After spending a little more than a week in Guatemala, it was off to Nicaragua. I have to admit, I was a bit hesitant to visit Nicaragua given the political situation, but it turned out to be my favorite of the three: delicious food, friendly people, and overall, very cheap. Below is an itinerary for roughly 8 days, and although you could do it without a rental car, depending solely on public transportation, the car made things much easier and more flexible and allowed me to see more things.
Managua
One day is more than enough for the city itself, although as it sits on Lake Xolotlán, with volcanoes nearby, more time could be spent on the surrounding area. The main sites in the city are:
-Paseo Xolotlán: a walkway by the shores of the lake, it features the first of many huge decorative trees I saw that can be seen throughout the country.
-Antigua Catedral de Santiago Apóstol: crumbling in the main square, this cathedral maintains something of a majestic air sitting in the Plaza de la Revolución alongside the Monumento a Rubén Darío and the Palácio Nacional, which houses the Museo Nacional.
-Loma de Tiscapa: a park with more of the famous trees and a huge cutout of a Sandinista cowboy, along with lovely views of the city and lake.
-Mirador Salvador Allende: this was a theme park by the river that has a mirador, among many other things, but by the time I got there it was late, so I decided to go to Lomo de Tiscapa instead.
León
Although I had found a gorgeous Airbnb in León, with the car it was easy to simply do a day trip from Managua. In the morning I visited the city center and in the afternoon, did a volcano hike at Cerro Negro volcano which is famous for the way you go down: on sandboards, in a trip that only lasts a couple minutes after the almost hour hike up.
León’s main sites:
-Insigne y Real Basilica Catedral de la Asunción: for roughly $1, you can pay for a tour of the cathedral and its crypt, but what mainly interested me was the beautiful view of the city from its roof.
-Museo de la Revolución: this small museum featured exhibits about the Sandinista revolution, along with pictures of other revolutionaries such as Che Guevara. It also had rooftop views of the main square and cathedral!
-Centro de Arte Fundación Ortiz Gurdián: I almost skipped this museum because it seemed like it would be small, but I am soo glad I didn’t, since it has one of the largest collections of Central American art in the country. It was absolutely worth going to, my only wish is that it had had a better gift shop.
Granada
Granada sits on the shores of Lago Cocibolca, which meant that in addition to siteseeing in the city, there are tours of the lakes and its hundreds isletas, or small islands. Two full days was enough to do both: one day for the city and an evening visit to Masaya volcano to see magma in its crater, and then a second for a morning boat tour of the isletas and an afternoon visit to the Masaya market and the Fortaleza de la Pólvora.
Main sites:
-Catedral Inmaculada Concepción de Maria, which sits in Plaza Mayor
-Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la Merced: I climbed the bell tower for amazing views of the city and lake
-Calle la Calzada, which has lots of shops and restaurants
-Museo Convento San Francisco: even though the name literally has the word museum in it, I was not expecting a museum of such grand scale – it had art, including paintings and sculptures, history, and views of one of the surrounding volcanoes (it was hard to tell which was which!) from its terrace. A wonderful experience.
-Fortaleza de la Pólvora: an old fortress whose main attraction is climbing its towers (by way of ladder, which I absolutely hated but did anyways) for wonderful views of, yeo you guessed it, the volcano.
Ometepe
Ometepe is an island in the middle of Lago Cocibolca that has not one, but two volcanoes on it. The ferry takes about an hour to get there, and since a vehicle is needed for moving around, this was the main advantage of having the rental car. I stayed at an Airbnb right between the two volcanoes, and the first night went kayaking with stunning views of both! Besides the one museum on the island, Museo el Ceibo ($7 and worth it, I had a guided tour just for me), most of the things to do include swimming (I went to the Reserva Natural Ojo de Agua, a natural swimming hole using mountain springs), hiking (I went to the San Ramon waterfall), or beaches (Playa Mangoes, Punta Jesus Maria, Playa de Santo Domingo). Two days here was nice, but another one could be added if you want to actually hike up to the crater of either of the volcanoes – the hikes take most of a day.
San Juan del Sur
The last stop in Nicaragua was San Juan del Sur, on the Pacific coast. Besides the Cristo de la Misericordia mirador, which offers beautiful views of city and beach, the only other thing to do here is swim. There are a handful of nearby beaches, including Playa Hermosa and Playa Marsella. The Airbnb I found was one of the best I have ever stayed at: nestled up in one of the hills surrounding the city, it featured a rooftop pool overlooking the city and beach (on an opposite hill from the lookout point, which you could also see) and a free breakfast made just for you.
The last day was spent driving back to Managua (about 3-4 hours), dropping off the car, and heading back to the airport.
As I have repeatedly said, and will definitely repeat many more times, there is never enough time and always more things to see and do. I would have loved to visit other cities such as Chinandega and Esteli, or the eastern half of the country, as this itinerary is strictly for the western part, on the Pacific coast.
