San Salvador is the capital and by far the largest city in El Salvador, home to around two million people in the metropolitan area. It sits at about 650 metres elevation at the foot of the San Salvador Volcano, which gives the city a pleasant climate relative to the coast — warm but not punishing.
The city has been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times by earthquakes, most devastatingly in 1854 and again in 1986. Don't expect much colonial architecture; most of it has collapsed or been demolished. What you get instead is a sprawling, energetic city of modern shopping malls, chaotic street markets, and pockets of older neighborhoods worth exploring.
The historic center is worth a morning. Plaza Barrios is the main square, flanked by the Metropolitan Cathedral — rebuilt after the 1986 earthquake — and the National Palace. Nearby, the Iglesia El Rosario in Parque Libertad is a modern brutalist structure with stunning stained glass; don't miss it. The Mercado Central sprawls across several blocks of the historic centre and is the real heart of working-class city life. The National Museum of Anthropology (MUNA) in the western suburb of Colonia San Benito houses the country's pre-Columbian collections and is well worth two hours.
For views over the city, head to Parque Balboa in the hills to the south, where a scenic road leads to the Puerta del Diablo — two enormous rock formations framing a view across the valley. The Jardín Botánico La Laguna, in an ancient volcanic crater southwest of the centre, is a cool green escape from the city heat.
The upmarket neighborhoods of Zona Rosa and Colonia Escalón have the best restaurants, cafés, and nightlife. Day trips from San Salvador are easy and numerous: Lake Ilopango to the east, Joya de Cerén and Tazumal to the west, and the volcanoes of Cerro Verde to the northwest are all within 90 minutes.