El Salvador

by Richard Arghiris

Overview

El Salvador’s roads are less travelled compared to other Central American countries, making for a country which retains that elusive quality travellers often look for: adventure. From dramatic volcanic landscapes to blue-green lagoons, from the bustle of San Salvador to the quiet wilderness of El Imposible National Park, this guidebook will help you make the most of your visit to this spectacular country. • Essentials section with indispensable information on getting there and around.

• Highlights maps of the region so you know what not to miss.

• Comprehensive, up-to-date listings of where to eat, drink and sleep.

• Detailed street maps for San Salvador and other key towns.

• Slim enough to fit in your pocket Loaded with advice and information on how to get around, this concise Footprint guide will help you get the most out of El Salvador without weighing you down.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781910120965
Publisher:	Bradt Travel Guides Ltd
Publication date:	08/17/2015
Series:	Footprint Handbooks
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

Richard Arghiris is a freelance writer, journalist, blogger, and long-term traveller. He has been wandering the highways and unpaved back roads of Central America since 2003, contributing to a range of Footprint titles and a host of websites, magazines and newspapers, including The Independent, The Observer, Perceptive Travel and Intercontinental Cry. His blog, www.unseenamericas.com, features news reports, narrative journalism and street photography from the sketchy US-Mexico border to the teeming rainforests of Panama.

Read an Excerpt

El Salvador is a lively country and the people are just as friendly – some say more so – than in the rest of Central America. Ornately painted and colourful buses bump from place to place, just as they do in Guatemala and Honduras, but El Salvador has better roads and the quality of the buses is superior to that of neighbouring countries. While the rest of Central America relies of tortillas, Salvadoreans fill them with beans, cheese or meat and call them pupusas. Pinning it down is difficult, but there’s a slightly different feel here from neighbouring countries.

Guidebooks tend to urge caution, but in reality El Salvador is no more dangerous than other Central American countries. During the civil war, Salvadoreans sought refuge abroad; now they’re returning, bringing with them a gang culture and other less-than-favourable imports from the United States, although as a tourist you are rarely subjected to any of these social problems. Despite the high rate of gang-related crime, frequent natural disasters and a tourist infrastructure less developed than its neighbouring countries, there are some compelling reasons why you should visit El Salvador: dramatic volcanic landscapes, blue-green lagoons, horizon-filling panoramas and golden beaches. In the northern hills around El Poy and Perquín the trekking is divine, with far-reaching views across staggered horizons. The stark cinder cone of Volcán Izalco offers a challenging but rewarding trek from the slopes of Cerro Verde, while El Imposible National Park provides the chance to visit a forest. Along the coast, choose from surfing, diving or simply lazing around and watching the endless display of Pacific sunsets.

Table of Contents

(1) San Salvador; (2) Western El Salvador – Izalco to Sonsonate, Sonsonate and around, Santa Tecla to Santa Ana, Santa Ana and around, Reserve Nacional y Natural Montecristo; (3) Northern El Salvador; (4) Eastern El Salvador – East from San Salvador, Routes from San Miguel, La Unión; (5) Pacific Coast – La Libertad.