Nicaragua is a country in Central America and located at the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

  • I traveled to Nicaragua on my world trip through Latin America:
    • 1. Bus from Monteverde to an intersection to take the TicaBus from San José (Costa Rica) to Managua. In Nicaragua, the bus let us out at Rivas. Then by bicycle taxi to the ferry terminal in San Jorge and by ferry to Ometepe.
    • 2. Ferry from Ometepe to San Jorge, taxi to the bus terminal of Rivas and then a chicken bus to Granada.
    • 3. Shuttle from Granada to Leon. We booked the shuttle all the way to El Tunco in El Salvador and a hostel night in Leon was included.
    • 4. The shuttle from Leon to El Tunco that started early in the morning.
  • I used for my planning and can recommend the Lonely Planet for Central America.

Impressions from my Vlog

  • Granada

    The colonial city Granada has many colorful houses and we paddled with canoes on the nearby lake to an island with monkeys.

  • Masaya Volcano

    The Masaya volcano is close to Granada and we did an organized tour in the evening. A guide explained us at a museum about volcanos. Then we took the minibus up to the crater and we saw bubbling magma. A breathtaking moment!

  • Ometepe

    Ometepe is an island with two volcanoes. We rented a scooter and drove to the El Creibo Museum and the Santo Domingo beach. The two volcanoes can be climbed, but the view should not be particularly good, since it is often cloudy.

Accommodation

Transport

  • Arrival
    • There are direct buses from Costa Rica to Nicaragua like the TicaBus from San José to Managua. Otherwise, you have to take the bus to the border and continue on the other side with another bus. We bought a ticket for the TicaBus in our hostel in Monteverde (Costa Rica). To catch the bus, we had to take a public bus from Monteverde to the crossroads early in the morning.
    • There are direct buses from Nicaragua to El Salvador such as the TicaBus from Managua to San Salvador. Since there was no direct bus from Granada or Leon, we took a shuttle.
  • Transportation between cities
    • Rome2Rio has some bus connections between cities.

Visa

  • As a German, you will buy a CA4 tourist card for $ 10 at the border, which is valid for 90 days. The “Central America-4 Agreement” applies to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua and only has to be bought once. The limit of 90 days is important. We had an unfriendly passenger in the shuttle and had to wait unnecessarily 1.5 hours due to passport problems at the border.