Beaches, Volcanoes, Indian Markets,
Rainforest, Islands, Colonial Cities
What's Included in your Nicaragua Tour Vacation
Horse carriage taxi
- First class Nicaragua hotel accommodations
- Roundtrip Managua airport transfers
- Complete tour sightseeing in Nicaragua
- Services of English speaking tour guide
- Free bottled water on your bus
- Air conditioned tour minibus transportation
- Admission fees to all parks and museums
- Daily Breakfast
- Welcome Dinner, Farewell Dinner
- Managua sightseeing tour
- Leon sightseeing tour
- Granada sightseeing tour
- Visit Leon Viejo, World Heritage Site
- Visit Masaya Volcano
- Boat cruise in the Granada Isletas of
Lake Nicaragua - Visit Masaya Marketplace
- Visit indigenous White Towns of San Juan del Oriente, Diria, and Caterina
- See Laguna de Apoyo volcanic crater lake
- Stay at San Juan del Sur beach
- Visit Nicaragua elementary school, meet teachers and students
- Pottery demonstration at San Juan del Oriente
- Visit volcanic Ometepe Island
Day 1: Managua, Nicaragua
Stay at the Camino Real Hotel in Managua, next to the airport.
Your Nicaragua vacation begins. Welcome to Nicaragua, exotic land of rare natural beauty, volcanoes, beaches, cloud forests, and spectacular Spanish colonial cities. You feel like you're stepping back in history to the 1800's, with cobblestone streets and horse-drawn taxis, to an era from long ago.
Your Nicaragua tour starts when you arrive at the Managua International Airport, and your Explore Nicaragua Tours airport greeter meets you and transfers you to your Managua airport hotel. Tonight on your Nicaragua travel vacation, you stay at the four star Camino Real Hotel, located next to the Managua airport.
Your day is at leisure to enjoy your Nicaragua vacation, and relax by the Camino Real hotel pool or explore Managua.
The currency exchange rate is 23 Nicaragua Cordobas to 1 U.S. Dollar, as of January 1, 2012.
Your dinner is included at your hotel restaurant tonight.
Meals included today: Dinner
Tonight's Explore Nicaragua Tours hotel: Camino Real Hotel, Managua, Nicaragua
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, U.S. Embassy. 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.
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 Maribios 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
Tonight's Explore Nicaragua tours hotel: El Convento Hotel, Leon, Nicaragua
Day 3: Leon - Leon sightseeing- School Visit
The bells ring every morning in Leon.
Visit a local school in Leon.
Photo by Walt Burville.
Guest Room of El Convento Hotel
Courtyard of El Convento Hotel
After breakfast at your hotel in Leon, your Nicaragua travel vacation includes a guided sightseeing tour of Leon, Nicaragua. You'll see colorful political murals, the local Marketplace, and the National University of Nicaragua. You visit the Plaza of the Poets, Plaza of the Revolution, and the Leon Cathedral.
Your Nicaragua tour visits the
Ortiz-Gurdian art museum. You see Nicaraguan antiquities
and art treasures. You also visit the Ruben Dario museum inside the former home of Nicaragua's most beloved
poet.
Then you visit a local elementary school, meet the teachers and students..
Your afternoon is free to explore Leon and enjoy your Nicaragua tour vacation. Nicaragua is a poor country, but the people are very friendly, warm hearted and generous. Nicaragua is considered the safest country in all of Latin America, with the lowest crime rate in all of Central America.
You may wish to visit the nearby Pacific Ocean surfing beaches of Poneloya and Las Penitas, or simply relax at a sidewalk cafe. We to not recommend volcano-surfboarding down the black ash of Nicaragua's Cerro Negro Volcano, next to the city of Leon, because this volcano may explode with black ash at any time.
Leon is very peaceful, and is the intellectual center of Nicaragua. The people of Leon love to sit in rocking chairs on the sidewalks in front of their homes until about 10 o'clock at night, sharing the gift of gab, and saying hello to everyone who walks by, including you!
Meals included today: Breakfast
Tonight's Explore Nicaragua tours hotel: El Convento Hotel, Leon, Nicaragua
Day 4: Leon-Sutiava-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.
Then your Nicaragua tour visits the Indian White Towns of Caterina, Diria, and San Juan del Oriente. Free time for lunch.
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.
This afternoon, you visit the Masaya Marketplace, a must-see stop for every Nicaragua travel vacation. You can 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 and sandals cost $4 and up.
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: Breakfast
Tonight's Explore Nicaragua Tours hotel: Hotel Plaza Colon, Granada, Nicaragua
Day 5: Granada sightseeing-Isletas boat cruise-Mombacho optional excursion
Fishing in San Juan del Sur
Ice cream vendor bicycles on Lake Nicaragua beach, in front of twin volcanoes of Ometepe Island.
Harbor of San Juan del Sur
Breakfast at your hotel this morning.
This morning, your Nicaragua travel vacation includes a one hour private boat cruise in Lake Nicaragua through the Granada isletas, an exotic tropical archipelago of 365 tiny volcanic islands.
Then you enjoy a sightseeing tour of Granada, Nicaragua. You visit the Casa de Tres Mundos, Granada, Cathedral, and San Francisco Convent. You see City Hall and historical monuments. You visit Dona Elba cigar factory in Granada.
Your afternoon is at leisure to explore Granada.
Some of your options this afternoon include a visit to the Laguna de Apoyo crater lake, a visit into Mombacho Volcano's rich ecosystem including over 30 species of colorful orchids, and 170 species of Nicaragua birds, and sailing or kayaking in Lake Nicaragua. Or you can simpy relax at your hotel's sidewalk cafe, watching the lively activites in Granada's central plaza.
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 visit Ometepe, you enjoy a one hour ferry boat ride each way on Lake Nicaragua to Ometepe Island. When you arrive in Ometepe Island, you see Concepcion Volcano and enjoy four hours to do as you please in Ometepe. Concepcion Volcano is still active, and recently erupted on December 5, 2007. You may enjoy an optional $49 per person sightseeing tour of Ometepe Island highlights, if you wish, or you can simply relax for free at Charco Verde nature reserve and beach on Ometepe Island.
Meals included today: Breakfast
Tonight's Explore Nicaragua Tours hotel:
Hotel Victoriano, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
Day 7: San Juan del Sur
Horse drawn taxi along the shores of Lake Nicaragua in Granada.
Granada sidewalk cafe
Take a private boat cruise into the 365 isletas of Granada
Breakfast at your hotel this morning.
Your entire day is free to relax and enjoy your Nicaragua vacation. You can stay in San Juan del Sur, go swimming at the beach, go deep sea fishing in the Pacific Ocean, go sailing, or explore the many neaby surfing beaches and the La Flor turtle beach reserve.
Tonight, you're invited to a sunset dinner on the beach at an oceanfront restaurant on the Pacific Ocean at San Juan del Sur. Seafood is particularly delicious here.
Meals included today: Breakfast, Dinner
Tonight's Explore Nicaragua Tours hotel:
Hotel Victoriano, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
Day 8: San Juan del Sur-Managua
Your Nicaragua tour departs San Juan del Sur, and you travel through the Nicaragua countryside to Managua. Your tour finishes at the Managua International Airport at 10.20 a.m. this morning.
If you wish to stay for an additional night at the Hotel Camino Real in Managua, located next to the Managua airport, then your tour guide will transfer you to the Hotel Camino Real.
Thank you for traveling with Explore Nicaragua. Vaya con Dios.
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Private tours are available on any date that you choose. |
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*Per person, double occupancy |
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Private tours are available. ALL TOUR DEPARTURES ARE GUARANTEED. |
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Reserve Your Tour
Call 1-800-800-1132. You can reserve your space on tour for free, with no obligation, for up to 2 days, then $250 deposit is due. Balance of payment is due 60 days before start of tour.
Roundtrip Airport Transfers are included. Our airport greeter will meet you at the airport and transfer you roundtrip between your airport and hotel.
Airfare is not included. Airlines that fly to Nicaragua include American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Copa Airlines, Delta Airlines, Lacsa Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and Taca Airlines.
Pay by credit card or check
| Average Temperature and Rainfall | ||||
| Temp (°F) |
Temp (°C) |
Rain (in.) |
Rain (mm) |
|
| Jan | 79 | 26 | 0.1 | 2 |
| Feb | 81 | 27 | 0.1 | 3 |
| Mar | 83 | 28 | 0.1 | 4 |
| Apr | 84 | 29 | 0.1 | 3 |
| May | 84 | 29 | 5.4 | 136 |
| Jun | 81 | 27 | 9.3 | 237 |
| Jul | 81 | 27 | 5.2 | 132 |
| Aug | 80 | 27 | 4.8 | 121 |
| Sept | 81 | 27 | 8.4 | 213 |
| Oct | 80 | 26 | 12.4 | 315 |
| Nov | 80 | 27 | 1.6 | 42 |
| Dec | 80 | 27 | 0.4 | 10 |
Photo Credits
All photos are by Intur, staff of ExploreNicaraguaTours, Inc., Walter Burville, Stephen D. Stewart, and David Graetz.


