El Salvador’s third most populous city is a continuously growing tourist hub, and many highlights of the country are just a few kilometres from it. Santa Ana is a beautiful and bustling city, and simultaneously apparently good to live in: fairly safe, populous but not exaggeratedly big, and with a wide array of good restaurants and bars to choose from.
Any visit to this country is thus not complete without spending some nights here. We chose to stay in Santa Ana for 3 nights: we arrived late on the first one (from Metapán and Montecristo National Park, where we slept the day before) and spend the next two days exploring the city and the surroundings. On the third day we left for Ruta de Las Flores (which will have its own article), stopping on the way at Salto de Malacatiupán.
We chose to stay at “Velvet Hostal“, where we got a double room with private WC and breakfast for 23€/night.
1. Santa Ana
You’ll notice that despite being a nice city and an excellent basecamp for the region, most of the best things to see and do are actually located a little outside.
The most prominent building of the city is the exquisite cathedral (Catedral de Nuestra Señora Santa Ana). It’s a extraordinary piece of architecture that gifts visitors with a beautiful, white gothic front facade. This is, in fact, one of the few examples of gothic architecture in Central America, hence its architectural importance. The rest of the cathedral is less detailed and made of dark orange bricks, which yields a nice contrast with the intricate front facade.
The cathedral towers above Parque Libertad, a busy quarter in the city centre. This central square has other nice buildings, such as the theatre (Teatro Nacional de Santa Ana) and the municipal hall. Several streets depart this block in every direction, sided by small, colourful houses.
- Cathedral: free entrance
2. Santa Ana volcano / Parque Nacional Cerro Verde
- Santa Ana -> Cerro Verde (40km; 50min)
- Public transportation from Santa Ana: bus #248 from Sala de Espera e Abordaje “La Vencedora” at 11a Calle Poniente (7:30am)
Volcán Santa Ana (or Volcán Ilamatepec) has to be the main highlight of the region. At 2381m above sea level, this is the highest volcano of the country. The winding road leading here from Santa Ana circles part of Lago Coatepeque, a gorgeous blue lake that fills a crater of a former volcano. The lakeshore has some posh restaurantes and bars if you fancy an expensive meal (for El Salvador’s standards). The shore belongs mostly to private owners but there’s the possibility to do some water sports in designated areas.
The hike to the vulcano requires a guide and departs from the main road at around 10:00 on weekdays and hourly between 8:00-10:00 on weekends. It’s a medium difficulty go-and-back stretch that totals 7km and will take about 4h to complete. A bottle of water, sunglasses, sunscreen, and a hat will certainly be useful.
The lower altitude kilometres are covered by a tropical cloud forest but the top ones have no shadows at all. The guide will occasionally stop to share information about the fauna and flora of the region. At about halfway, the cone of neighbouring Volcán Izalco is seen. Once at the summit of Ilamatepec, one can marvel at the spectacular crater and the green-coloured lake deep in the centre. The group will stop here for 15-20min to rest and to take in the views, before starting the way back.
Cerro Verde is a big forest area to which Volcán Santa Ana belongs. After the trailhead of Volcán Santa Ana, the road keeps ascending and finally stops at the parking lot of Cerro Verde. Around the parking lot we may find gardens, souvenir shops and comedores (typical restaurants). There’s a few small hiking paths starting here, and a bigger one to the summit of Volcán Izalco (for which a guide is mandatory). The Izalco hike departs the Cerro Verde parking lot every day at 11:00, so it’s impossible to do both Santa Ana and Izalco on the same day.
- Cerro Verde: 6$ (national park fee) / 3$ (area of restaurants, shops and small hiking paths) / 1$ (car parking)
- Volcán Santa Ana hike: 4$ (guide)
- Volcán Izalco hike: 25$ for 2 people (minimum); 30$ for 3 people or more (the amount is divided by the group)
3. Tazumal
- Santa Ana -> Tazumal (14km; 26min)
- Public transportation from Santa Ana: bus #218 from 9a Calle Poniente
These ancient Mayan ruins are other huge highlight of the region. Their location, just a few kilometres away from Santa Ana, turns them into an excellent half-day trip.
Tazumal is the biggest Mayan complex uncovered in El Salvador yet, but even so is much smaller than its Guatemalan counterpart Tikal or the Mexican Chichen Itza. Nevertheless, further excavations are restricted as Tazumal stands right in the middle of a city. It’s possible that the real dimensions of the archeological site won’t be known for a very long time.
The complex itself comprises a major pyramid and a couple of other small structures, mostly excavated during the 1940-50s. There’s also an interesting small museum that explains the history of the place and features some artefacts from here.
- Entrance fee: 5$ (foreigners)
- Working hours: 9:00-16:00 (closed on Mondays)
4. Salto de Malacatiupán
- Santa Ana -> Salto de Malacatiupán (30km; 48min)
- Public transportation: bus #218 to Tazumal (Chalchuapa) and a taxi from there
A bit further down the road after Tazumal there’s this fantastic place. Although it’s not exactly located in the Santa Ana Department, we opted to include it here because it’s a short distance away from Santa Ana.
This seems to be a place not many tourists visit, (un)fortunately. Apart from a small group of local seniors, we had the place for ourselves. It consists of a thermal stream of water (±41ºC/106ºF) with waterfalls. Bathing here is quite relaxing but after >10min we felt our bodies overheat, so the sweet spot would be to take a break at the towel every 5-10min.
The area after the waterfalls is more visually appealing but we noticed some trash in the rocky recesses. We then walked upstream and bathed there.
- Entrance fee: 2$
- Parking lot fee: 1$
5. Montecristo National Park / Metapán
- Santa Ana -> Metapán (51km; 1h00)
- By public transport: bus #235 (it passes near the city centre where Avenida José Matías Delgado meets 5a Calle Poniente)
This national park is another place frequently overlooked by tourists. Sitting on the northwestern tip of El Salvador, this cloud forest borders Honduras and Guatemala at El Trifinio (2418m). Here, a concrete landmark marks the point between the three countries.
From the park entrance, expect a 45min drive in a poorly kept road where a 4×4 is advisable. The Kia Picanto we rented wasn’t able to climb a rocky segment of the road so we hitchhiked all the way up with a Salvadorean family.
Once at the top, there are a lot of things to see: an orchid garden where we can find some rare species, wildlife, and some hikes. We did a 4km circle hike that starts from the campsite and ends near the parking lot.
The hike to El Trifinio is 7km (each way), so allow 5 hours to do it. You’ll need to arrive early at the entrance (7:30) to make sure you leave the park before it closes (15:00). The trail closes from May to November, which is the breeding season for local fauna. Camping is an option, but a government permit is needed in advance.
Metapán is a peaceful city that we used as base to visit Montecristo but with not much to see. Salvadoreans call it “the white city” and it should take no more than a quick stroll to understand why: almost every house in the city centre is painted white. Make sure not to skip the beautiful church and the odd clock tower in the main plaza.
- Montecristo N.P.: 5$ person / 2$ small car / ±80$ private taxi from Metapán
And that’s it! Those are the places we’d like to emphasise in the Santa Ana Department. If you have any query or commentary, feel free to use the section below 🙂