gorgeoustresses

Hey guys,

I'm flying to Nicaragua over Thanksgiving and have about 3 days there - arriving around 18:00 on Thurs and leaving Sunday night.

• Do you have any recommendations for the best way to spend the 3 days?
• What to see/do?
• Where to stay?

I'm thinking about getting a hotel in Granada and use the city as a hop off point to other attractions - but have no idea yet how to get to Granada from MGA or what to see - so any recos would be awesome!!

Also - is Nicaragua safe? Should I be concerned? I'd be traveling solo (female) as the Mr is staying home for this one.

Thanks for your help!

Darian

You'll get to your hotel too late to do anything that thursday, Granada is about 45 minutes from the airport, cabs easily available at the airport. Once you're in Granada, you can spend a day there, and then get a tour there from your hotel or an agency, maybe see Masaya or Mombacho. 3 days is not really enough to see much more. Don't bother with Managua, there's not much there at all and if you only have 3 days don't waste it there.

CMK10

I spent three days in Nicaragua last year and had a great time. I based myself in Managua (the Hilton is quite nice) and would go to dinner around there. I didn't find much I liked about Managua but I loved Grenada, Masaya and the Volcano National Park. Below is a link to the Trip Report I did which covers my time in the country extensively:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...nicaragua.html

l3arefoot

What do you like to do?

You can easily drive to Granada when you land. The rental cars companies have GPS now. You have three days you could do

Granada Thursday Night - there are many options
Friday a.m. Mombacho Volcano/Nature Reserve (they have walking paths, tours, you can drive yourself to the top and do whatever you feel like doing and leave when you want)
Friday p.m. Could drive to San Juan Del Sur - this is the touristy beach, expat scene, bars, restaurants, etc.
Saturday heading back towards Managua you can get off in Rivas and head to Tola area beaches for some really nice laid back relaxing (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...epartment.html) can put you in touch with someone there if you're interested.
Sunday head back.

Rental car is simple (i love driving), I spend about half the year in Nicaragua, it is rainy season, depending on what you want to do you might consider a 4x4.

If you are not a beach person, heading North from Managua to the coffee area's is beautiful countryside, but I'm not as familiar with it as the South Pacific.

I've never felt unsafe or had any situation arise that would be cause for concern in the five years I've been going down there.

PM if you want anymore info. I will be flying down around the 23rd myself.

CMK10

I echo the above on never feeling unsafe when I was there. Also, driving isn't too difficult (just be careful when making a reservation that you select "Automatic" if you don't like driving manual). There aren't many street signs in the area but there also aren't many roads. Getting to Granada is really easy. Just be careful of all the tuk-tuks, scooters, buses and even donkey pulled carts on the road!

Darian

I guess I meant to say that driving to Granada at night may not be the best idea for a first time visitor. Driving anywhere at night in Central America can be, uhm, exciting. It's a very safe country. Coffee country, Matagalpa and Jinotega and that area, is beautiful.

l3arefoot

If you decide to rent a car Dollar is what I would go with. They have the relatively newest cars, good service, and one of the only places with automatic SUVs and trucks.

ricktoronto

If you are over 70, Granada is perfect. Younger, see real parts instead.

CMK10

I'm not sure what you mean by this. I was 28 when I visited Granada and I very much enjoyed spending a few hours there.