Nicaragua travel and vacation

Traveling to Nicaragua is a pleasure, but having vacation in Nicaragua is even more pleasure. We would love to share some of our experiences to help people going there with some information on getting around and to encourage others to come and see this tropical paradise with loving and friendly people. All the info in these pages is based on our direct experiences and is accompanied with pictures for better illustration.

Tips about your arrival

The main Nicaraguan airport "Augusto Sandino" is well maintained and very easy accessible. There are no restrictions for walking in, out and around the airport. Upon arrival be prepared to pay $5.00 to INTUR (Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism) at the immigration boot.

• In case that you need cash after immigration and custom procedures just walk out of the terminal and take a left to the departure area. There are ATM machines right in the middle of the airport. Nicaraguan ATM with sign 'BAC" accept all major cards and there is no charge for withdrawls. You have the choice for USD or local currency - cordobas. The limitation for transaction is C$3000. From some other ATM-s one can get up to C$5000 in one transaction.
  
• If you have UNLOCKED GSM cellular phone it is good idea to start using it locally right away. A SIM card with initial charge of about 40 minutes talking time from one of the providers here MOVISTAR costs only C$150=7.5USD and there are rechargeable cards available with different values and validity. "MOVISTAR" kiosk is also in the the departure area near the main entrance.

When you are all done just walk out to the highway. This passage is in the middle of the parking lot.

And your bus is arriving in front of you. Watch the sign above the window for the right destination.

For the first time visitors in Nicaragua we definitely made the right choice to first go to Southern Nicaragua - the Romantic Granada. The right choice because this part of the country is more prepared and organized and has a lot to offer for international tourism - the conclusion came after we had also visited some other areas.

Getting there after you have arrived at Managua International airport is relatively easy and fast:

• For newcomers the best choice is probably by taxi ( they have fixed price of $30 from Managua airport to Granada ).
  
• If you are comfortable with your Spanish and have little luggage a much cheaper, but not very fast option is to walk out on the highway and take one of the public buses (in most cases they are yellow in color) to Tipitapa where you can catch bus to Granada or Masaya.
  
• Another option is to take taxi to one of the main bus terminals in Managua - UCA, where express buses to Cranada are running all day as soon as they are full for the price of C$20 cordobas (during our visit the official exchange rate was $1=C$19.30) or near a 1usd. Trip duration is about 1 hour.
  

If you go north to Esteli, Ocotal, Matagalpa or any other place for which you need Panamericana Careterra (highway) your best option could also be bus to Tipitapa because you are already on your way - Panamericana is the highway passing by the airport.

Very good source of information that we found and used during our stay is ViaNica.com with full Bus Schedule and much more info about traveling, destinations, events, hotel and restaurant guides...