Two weeks is the decision most travellers arrive with, and it is enough, but only if you resist adding stops. The country runs on a simple corridor, and this route follows it west to east: Leon, Granada, the island of Ometepe, then the surf coast around San Juan del Sur. Where you enter depends on direction. Overland from Guatemala it is a 22 hour bus with a stop in El Salvador, landing you in Leon; flying means Managua, from which Leon is a short hop. Either way, start north and work south.
Getting around
Local buses connect everything on this route, cheap and frequent if not fast. Book nothing ahead beyond your next night's bed, and treat the long entry ride as the price of admission. On Ometepe the transport question solves itself with a moped rental, covered below.
Leon, three to four days
A beautiful colonial city that survives even food poisoning intact, and the only place on earth offering volcano boarding. Cerro Negro is an active volcano you climb and then race down on a board, terrifying for the first minute and pure fun after.
- Do the free walking tour on day one to map the centre.
- Tour the food market, guided or solo.
- Climb the white cathedral and walk across the roofs of the domes for the best city view.
- Take a salsa class, ours ran in the hostel.
- Give one evening to the nightlife, which is loud and central.
Granada, two to three days
A local bus south delivers you to another deeply photogenic town where the Spanish architectural influence is everywhere. New city, new free walking tour. The famous event here is the tree house party, held every Friday in high season at a tree house hostel, advertised in every hostel in town with transport arranged; be warned that the transport is everyone standing in the back of a pick-up, ducking branches. Beyond that, Granada is a base for day trips, lagoons, caves, beaches and nearby cities, so pick by temperament.
Ometepe, three to five days
The volcanic island in Lake Nicaragua is where the pace drops. Rent a moped between two people and circle the island at your own speed, stopping at whatever you want, saving money and buying freedom. The roads are quiet enough that this is a genuinely good place to learn to ride.
- Swim at La Ojo de Agua, natural pools that give relief from the sun.
- Hike one of the two volcanoes.
- Walk Altagracia, with its butterfly sanctuary.
- Take the kayaking tour, monkeys guaranteed on our trip.
- Find San Roman waterfall.
- Ask hostel staff for the current best sunset spot; it moves with the season.
San Juan del Sur and Playa Maderas
The corridor ends at a party beach town. The signature event is Sunday Funday, an all-day pool crawl across four venues with good DJs, glitter and elaborate swimwear, and it fully lives up to its billing. Many travellers route their entire week around it. We stopped first at Playa Maderas and stayed in the Selina hostel there, which has its own pool, a slackline and a five minute walk to the beach.
- Take surf lessons or rent a board for a few days; the waves suit beginners through advanced riders, and surf camps line the coast.
- Do Sunday Funday properly: we stayed at Naked Tiger, one of the venues, and sleep is not the product. Everyone gets ready together and hops between venues on provided transport.
- Walk the town itself, which is pretty and full of bars, shops and food.
- Otherwise, hold a beach or pool day with a book and let the weather do the work.
What to book ahead
On timing, two weeks is genuinely the floor for this corridor without rushing, and the biggest mistake is trimming Ometepe to a night. The island is the only stop that rewards doing nothing in particular, and the moped loop, the pools and one long sunset need three unhurried days to breathe.
Two things only: a bed in Leon for your arrival night, after whatever bus delivered you, and your Sunday Funday weekend in San Juan, since the party hostels fill first. Everything between will arrange itself from the counter of wherever you are sleeping, which is exactly how this country prefers to operate.