El Salvador was not really on my radar for a family vacation until the opportunity came up to visit on a mom and son trip with a friend and our boys. It ended up being one of those trips that surprised me in all the best ways.
For families with teens who like adventure, El Salvador packs a lot into a very small country. In just five days, we surfed in the Pacific Ocean, hiked to the top of a volcano, went jet skiing on a crater lake, flew down giant rainbow slides, soaked in hot springs and, ate more pupusas than I could count.
My son was 11 when we took this trip, and Karilyn’s son was 14. Our days were active, adventurous and besides a guide for the volcano, much of our sightseeing and interactions with locals happened naturally.
If you are planning a family trip to El Salvador, this is the five-day itinerary we followed, along with a few things I would change if I were planning it again.
Is El Salvador Good for Teens?
If your teens like beaches, surfing, outdoor adventures, and culture, absolutely.
One of the things I love about traveling with teenagers is that we can plan trips around experiences rather than simply attractions. El Salvador lends itself perfectly to that style of family travel.
The country is small enough that you can experience several completely different landscapes in less than a week. We went from the Pacific Coast to colourful mountain towns, climbed a volcano, spent an afternoon on a crater lake, and finished our trip soaking in natural hot springs.
Our 5-Day El Salvador Family Itinerary
Our route looked like this:
Day 1: Arrive in El Salvador, Olocuilta and El Tunco
Day 2: El Tunco and El Zonte
Day 3: Surfing and Ruta de las Flores
Day 4: Santa Ana Volcano and Lake Coatepeque
Day 5: Ataco and Santa Teresa Hot Springs
We rented a car, which gave us the flexibility to move around the country on our own schedule. While distances can look short on a map, driving times are not always as short as you would expect, so I recommend checking actual driving routes before deciding where to stay.
Day 1: Arrive in El Salvador, Eat Pupusas and Head to El Tunco
After arriving in El Salvador, our first stop was Olocuilta.
If there is one food you are going to become familiar with in El Salvador, it is the pupusa. These thick corn cakes are stuffed with ingredients such as cheese, beans and meat and cooked on a griddle. Olocuilta is particularly well known for pupusas and was an easy first stop after leaving the airport.
It was also our introduction to how inexpensive eating local food in El Salvador can be. Pupusas became a staple of our trip, and we ate them almost every day. Make sure to have Google Translate handy as you are going to want to know how to order garlic, cheese and other kinds of pupusas.
From Olocuilta, we drove to El Tunco, where we stayed for our first two nights.
El Tunco is one of El Salvador’s best-known surf towns. It has a backpacker and surfer vibe, with restaurants, cafes, and small hotels tucked into its cobblestone streets.
After a long travel day, I would not plan much for your first evening. Walk through town, check out the beach, eat dinner, and get an early night. The real adventure starts the next morning.
Where We Stayed in El Tunco
We stayed at Eco del Mar, a tiny property with just a handful of rooms surrounding a garden and small pool. It was not a luxury resort, but the location worked really well for us. We could park the car and walk around El Tunco, breakfast was included and there was a small outdoor plunge pool and a hammock to hang out on the property.
When traveling with teens, being able to walk to restaurants and shops is always a bonus.
Day 2: Explore El Tunco and El Zonte
Start your first full day slowly.
We had a típico breakfast of eggs, beans, plantain and cheese before walking around El Tunco and heading down to the beach.
One thing that surprised me was how rocky El Tunco Beach is. This is not necessarily the place I would choose for a classic sandy beach day with younger children. For teens interested in surf culture, however, El Tunco itself is fun to experience. Put on your sunscreen because by 10am I was burnt!
Later in the day, we drove along the coast to El Zonte.
El Zonte ended up being an important stop because this was where we watched kids taking surf lessons. We immediately knew it was something our boys would want to try.
We spent the afternoon hanging out near the water before returning to El Tunco for dinner.
One of my favourite meals of the trip was also one of the simplest. We found Mi Sazon selling inexpensive tacos and what started as ordering a couple of tacos turned into sitting there for more than an hour and ordering more. That is the kind of travel moment I love with kids. There was no reservation and no attraction to check off. We just found something good and stayed.
Day 3: Take Surfing Lessons and Drive the Ruta de las Flores
This was one of my son’s favourite days in El Salvador.
Learn to Surf at El Zonte
We returned to El Zonte for surfing lessons.
Neither of our kids had surfed before, so having their own instructor made a huge difference. The instructors started with the basics on the beach before taking the kids into the water and helping them catch waves. If you are traveling to El Salvador with teenagers, I would put surfing very high on your list.
El Salvador has become known internationally for surfing, but your teen does not need any experience to give it a try. Beginner lessons give them the chance to experience the country’s surf culture without being thrown into waves meant for experienced surfers.
My only regret was that we did not have another beach day. The kids would happily have surfed again.
Drive the Ruta de las Flores
After surfing, we left the coast and headed inland toward the Ruta de las Flores.
The Ruta de las Flores passes through a collection of colourful towns in western El Salvador. We did not have enough time to properly explore all of them, which is another reason I would slow this itinerary down if I had a couple of extra days.
Our big stop was Cafe Albania in Apaneca.
Cafe Albania With Teens
If you have seen videos of giant rainbow slides in El Salvador on TikTok or Instagram, there is a good chance they were filmed here. Cafe Albania combines a restaurant and cafe with an adventure park filled with activities designed for social media. There are giant rainbow slides, zipline-style activities and other adrenaline attractions. We also tried the maze and managed to get ourselves stuck in it for far longer than expected.
Would I normally fly to another country to visit an Instagram-famous rainbow slide? Probably not. Did we have a blast? Absolutely.
This is exactly the kind of stop I have learned to embrace when traveling with older kids. Not every activity has to be something the parents chose. After Cafe Albania, we continued to Concepción de Ataco, where we stayed for the next two nights.
Day 4: Hike Santa Ana Volcano and Go Jet Skiing on Lake Coatepeque
If I had to choose one day that shows why El Salvador is such a good adventure destination for teens, this would be it.
Hike Santa Ana Volcano With Teens
We woke up very early and drove to Santa Ana Volcano. The hike takes you to the rim of El Salvador’s highest volcano, where the summit offers views into the turquoise crater lake. The trail is rocky in places and it is a proper hike, but you do not need technical hiking skills. For active families with teenagers, it is a fantastic challenge to tackle together.
We chose to hike early in the morning because temperatures rise quickly. I would recommend doing the same. There were plenty of opportunities to stop along the way, and the view at the top made the effort worthwhile. On our way down, we bought homemade popsicles from a local vendor. After hiking in the heat, they tasted particularly good.
We never had any issues with ice or water while we were in El Salvador, even if we made a few questionable choices like these popsicles.
Spend the Afternoon at Lake Coatepeque
After hiking the volcano, we drove to Lake Coatepeque.
The lake sits inside a volcanic caldera and is surrounded by steep green hills. We initially planned to stop for lunch and have a look around.
Then Markus spotted jet ski rentals. Obviously, lunch turned into an afternoon on the water.
I took the boys out jet skiing and it became another one of those experiences they talked about after the trip.
This is also where I would make one of the biggest changes to our itinerary. If I were planning this El Salvador itinerary again, I would spend a night at Lake Coatepeque. After getting up early and hiking Santa Ana Volcano, it would have been much nicer to spend the rest of the day relaxing at the lake rather than driving back to Ataco.
With seven days instead of five, I would absolutely add a night here.
Day 5: Explore Ataco and Relax at Santa Teresa Hot Springs
Our final day had a much slower pace.
Wander Around Ataco
Ataco is exactly the kind of town that is worth exploring without an itinerary. There are colourful murals, cafes, restaurants and shops selling locally made crafts. We stopped at Axul Artesanía, where you can shop for locally made textiles, art and other souvenirs. You can also see artisans working, which makes buying something here feel much more connected to the place you are visiting. Even teens who are not particularly interested in shopping may enjoy wandering the streets looking at murals and stopping for something to eat.
Visit Santa Teresa Hot Springs
From Ataco, we drove to Santa Teresa Hot Springs. After several days of surfing, hiking and driving around the country, soaking in thermal pools was exactly what we needed. There are pools at different temperatures, but the highlight for us was the natural spa experience.
We sat in a natural sauna heated by volcanic activity, covered ourselves in mud, let it dry and then washed it off in the thermal water. It was messy, a little weird but a lot of fun! That combination tends to work pretty well with kids and teenagers.
We used the hot springs as our final activity before heading toward the airport, and I loved ending an adventure-heavy trip with something relaxing.
What I Would Change About This El Salvador Itinerary
Five days gave us an amazing introduction to El Salvador, but it was fast.
If I had seven days in El Salvador with teens, I would add:
- One more night near the beach. Markus and I love the beach, we would have loved another surf lesson and another day with nowhere to be. We actually plan to return to El Salvador for more surf lessons!
- One night at Lake Coatepeque. This would make the Santa Ana Volcano day much more relaxing and give you time to enjoy the lake after the hike. It also saves a lot of driving time.
Getting Around El Salvador With Teens
We rented a car and I would do it again.
Having our own vehicle meant we could change plans, stop when something looked interesting and travel at our own pace. That flexibility is particularly useful when traveling with kids. We rent cars almost everywhere we go.
One thing to keep in mind is that places that appear close together on a map can take considerably longer to reach by road. For example, we thought Ataco would be a convenient base for hiking Santa Ana Volcano. The distance did not look significant on the map, but the actual driving route was much longer than expected.
Before booking your accommodation, plug each day’s destinations into Google Maps and look at the driving time, not just the distance.
What to Eat in El Salvador With Teens
You cannot go to El Salvador without eating pupusas.
They are inexpensive, filling and available just about everywhere. They are also an easy local food for kids who might not be adventurous eaters. Cheese-filled pupusas were a regular order for us.
We also ate plenty of típico breakfasts with eggs, beans, plantains and cheese, tried local horchata and found inexpensive tacos in El Tunco.
One thing that surprised me was that El Salvador was not always as inexpensive as I expected. Eating local foods such as pupusas can be very affordable, but restaurants catering to tourists and international cuisine can cost much closer to what you might pay at home in Canada or the USA.
Is Five Days Enough in El Salvador?
Yes, but I think seven days would be better.
Five days allowed us to experience the beach, surfing, Ruta de las Flores, Santa Ana Volcano, Lake Coatepeque and the hot springs. It was enough to show us how much variety El Salvador offers in such a small country.
But we also left wanting more.
If five days is all you have, this itinerary works. If you can turn it into a week, slow it down rather than adding a long list of new places.
Give your teens another day to surf. Spend the night beside Lake Coatepeque. Sit around eating pupusas without worrying about where you need to drive next.
Why El Salvador Works So Well for an Adventure Trip With Teens
As my kids have gotten older, I have found that our best family trips are less about finding destinations filled with “kid-friendly attractions” and more about choosing places where we can do things together.
El Salvador delivers that.
We did not spend our vacation moving through museums or standing in line for attractions. We surfed, hiked, jet skied, ate street food, flew down giant slides, wandered through colourful towns and covered ourselves in volcanic mud.
Those are the kinds of experiences that turn a family vacation into a trip your teenagers actually remember.
For more help planning your trip, read my El Salvador with Kids travel guide, where I share more about the food, safety, weather, language and what it was actually like traveling around El Salvador as a family.
Lindsay Nieminen hails from Vancouver, Canada and shares her love of travel on this website. She is passionate about showing others that they should not put off traveling the world just because they have children or are single parents. She aims to encourage them to seek out adventure, whether it is at home or abroad by providing information on how just about everywhere can be a destination to explore as a family.