The Ruta de Las Flores is supposedly the number one tourist attraction in El Salvador’s burgeoning tourist scene.  That being said, we still hardly saw any other foreigners traveling it!  The route includes three small towns up in the coffee-growing hills of western El Salvador.  Good food, quaint markets, and beautiful scenery were the highlights.  The lowlight: unfortunately it rained for a couple hours every day!  But what can you do?  It is the rainy season.

We started in Juayúa, home to a famous weekend food fair.  It was the same vibe as a carnival or state fair back home, except with different delicacies and lower prices of course!

Booths selling delicious treats

Steak, sausage, grilled potatoes, rice, cheesy tortillas, salsa, and chimichurri!

The next day we continued a few kilometers down the road to Apaneca, the smallest town on the route.  We didn’t find out until we got there that our hostel was located about 5km uphill from where the bus dropped us off, in the smaller village of Laguna Verde.  Lucky for us, hitchhiking is easy in the country and we caught a ride in a pickup truck bed most of the way up the hill.  We bought some great coffee in Apaneca and hiked to the small but pretty Laguna Verde.

Look at all that fog!

Our last stop, Concepción de Ataco, was our favorite.  It was a bigger town with gorgeous blue and white churches, tons of public murals, and lots of awesome craft stores.  If you stay anywhere for more than one night, we would recommend it be here!

Ataco street murals

Our daily dose of ice cream from La Neveria, which we highly recommend

Can you see me?

Travel in El Salvador during the rainy season is a little tricky, but once you get the pattern down you can work around it.  It usually rains in the early afternoon for a couple hours and you just have to wait it out.  On the Ruta de Las Flores, the towns are so close that you can easily arrive at your next stop and stash your stuff before the downpour.

If you enjoy this post about El Salvador’s Ruta de las Flores the check out our archives for other adventures! Also, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram @laaventuraproject and our subscribe to our Youtube Channel.