Planning a trip to La Palma
Visitor Information
The tourist information office is known as El Centro Atencion Turistica La Palma (tel. 503/2335-9076; cat.lapalma.corsatur@gmail.com) and is located on the northeastern corner of the central plaza. The staff are very friendly and helpful, but speak limited English. It's open weekdays 8am to 4pm and weekends 9am to1pm. There's a Banco Cuscatlán (tel. 503/2305-8331) with an ATM just off the main square.
Border Crossing
There is no charge to leave El Salvador at El Poy, but there is a $3 tax to enter Honduras. The Salvadoran immigration office is open 24 hours, but its Honduran counterpart closes at night and opens from 4am to 10pm. Bus no. 119 passes through La Palma every half-hour, stopping at 7pm. It takes 30 minutes and costs 50¢. The bus stops 100m (328 ft.) before the border and El Poy immigration office. There are connections to Nueva Coctepeque and Copán Ruinas via La Entrada.
Getting There
By Bus
From Chalatenango, hop on bus no. 125 and ask the driver to let you off at Amayo, where you can catch bus no. 119 to the center of La Palma. The trip takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes. You can reach Chalatenango in just over 2 hours from San Salvador on bus no. 125.
By Car
La Palma is just off Hwy. CA-4, which is the country's main north-south highway. Just drive north a little less than 1 hour from Chaletenango and about 1 1/2 hours from San Salvador, and follow the signs. If you reach the Honduran border, you've gone a few miles too far.
Getting Around
Like many of El Salvador's rural towns, La Palma is small enough to walk just about everywhere. There are only two main avenues that you can walk end-to-end in about 10 minutes. But if you're feeling lazy, La Palma offers many three-wheeled moto-taxis that will take you anywhere along those two streets for 25¢. You can also easily catch a $3 moto-taxi that'll take you 10 minutes outside town to the luxurious Entre Pinos Resort or the small village of San Ignacio.
