Doing the border crossing from Antigua (Guatemala) to El Salvador (Ruta De Las Flores or Santa Ana) can be done in one day – though it is a long day. However, you will save around $29 USD compared to taking a shuttle. We specifically went from Antigua to Juayúa (Ruta De Las Flores) but you can also follow this route to go to Santa Ana or El Tunco (though it will be a stretch to get to El Tunco in one day.)
| public bus | shuttle | |
| time | 9-11 hours | 5 hr |
| price | $16.3USD | $45USD |
Our travel day took 11 hours. However, we did face issues with traffic and missing the final bus to Juayúa in El Salvador which left at 6.30pm (however, we managed to find another one – more on that later). Our main issue was we started too late (9.50 am) and this set us behind for the whole day – start early and you’ll be fine.
Chicken Buses Antigua – Ruta De Las Flores
| Our Timing | Route | Time | Cost |
| 9.50 am – 11.10am | Antigua – Esquintla | 1 hr 20 mins | 20Q |
| 11.20 am – 1.50 pm | Esquintla – La Fronterra | 2.5hr | 90Q |
| 1.50 pm – 3.20 pm | Cross Border by foot | 1.5 hr inc lunch | $12 USD tourist card |
| 3.50 pm – 6.30 pm | La Frontera – Sonsonate | 2.5 hr | 0.9 USD |
| 7.30 pm – 8.30 pm | Sonsonate* – Ruta De Las Flores | 1 hr | 0.9 USD |
*In Sonsonate you can also take buses to Santa Ana or El Tunco
(note there is only 2 buses to El Tunco per day, one at 5.30am and one at 3.30pm.)
Antigua – Esquintla
- 1 hour 20 minutes
- $20Q (approx $2.57 USD)
You’ll first need to make your way to the bus station in Antigua here. You can either ask someone for the bus to Esquintla or follow the signs – each bus is parked in a bay with a sign so if you find the Escuintla sign you’re good to go.
We recommend not making the same mistake as us and get there EARLY. Like 8am so that you have plenty of time during the day. We didn’t get here until 9.30am and the bus left at 9.50 leaving us pretty behind for the long journey that lay ahead.
Escuintla – La Fronterra
- 2.5 hours
- 70 Q (Approx 9USD)
When you get off the bus in Esquintla you’ll need to cross the road and it’s likely someone will be waiting to direct you to the next bus. Someone asked us “La Fronterra?” and we said yes so he said to wait there. We waited for maybe 10 minutes until the bus came. We paid on the bus and we’re given a paper ticket.
Half way through this bus journey we were told to get off and swap buses (running across the highway with all our luggage). However, we didn’t have to pay anything extra for the second bus, just show them the ticket from our first one.
After about 2.5 hours we arrived at the border. We have heard that sometimes this bus can stop for an extended period of up to an hour in one of the towns a long the way but we didn’t have this experience.
Crossing the border
The bus will drop you off a short walk from the border where you’ll need to cross by foot. We took the opportunity to grab lunch from a comedor nearby then cross the border.
The line to leave Guatemala was LONG and it was hot. Once we made it across there was no line at El Salvador and there was also a really nice modern bathroom that was free to use.
To enter El Salvador we had to pay $12USD for a tourist card as Australian’s so be prepared with USD cash to pay this depending where you are from.
If you don’t have cash we’ve heard you’ll have to get Quetzales from an ATM on the Guatemalan side then convert them.
La Fronterra – Sonsonate
- $0.9USD
- 2.5 hours (though we’ve heard others make it in 1.5 hours)
Continuing a short walk from the border you’ll find a dirt carpark with chicken buses. This is the bus stop. (You can also check Maps.Me which always has the locations of chicken bus stops).
We waited here for about 20 minutes for the next bus to Sonsonate to leave. This bus took a realllly long time as there was really bad traffic (at times we were not moving at all). We have heard others say this only takes 90 minutes so maybe we we’re unlucky.
You’ll get dropped off at the main Sonsonate bus station and from there can connect to multiple places around El Salvador.
Sonsonate – Jauyua or Ruta De Las Flores
- 1 hour
- 0.9 USD
If you’re going to any of the towns along the Ruta De Las Flores, as we were, you’ll need the 249 bus. As far as we know the last bus leaves at 6.30pm so plan your day to arrive before this. If you arrive after this (as we did) the buses do still run just from a different location here (corner 3 calle ote and CA 12S) . We walked here (about 15 minutes) and found a long line of people waiting so we knew we were in the right spot. The bus came at 7.30 pm.
Sonsonate – Santa Ana
- 1.5 hours
Buses run regularly to Santa Ana from the Sonsonate bus station (we saw people grabbing the bus just after 6.30 pm too so they seem to run later than those to the other locations)
Sonsonate – El Tunco
- 2 hours
- $1.80 USD
The bus to El Tunco leaves at 5.30 am or 3.30pm and there are no other buses. If you want to make it from Antigua to El Tunco in one day you’ll need to leave very early (like 6am) and even then it’s quite risky that you may not make it. We wouldn’t recommend trying to make this trip in one day.
And that’s it! That’s our guide to crossing the border from Guatemala to El Salvador entirely by chicken bus. It’s a long day and an adventure but for us it was worth the money savings.
More Border Crossing Guides
Central America
Guatemala (Antigua) to El Salvador (Ruta De Las Flores) by Chicken Bus
Central America
Costa Rica to Panama by Public Bus in 2024 (Border Crossing Guide)
