San Salvador: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
San Salvador is the capital of El Salvador (San Salvador Department), 653 m (2,142 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is El Salvador International Airport Saint Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (SAL), 31 km (19 mi) from the centre. Our booking partner lists 207 places to stay.
Key facts
Open San Salvador in Google Maps
Daylight in San Salvador runs from about 11 h 21 min a day in late December to 12 h 58 min in late June (computed for 13.69° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
San Salvador is served by 2 airports with scheduled flights within 100 km. The closest large one is El Salvador International Airport Saint Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (SAL), 31 km (19 mi) from the centre, whose 10,500-ft runway is long enough for long-haul wide-body aircraft. The alternatives are Ilopango International Airport (ILS, 7 km).
Flights to San Salvador: every airport, routes and times
Buses to San Salvador · Driving and car hire
Where to stay
Our booking partner lists 207 places to stay in San Salvador. Of the 125 with a star rating, the largest group is 3-star (61), and 8 are five-star. Across 71 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.5 out of 10. Guests have left 25,232 reviews in total.
Hotels in San Salvador: the full picture, and book
What people come for
| Sight | Visitors a year | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Cultural Center of Spain in El Salvador | 17,628 | 2024 |
The busiest is Cultural Center of Spain in El Salvador at 17,628 visitors in 2024. Figures are the latest each site has published, so they are not all for the same year.
Tours, tickets and day trips from San Salvador
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- Guatemala City, 178 km (Guatemala) — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Managua, 362 km (Nicaragua) — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Tegucigalpa, 218 km (Honduras) — flights · trains · tours
- San Pedro Sula, 238 km (Honduras) — flights · trains · tours
- Villa Nueva, 177 km (Guatemala) — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Mixco, 185 km (Guatemala) — buses · car rental · tours
- Tapachula, 358 km (Mexico)
- Soyapango, 6 km
- San Miguel, 111 km — buses · car rental · tours
- Danlí, 284 km (Honduras) — tours
Twin towns and sister cities: Taipei, Caracas, Montreal, Mexico City, Madrid, Santo Domingo, Washington, D.C., Monterrey, Quito.
Common questions
Which airport serves San Salvador?
El Salvador International Airport Saint Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (SAL), 31 km (19 mi) from the centre, plus 1 other airport with scheduled flights within 100 km.
How big is San Salvador?
About 525,990 people live in San Salvador, across 72 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).
What time zone is San Salvador in?
America/El_Salvador, currently UTC-6.
What currency is used in San Salvador?
The Dollar (USD). Traffic drives on the right.
How many hotels are there in San Salvador?
Our booking partner lists 207 places to stay in San Salvador, bookable on this site.
Which cities are near San Salvador?
Guatemala City (178 km), Managua (362 km), Tegucigalpa (218 km), San Pedro Sula (238 km), Villa Nueva (177 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 13 September 2026. Hotel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.