Things to Do in El Salvador

Jet ski on Lago Coatepeque

The main advantage of little El Salvador - the "Tom Thumb of America" - is that everything is close by. From San Salvador, you can hop onto a bus and be sunbathing on the beach just an hour later. Take off in the other direction and you could be paddling across Lago Coatepeque in just a couple of hours. There are many hikes to choose from, up volcanoes like Izalco, or through harder-to-reach (and adptly named) Parque El Imposible. In the cultural department, little colonial towns like Suchitoto or Ataco make for tourist-free visits, and there are a few Maya ruins such as Tazumal and San Andres, though they are far less impressive than the better-known ones of Guatemala.