Thoughts on Nicaragua itinerary

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chadhancock
chadhancock

Howdy,

My wife and I are planning a ~12 day trip to Nicaragua over Christmas / New Year's. The main things we want to do are volcano boarding on Cerro Negro, hiking around Ometepe, and buy a hammock before we leave. :)

Here is what we were thinking about for our itinerary:

A: Arrive Friday, December 20, around 4:00 PM. Hopefully that gives us enough time to get up to Leon for the night and spend the night there. Leon for Saturday 21 - Monday 23, including Cerro Negro.

B: Bus down to Granada on Tuesday, December 24 (Christmas Eve). Spend Christmas in Granada. December 26, bus down to Rivas and head over to Ometepe.

C: Ometepe Friday 27 - Monday 30. On Tuesday, December 31 (NYE) head back up to either Granada or Masaya and celebrate the new year.

D: Fly back out of Managua around noon on Jan 1.

Some questions:

1: Will it be easy / possible to get up to Leon the first night in (A)? Like via bus or something? We were hoping to skip Managua entirely, if possible.

2: I assume buses will be crowded on Christmas Eve down to Granada on (B), but we'll still be able to get seats, right?

3: Will any restaurants be open in Granada on Christmas Day or are we pretty much on our own there?

4: Same as #2 for the trip back up from Ometepe. Will buses be a problem on NYE?

5: Which is better for NYE: Granada or Masaya? The only reason we were thinking Masaya was that we could roll in to town, buy a hammock, celebrate NYE, and then more easily get to the airport the next morning for our noon flight (since Masaya is closer to the airport). Doesn't seem like a lot of travelers visit Masaya though...

Any other thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

~ Chad

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likeeveryoneelse
likeeveryoneelse

  1. Yes it should.
    You gotta go across town from the airport either to the israel mercado to catch a normal bus, or to la uca for an express microbus. But if you go straight there, youll make it.

  2. If you are taking public buses you should expect that you will not get a seat. Even on a normal day. Its not like buses in the states or europe. Buses here get packed and more people stand than sit. Especially around christmas where there are less buses and way more tourists and travelers. If you want a better chance to get a seat take the bus from a market and get there early to be one of the first on the bus before it starts its route. Otherwise they just keep letting people on the bus until you are packed like sardines

  3. Not sure. Im sure youll find something. Lots of stuff will be closed though.

  4. Same answer as #2.

  5. I dont know about festivities cause i dont care much about holidays. But i always recommend anywhere over granada. Masaya is nice. I prefer a place that not many travelers go to personally.....but if you wanna celebrate with americans and europeans granada will be better for you.

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miskito_byte
miskito_byte

As the other poster said, getting to Granada from Leon around Xmas won't be fun, but some pushing and shoving ought to get you there.

I would leave Leon on the 23rd. If you get there on the night of the 20th, the 21st and 22nd will be two days and that's enough time in Leon. Leave early on the 23rd and head down to Granada. You might even want to consider spending Xmas in San Juan del Sur and then heading to Ometepe.

New Years in Granada will be more fun than Masaya and you'll get to the airport in time. Give yourself some time, though.

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