie boarding (rented with my hotel for $15 for 24 hours) ended up being one of my favorite experiences of the trip.
Tourism infrastructure in El Zonte is still developing: There was no hot water, the roads are cobblestone and there are no sidewalks, and there is lots of ongoing construction. The town is very small, but there are a lot of decent food options given the size of the town.
Sunsets at El Zonte Beach are incredible. We were also lucky enough to see a baby turtle release, which was a highlight.
Cafes and Restaurants I Recommend:
- PALMA: Great shrimp quesadilla, although the portion was a bit small.
- Cafe Cocoa: Nice cold brew and fantastic banana bread. You can also see Cocoa, the chonky chocolate lab that the cafe is named after!
- Nan Tal: Restaurant / cafe with a view of the ocean. Food is more expensive but is pretty good.
Cafes and Restaurants I’d Skip:
- Beach Break Restaurant: We had a free breakfast included as part of our stay. The French toast looked good but was soggy and flavorless.
Where I stayed:
Beach Break Hotel – Overall a decent option for a place to stay that won’t break the bank.
- No hot water.
- Rooms are very small, but there is AC and the beds are comfortable. Breakfast is included.
- Towels, boogie boards, and water are extra (not included in the stay).
San Salvador
We stayed in the San Benito neighborhood, which felt safe but sleepy. There are a lot of malls and restaurants and a couple of museums, but not much else to do.
Activity-wise, I’d recommend the Art Museum of El Salvador. It’s a short visit (about 30 min to an hour), but the staff are really nice and helpful and the collection is interesting and curated to explain El Salvador’s history.
There is also a Museum of Anthropology (Dr. David J. Guzman Museum), but it’s currently under construction (as of 2025) and only one room is open, so I chose not to visit, as there were several reviews saying that the $10 entry fee wasn’t worth it during the closures.
Cafes and Restaurants I Recommend:
- Muscari: Very cute cafe with cool designs and a nice outdoor space. I enjoyed the iced tea I had here.
- Kemuri: One of the best meals of my entire Guatemala & El Salvador trip. Upscale Japanese fusion spot. Recommend the tenderloin lomito and the shrimp dumplings. I did not enjoy their chocolate basque cheesecake (IMO that wasn’t a basque cheesecake).
- Alquimia: Number 14 on the “World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops” List. Extremely pricey iced latte ($7 with oat milk), but the espresso shot is really well pulled. Food (egg white omelette) was pretty good but not very filling.
- Tacos Hermanos: Possibly the best meal of the Guatemala & El Salvador trip. Had three shrimp & steak tacos for $10. Very filling.
Cafes and Restaurants I’d Skip:
- Brutto: Nice view of the city, and very attentive service, but the food was not good (mushroom risotto was sour and too salty).
Where I stayed:
Las Magnolias Boutique Hotel (San Benito): Overall a nice stay.
- Safe area, even at night. Quiet at night.
- Room was large and had good amenities (AC, shampoo, conditioner, couch, etc.)
- We saw several geckos in our room, but they left us alone.
- Breakfast was included and was pretty good.
Santa Ana Volcano & Lake Coatepeque
We booked the Santa Ana Volcano & Lake Coatepeque day tour with Tunco Life and I would highly recommend it!
- Tour’s early pickup helped us avoid crowds during the volcano hike (we saw hordes of people heading up as we were heading down).
- Tour offers a lot of pickup spots along the Pacific Coast, along with in San Salvador.
- The hike up Santa Ana Volcano is short and relatively easy, with some steep sections. The view from Santa Ana Volcano is beautiful!
- Lunch after the hike (not included in the price) had great views of Lake Coatepeque, which looks strikingly similar to Crater Lake in Oregon. The restaurant’s food was delicious – The chipotle chicken sandwich was one of the best things I ate in El Salvador.
The guide was energetic, friendly, took great photos, and kept everything running smoothly. We made it back in time to catch sunset (and turtle release!) at the El Zonte beach.
Ruta de Las Flores
I was really excited for the Ruta de Las Flores tour with Tunco Life after having such a great day at Santa Ana Volcano, but this tour was a letdown for me.
- Roughly 7 of the 11 hours on the tour were spent in the car, driving between destinations.
- Very limited time actually exploring towns. There are six main towns along the Ruta de Las Flores, and we only walked around one of them, for 20 minutes.
Stops included:
- Cafe Albania: Adventure park and cafe. Bike zipline was fun (and included). We had the option to add other adventure rides (regular zipline, hamster wheel, giant slide, etc.) for additional cost. The food was very slow, but decent.
- Ataco: The only town we stopped in. We had lunch and coffee, and then had only 20 minutes to walk around and buy some handmade crafts.
- Santa Teresa Hot Springs: Cool spot – There are 11 pools each at a different temperature. We spent about an hour here.
To be fair, the six towns along the Ruta de Las Flores are all pretty small and don’t require a ton of time to walk around and explore – But I wish we’d be able to see and experience more of the towns themselves.
Overall, the day felt long even though we didn’t really do much. There was just too much driving and too little time on the ground.
Cost Breakdown
- Flights: $187 (Guatemala City to San Salvador, San Salvador to Newark NJ)
- Other transportation: $45 (Shuttle split between 4 people, Uber)
- Hotels: $212 (Mid-range, well-rated hotels, split between 2-4 people)
- Food: $190 (Ate out every meal, lots of coffee shops, mostly casual spots and a couple upscale restaurants in San Salvador)
- Tours and experiences: $187 (Santa Ana Volcano, Ruta de Las Flores, boogie boarding)
- Souvenirs & other miscellaneous: $8
Total: $829.
My 4-Day El Salvador Itinerary
Day 0: Arrive in San Salvador, transfer to El Zonte
Day 1: El Zonte beach day & boogie boarding
Day 2: Santa Ana Volcano tour, El Zonte sunset & turtle release
Day 3: Ruta de Las Flores tour
Day 4: San Salvador, late night flight out
What I’d Do Differently
- Skip San Salvador
- Skip Ruta de Las Flores Tour
- Spend more time in El Zonte
- Replace Ruta de Las Flores with Espíritu de Montaña (a sunrise hike where you can see across the ocean to Honduras & Nicaragua) or another hike
ADJENTURING 