December 14, December 11, December 2, November 28, November 15, Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links. Please see our disclaimer policy here. El Salvador was a country that exceeded my expectations and broke all the misconceptions I had, especially on the safety front. The feeling, memories and images of that time were the ones I was expecting to find in El Salvador: gang violence, curfews, extreme poverty and little hope for the immediate generations.
What I found on my trip to El Salvador could not have been more different. But, is El Salvador safe to visit? And, how safe exactly is it for tourists? The short answer is that El Salvador is quite safe for tourists. But you should not underestimate the statistics.
The travel warnings for El Salvador are legitimate and should be taken into account when you are exploring the country. By no means let it deter you from visiting, but be as careful as you would anywhere else and then probably some. To help with the less obvious things to consider, I included some of my safety tips for traveling to El Salvador at the bottom of this article.
However, I was faced with good infrastructure, friendly and very hospitable people and everyone going about their daily lives as they would anywhere else. I did not see an abundance of wealth, but I also saw minimal begging. And no obvious signs of violence or danger like you see in Johannesburg with the high fences, barbed wire, armed guards and panic buttons. The country has come a long way since the civil war which ended in and has rebuilt and prospered.
Sadly, the statistics continue to show a different face to the safety situation in El Salvador. El Salvador and San Salvador top both of those lists. That is 11 every day in a country with barely 6 million people. The murder rate is even higher in San Salvador where it stood at in To put things into perspective, the homicide rate in the UK is 4 per , The country is home to 65 , gang members and 9, more serving time in prison according to the police.
