The hook
A winding highland road linking a string of colourful little coffee towns famous for their murals, weekend food fairs, and waterfalls, near a perfect volcano you can climb to peer into a steaming turquoise crater above a huge blue lake.
01Why it's worth it
Tiny El Salvador, long overlooked and, until recently, avoided for its violence, has seen a dramatic turnaround in safety and is opening up to travellers, and its western highlands are a lovely place to start. The Ruta de las Flores ("Route of the Flowers") is a scenic mountain road that strings together a handful of charming small towns, Juayúa, Ataco, Apaneca, Nahuizalco, set among coffee plantations that bloom with flowers in season, each town full of vivid street murals, artisan workshops, and cafés, with Juayúa's famous weekend food fair a highlight for sampling Salvadoran cooking. The surrounding highlands offer waterfalls, coffee-farm tours, and, above all, volcanoes: the Santa Ana volcano, the country's highest, can be hiked to a summit crater holding a steaming, otherworldly turquoise lake, with sweeping views, and at its foot lies the beautiful crater lake of Coatepeque. Combined with the friendly, resurgent atmosphere of a country eager to welcome visitors, the flower route and volcanoes make a rewarding, off-the-beaten-path introduction to Central America's smallest nation.
02How to experience it
Drive or bus the Ruta de las Flores between its mural-filled coffee towns, timing Juayúa for its weekend food fair, and stop for waterfalls and coffee tours. Hike the Santa Ana volcano to its crater lake (with a guide) and relax at Lake Coatepeque. Go in the dry season, and enjoy a country freshly welcoming to travellers.