Santa Ana, El Salvador

Self-possessed SANTA ANA, El Salvador's second city, lies in a superb location in the Cihautehuacán valley. Surrounded by green peaks, with the slope of Volcán Santa Ana rising to the southwest, the gently decaying colonial streets exude a certain bourgeois complacency and restrained, provincial calm that is generally only ruptured during the July fiesta, when a host of events bring the streets to life. It's a good place to relax, see the classiest Parque Central around and have a couple of nights out, though the natural attractions of Lago de Coatepeque, the forest reserve of Cerro Verde, and the Santa Ana and Izalco volcanoes all beckon.