Backpacking in El Salvador: Ruta de las Flores One-Day Trip

​February 23, 2022 | Tagged under: El Salvador
T​he Ruta de las Flores is one of the most visited 'destinations' in El Salvador.

The 20-mile route winds its way from Ahuachapán to Nahuizalco. Towns along the way include Concepción de Ataco, Apaneca, Salcoatitán and Juayua.

Based in Santa Ana, staying at the Pool House Hostel, I bussed it out to Ahuachapán to begin the Ruta de Las Flores.

[Post sponsored by Pool House Hostel Santa Ana]
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​But having completed the Rute de Las Flores, I can highly recommend that you don't do the whole thing in 1 day.

Keep reading to find out why.

But here are the logistics however you decide to do it.

Bus #210 from the main Bus Terminal "Francisco Lara Pineda" will take you to Ahuachapán. Santa Ana - Ahuachapán Chicken bus #210  0.48 USD 60 minutes +/-
If you want to make the route in the other direction, you need the bus ruta 216 Santa Ana - Sonsonate from where you take a series of buses north stopping first at Nahuizalco.


My top tip would be to just jump on the Ahuachapán - Ataco micro bus #20AH 0.50 USD, straight away.
Ataco:

​I made a bee-line for the Mirador de La Cruz:
Iglesia El Calvario:
And then the Fray Rafael Fernandez Park and the Iglesia de La Immaculada Concepción:
​You can do then do
Ataco - Apenaca with the same microbus #20AH 0.50 USD
And then, with bus #249:
Apenaca - Salcoatitan
And then:
Salcoatitan - Juayúa

But I took bus #249 out of Ataco, which travels from Ahuachapán to Sonsonate, to Juayúa for 0.50 USD, 30 minutes
Juayúa is pretty cute, with the brightly painted Iglesia Santa Lucia
By this time I needed a beer. I found the small Bar Caribe Mio to refresh:
​Then I was back on bus #249, Juayúa - Sonsonate
​And finally Sonsonate - Santa Ana bus #216 0.70 USD from the main terminal.
Once back in Santa Ana, having done the Ruta de Las Flores in one day, you'll deserve that beer.

Yes the pool at the Pool House Hostel in Santa Ana is very refreshing:
So why don't I recommend doing the whole Ruta de Las Flores in one day?

You'll spend much of your day on a bus and the gems of the Ruta de Las Flores need time to get to as they are outside of the villages. So you simply don't have time to get them, let alone enjoy them.

Here are some of the interesting places you can visit, along the Ruta De Las Flores:
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Alicante Hot Springs
Santa Teresa Hot Springs
Hoyo de Coajusto
Laguna Verde
Las Siete Cascadas
Ninfa’s Lagoon
Sunday food market in Juayúa

Maybe next time eh!