//
Photo: Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz), CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
San Andrés is a pre-Columbian site in El Salvador, whose occupation began around the year 900 BC as an agricultural town in the valley of Zapotitán in the department of La Libertad. This early establishment was vacated by the year 250 AD because of the enormous eruption of the caldera of Lago Ilopango, and was occupied again in the 5th Century, along with many other sites in the valley of Zapotitán. Between 600-900 AD, San Andrés was the capital of a Maya polity with supremacy over the other establishments of Valle de Zapotitán.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Archaeological Park fundar.org.sv/e_joyadeceren.html
The park can be easily visited in concunction with San Andrés.
A beautiful lake that was once an active volcano caldera. Access to the lake shore is difficult due to many private properties, try at one of the hotels or restaurants.
Los Volcanes National Park
A must for eco-tourists, and the starting point for climbing Santa Ana and Izalco volcano. Inside the park, a small comedor serves breakfast for $1.50 and lunch for $3. Cabins can be rented for $36 per night (up to 3 people per cabin).
A guided and police escorted tour (they don't let you do the hike without a guide) also leaves from Cerro Verde at 11:00 to the vulcano. The hike is way harder than the Santa Ana volcano. Both volcanoes can be done in the same day if you start with Santa Ana volcano around 07:00-08:00 then go to Izalco and start the hike from there at 11am.
Is noteworthy for the turquoise lake in its crater. A guided and police escorted tour (they don't let you do the hike without a guide) leaves Cerro Verde at 11am to the vulcano. The hike up takes 2 hr and 1.5 hr down, and is moderately difficult. Trekking boots recommended. The weather is chilly at the high altitude (2381m, 7812ft) so long pants, a jacket, and a windbreaker are also recommended. Bring at least 1 liter of drinking water with you! Best time for climbing is during dry season (between Nov and April) when perfect sky is the rule, but even in rain season (between May and October) good weather is not uncommon. For volcanic activity check web, last eruption was in 2005.
Segunda Brigada de Infantería. The ruined building nearby (at the corner of 3a Ave Sur y 13a Calle Oriente) is the Casino Militar Centroamericano, which was destroyed by fire during the war in 1981.