The main terminal in Sonsonate is huge and many travellers use this station as a connection to/from the beaches of El Tunco, El Zonte or La Libertad (Bus 287), to Santa Ana (Bus 216 or 209) enroute to Cerro Verde, as well as Ahuachapán, Juayúa and Ataco (Bus 249). No ATM at this terminal that we know of.
Sonsonate to San Salvador
Bus 205 goes back and forth to San Salvador with two options: ordinary bus ($1) and especial ($1.30). Buses leave about every 20 minutes and depart from the terminal across the street from the main terminal. Just 200meters away. You can see it on the map. This bus goes to the Terminal de Occidente
Sonsonate to Juayúa or Ataco
Grab the bus headed to Auachapán (249) and get off along the way. It will pass Juayúa first and then Ataco after that. Easy!
Sonsonate to El Tunco or La Libertad
Bus 287 goes all the way from Sonsonate to La Libertad. It takes about 2hrs and costs $1.50. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon: 5:50am and 3:30pm. It’s best to arrive early if you want a seat since this bus only goes twice per day and locals will be there standing in line by 3pm!
Others:
Sonsonate -> Ahuachapán : Bus 249, every 15min, $0.50, ~ 45min
Sonsonate -> Juayúa : Bus 249, every 15min, $0.50, ~ 45min
Sonsonate -> Frontera: 259
Help your fellow traveller
If you have taken any of the buses on this page, please drop us a comment below about how the trip went, what time you left, how long it took and what it cost. And, definitely let us know if we have anything wrong.
Lets help each other in our travels!
From Sonsonate to El Tunco, La Libertad or any other beaches in that direction, you can also take the 261 to La Perla and from there the bus to direction of La Libertad. The 261 left Sonsonate at around 10:30 and the following bus in La Perla came right away after arriving there. I did this twice in April 2019 and had the same schedules both times.
Not sure if we were overcharged, but we paid $0.90/person for Sonsonate to Juayua on 11/25/18.
If you’re planning on going to El Tunco with the 287 at 3:30pm: there indeed forms a queue, but there are other busses going from the same platform. We ended up queueing for 2 other buses before the queue for the 287 formed. Try talking to the locals, although in our case that didn’t really help. The ride from Sonsonate to El Tunco itself took us only 1h45, and was beautiful!
Sidenote: although Sonsonate is a pretty big terminal, there doesn’t seem to be an ATM.
We took the 287 bus at 3.30pm from Sonsanate to El Tunco on 24/04/17. It cost $1.50 each and took about 2.5 hours. Get to the bus stop early if you want a seat! Locals were queuing for the bus from 3pm. They wull squeeze you on the bus regardless and there was plenty of room on the racks inside the bus for backpacks.
Thanks for the reminder Sam! Important details I forgot to add in. I have just added them 🙂
Be aware that the direct bus 205 to San Salvador departs from a blue building across the main road from the main terminal. If you look at the map posted on this page, you can sre the two.