Welcome to León, one of the most important & well-known cities of Nicaragua! On top of being a hub for colonial architectural, it’s also surrounded by volcanoes and national parks ready to be explored!
The chicken bus from Matagalpa leave us at the northern bus terminal which luckily enough is just a couple of blocks away from our accomodation,Hostal El Jardín, a small hostel relatively far off from the center but that offers everything you might ever need: quiet relaxing area, breakfast included, plenty of hammocks, pool table, open kitchen and all these for 5$/pp!!! After a quick shower we’re already back on walking toward the Parque Central. On the way there, the city looks pretty cool: several old colonial churches, plazas, loads of street markets and a generally wildly optimistic city life.
Once in the city center, we finally realise how huge the Catedral Basílica de la Asunción (the church we’ve been using as a landmark) really is! The towering building literally engulfs the big plaza in front of it as if it’s a small backyard! We also get to know that you can access the rooftop of the cathedral (upon paying 3$ entrance fee) anytime in between 8am and 4.30pm (make sure to enter with the at 4.25pm so that you can fully enjoy the view of the sunset and avoid the muggy heat of the day.
Just behind the cathedral is where the Mercado Central is located; the new-looking building is a good place to stop by to have a “cheap” bite at one of the several comedores or simply buy some grocery. Unbelievably huge papayas, super tasty avocados and lots of other coloured things scattered here and there!
Around the center there’s also several museums, art galleries and colonial façades definitely worth a look! Additionally, in case you like FREE guided walking tours around the town’s historical buldings make sure not to miss the one leaving every day from the Tourist Information Centre next to the Parque Central.
Walking around we also end up finding the most touristic street in León a.k.a. the 3ra Calle NE. Here is where you can find the majority of the party hostels, clubs, late night bars and nearly if not all of the tour companies in town. On this street you can also find Volcano Day, the tour company (apparently a standalone in town) from which we rented the tent for our two-day camping hike along Cerro Negro, El Hoyo Volcano and Laguna Asososca.
There are three main tours to do around Leon offered by all the tour companies: (A) Try sand-boarding on Cerro Negro, pretty much sleighing down the side of an active volcano on black sand (alternatively you can also run down on the sand, VERY fun as well, (B) Have a sunset tour on the Telica Volcano and (C) Hike & Camp on the El Hoyo volcano over two days and then go swim in the Laguna Asososca.
Not so far from Leon there are also two well-known beach areas: Poneloya & Las Peñitas. Due to the cheaper prices, we decided to opt for the latter and after a short-ish bus ride (13-15C/pp) we arrived at the cheapest hotel in town a.k.a. the Barefoot Hostel (6$/pp).
Swimming pool, Pacific ocean, surf, sun, sand and fresh breeze… Surely a better option than the muggy city of Leon!
As you can see, there’s plenty to go in Leon! Whether you wanna go out all-night partying, enjoy some cultural trips to the local markets, hike the biggest volcano chain of the country or just chill on the beach in front of the ocean, then you have no more excuses: you gotta come to Nicaragua! Although Leon might seems a bit over the country’s average for prices, try to understand that all the services offered have US/EU standards; other places in Nicaragua (north of the country) tend to way more cheap and less tourists concentrated but you really do get a lot for what you’ve asked. Anyway, if you’re passing by, make sure not to miss this gorgeous city!
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