Houston, Texas to El Salvador from $266

🌍 About El Salvador

San Salvador sits in a valley the Spanish called the Valle de las Hamacas — Valley of the Hammocks — for its constant earthquakes, directly below El Boquerón, a volcano whose half-mile-wide crater you can walk the rim of on a morning trip from downtown. The food to hunt down is pupusas: thick corn tortillas stuffed and griddled to order. Get them revueltas (cheese, beans, pork) or filled with loroco, a green flower bud that tastes faintly of artichoke, and pile on the curtido — the tart cabbage slaw that's free on every table. El Salvador went from Central America's most dangerous country to one of its safest in a few years, which is why both fares and visitor numbers are climbing. Come November–April for the dry season; May–October is greener but wet.