Day 2: Managua Sightseeing- Leon Viejo - Leon

Old cathedral in Managua

Masaya Volcano
Photo by Stephen D. Stewart

Religious procession in Managua
Photo by Stephen D. Stewart

Enjoy a hot breakfast buffet at your hotel restaurant, then your Nicaragua travel vacation includes a sightseeing tour of Managua, Nicaragua's capital city.

You see the Presidential House, Lake Managua Waterfront, Old Cathedral, modern Metropolitan Cathedral, Acoustic Shell, Plaza of the Revolution, Peace Park, historical revolutionary monuments.   You see the gigantic statue of Sandino, Nicaragua's national hero, on a hill over the city of Managua.  Your Nicaragua tour includes a visit to the National Museum of Nicaragua inside the National Palace of Culture in Managua with a palace guide. Your lunch is included in Managua.

Next, your Nicaragua tour takes you on a scenic drive along the shores of Lake Managua and Momotombo Volcano.

Your Nicaragua tour includes a visit with a guide of the old capital of Nicaragua at Leon Viejo, a Unesco World Heritage Site.  A new paved road to Leon Viejo has just been constructed.  Leon Viejo was "founded" by the Spaniards in 1524 on the site of an existing Indian village.  Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, the brutal Pedrarias Davila, and the "Apostle of the Indians" Bartholome de las Casas, all lived here in Leon Viejo. 

Then your Nicaragua travel vacation takes you on a spectacular drive along the Mauribius chain of volcanoes to arrive in the university city of Leon, where you will spend the next two nights on the Nicaragua tour. Leon is the second largest city in Nicaragua.

Your Nicaragua tour stays two nights in Leon, Nicaragua, at Hotel El Convento, a luxurious one story hotel built on the grounds of a 17th century monastery. 

Meals included today: Breakfast and Lunch

Tonight's Explore Nicaragua tours hotel: El Convento Hotel, Leon, Nicaragua

Day 4: Leon-Subtiava-Masaya Volcano-White Towns-Caterina overlook of Laguna de Apoyo-Pottery Demonstration-Granada

Enjoy a sunset dinner beach party here at San Juan del Sur.

You visit the plaza in Rivas.

 San Juan del Sur Beach
Photo by Walt Burville

See the volcanic island of Ometepe, view from Rivas.

After breakfast this morning, your Nicaragua tour visits the 300 year old Subtiava Indian church in the Subtiava Indian neighborhood of Leon.

Your Nicaragua tour then includes a visit to Masaya Volcano National Park, Nicaragua's first national park, established in 1979.  You can explore the crater rim of this active volcano, which resembles a lunar landscape, and visit the park museum.  Free time for lunch in Masaya.

Then your Nicaragua tour visits the Indian White Towns of Caterina, Diria, and San Juan del Oriente. At the Caterina lookout, you look over Laguna de Apoyo volcanic crater lake and the city of Granada.

You also visit San Juan del Oriente, where you'll see a pottery making demonstration.  If you wish, you can buy some of the uniquely artistic, beautiful and inexpensive Nicaraguan pottery, priced at $8 and up.  These make great souvenirs of your Nicaragua travel vacation. You also see the Indian white town of Diria.

You arrive in the historical city of Granada, Nicaragua.

You will spend the next two nights in Granada with your Nicaragua tour. You stay at the Plaza Colon Hotel in Granada's downtown, located on Granada's central plaza, a great place to enjoy your Nicaragua travel vacation. Your Granada hotel is a beautiful, new, colonial style mansion, with modern comforts such as air conditioning, internet access, and swimming pool. 

Meals included today: Breakfast  

Tonight's Explore Nicaragua Tours hotel: Hotel Plaza Colon, Granada, Nicaragua

Day 6: Granada-Ometepe Island-San Juan del Sur

Easy hiking trail on Mombacho Volcano cloudforest. (photo by David Graetz)

Plaza Colon Hotel, Granada

Breakfast at your hotel, then you enjoy an air-conditioned sightseeing drive traveling through Nicaragua countryside and farms to the beachside resort town of San Juan del Sur.

Your Nicaragua tour includes a photostop at the plaza in Rivas, where you enjoy a good view of Ometepe Island. Ometepe is an Indian word meaning "two hills", named for Ometepe's twin volcanoes, Madera Volcano and Concepcion Volcano . Ometepe Island is the largest freshwater island in the world.

You arrive in the charming beach village of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua this afternoon. You will spend the next two nights of your Nicaragua travel vacation in San Juan del Sur. Your hotel is located one block from the beach.

Ometepe Island Free Optional Excursion
If you wish, you can join a free optional excursion to Nicaragua's famed Ometepe Island. If you decide to go to Ometepe, you will enjoy a one hour ferry boat ride on Lake Nicaragua to Ometepe Island. When you arrive in Ometepe Island, you can explore the harbor town of Moyogalpa, and you will see Concepcion Volcano. Conception Volcano is still active, and recently erupted on December 5, 2007. If you wish, your tour director can help you schedule a sightseeing tour of the island for approximately $65, visiting Altagracia, plantain farms, pre-Colombian artifacts, petroglpyhs, Charco Verde, and Maderas Volcano.

Meals included today: Breakfast

Tonight's Explore Nicaragua Tours hotel:

Gran Oceano Hotel, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

Day 8: San Juan del Sur-Managua

Laguna de Apoyo

San Francisco Convent

Breakfast at your hotel restaurant this morning.

Your Nicaragua tour departs San Juan del Sur, and you travel through the Nicaragua countryside to Masaya.

This afternoon, you visit the Masaya Marketplace, a must-see stop for every Nicaragua travel vacation.  You'll have a chance to buy local handicrafts such as leather goods, artistic weavings, hammocks, and colorful traditional clothing.  You will see a large selection of beautiful and inexpensive paintings in the Nicaragua Solentiname artist styles. In the Masaya market, many sellers do not take credit cards, so please bring cash (U.S. dollars or Nicaragua cordobas) if you plan to shop here.  Paintings and colorful weavings cost $10 and up.  Small leather goods cost $4 and up.  Masaya is also famous for shopping for hand crafted leather sandals, priced at $8 and up.

Hotel Camino Real Hotel in Managua.  Your hotel is located next to the Managua, Nicaragua international airport.

Dinner at your hotel restaurant tonight.

Meals included today: Breakfast, Dinner

Tonight's Explore Nicaragua Tours hotel:
Camino Real Hotel, Managua, Nicaragua