El Salvador may be Central America’s smallest country, yet its landscapes unfold on a grand scale. With my memory of travelling across the country dominated by Volcanoes piercing the skyline, crater lakes, and highland towns pulsing with coffee culture and artistry.

Three destinations – Ataco, Lago de Coatepeque, and Cerro Verde – stand out as classic examples of country’s call-signs in volcanoes, lakes and coffee.

Ataco: Murals & Mountain Coffee

Tucked in the Apaneca-Ilamatepec range, Ataco is a town of cobblestones and colour. Houses double as canvases, their walls adorned with murals of toucans, jaguars, campesino harvests, and Mayan motifs. Beyond its streets, steep volcanic slopes are lined with coffee plantations shaded by thick vegation and pine. The air is cool, scented with coffee blossom, and alive with hummingbirds, orioles, and the chatter of village markets. Coffee remains both livelihood and legacy here, harvested by hand and woven into the identity of the community.

Lago de Coatepeque: Mirror of the Volcanoes

A winding descent from the highlands reveals Lago de Coatepeque, a vast volcanic caldera filled with water that shifts from turquoise to sapphire with the light. From the rim, the view is mesmerising: volcanoes ring the horizon, forever mirrored in the still lake. Herons stalk the shallows, pelicans glide low, and ospreys dive dramatically for fish. Furthermore, with its rich Mayan heritage and its wildlife-filled shores, Coatepeque carries both a sacred hush and a natural spectacle.

Cerro Verde: Balcony of Giants

Above them all rises Cerro Verde National Park, a cool, mist-cloaked world of orchids, bromeliads, and moss-draped trees. Emerald toucanets flash between branches, parakeets chatter overhead, and blue morpho butterflies shimmer through the forest air. From its viewpoints, three great volcanoes dominate: Izalco, dark and raw; Santa Ana, vast and crowned with an emerald crater lake; and Cerro Verde itself, softened by cloud forest. On clear days, the Pacific Ocean glimmers faintly beyond the volcanic ridges.

Together, Ataco, Lago de Coatepeque, and Cerro Verde capture El Salvador’s spirit: creative, volcanic, and deeply rooted in nature. Murals tell stories of resilience, crater lakes reflect both sky and time, and cloud forests thrum with birdsong. This is not just scenery but a living tapestry. Where people, wildlife, and landscape are inextricably bound.