Located in the heart of El Salvador, San Salvador is the Central American country’s colorful, bustling capital. Its streets pulse with energy, and its creativity manifests itself in upscale galleries and street art alike. The commercial strips of Paseo General Escalón and Avenida Masferrer are lined with boutiques and cafes, some of which sell coffee grown not far away. Warrens of stalls in the bustling San Miguel Market and Mercado Central sell an enormous selection of handmade goods, local produce, and pupusas — El Salvador’s iconic street food, fat corn cakes stuffed with fillings such as cheese and pork.

If San Salvador is your base for exploring the country, not too far outside the city, you’ll find pristine black-sand beaches, dozens of active volcanoes that can be hiked when conditions are right, impressive Mayan ruins, and hundreds of thousands of acres of pristine rainforest.

Temperatures in El Salvador remain quite warm year-round, with the hottest days in February, March, and April. The best time of year to rent your San Salvador apartment is from November to April, the dry season, as the country sees the most sunshine and the littlest rainfall. The rainy season occurs between May and October, when there are typically afternoon storms, but you’re still likely to see several hours of sunshine each day. Visit in spring to take part in Semana Santa, or Holy Week, celebrated the week leading up to Easter with food, festivals, and parades. The Festival of Flowers and Palms is held on the first Sunday of May in Panchimalco, a small town near San Salvador. This event welcomes the rainy season with prayers for a good harvest. Fiesta Julias happens in July in Santa Ana to celebrate the city’s patron saint.

Parque Nacional El Boquerón

Located less than an hour from San Salvador’s historic center, El Boquerón National Park rests atop San Salvador Volcano, also known as Quezaltepeque. Here you can trek through a cloud forest a mile above sea level or peer down into a crater almost a mile in circumference and one-third of a mile deep. There are trails for hikers of every skill level leading to lookout points where you can picnic with spectacular views.

Downtown San Salvador

San Salvador’s downtown, one of the most important historic zones in the country, has over 400 buildings that are more than a century old. Around the Plaza Gerardo Barrios in San Salvador are some of the most symbolic buildings in the country, such as the National Palace, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and the National Theater. You can also compare the 16th-century San Salvador National Cathedral to the Iglesia El Rosario, whose modern arched roof and stained-glass windows cast a rainbow across the altar.

Mayan Ruins

To the north and west of San Salvador you can visit several spectacular Mayan ruins. About 90 minutes west of San Salvador is El Tazumal; dating back to the eighth century, it is the best-preserved pre-Columbian Mayan ruin in the country. Slightly closer, Joya de Ceren, sometimes called the Pompeii of the New World, is a UNESCO World Heritage site preserved for centuries beneath layers of volcanic ash from the Loma Caldera Volcano eruption. Its citizens thrived during the Mayan Classic period (250-900 A.D.). At Cihuatan, just over an hour north of San Salvador, you can see the remains of pyramids, ball courts, palaces, and other buildings dating to the eighth or ninth centuries.