An Amazing Nicaragua 7-Day Itinerary
Heading to Nicaragua? Great choice. Nicaragua is an amazing country, and you will be so glad you visited.
Nicaragua has volcanoes, colonial medieval cities, great beaches for surfing, low-key Caribbean islands, and some of the friendliest people you’ll meet.
Initially, I only went to Nicaragua because it was cheaper than Costa Rica, but I’m so glad about how that decision worked out for me. I didn’t realize how amazing Nicaragua was until I was there.
I’ve made this itinerary to fit a 7-day travel period, although I spent 10 days there. I’ve added ‘optional’ days in case you want to extend or modify the trip to spend longer in some places, less in others, etc.
So, here’s the Nicaragua itinerary I planned that allowed us to have the most amazing trip.
Nicaragua unfortunately, remains a place that can be politically unstable. I considered cancelling my trip due to what was happening at the time, and things are always changing – sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. We never felt unsafe there, but it’s a good idea to look up the current state of safety and if there are any travel advisories for Nicaragua before your visit.
An Amazing 7-Day Nicaragua Itinerary
To spend only 7 days in Nicaragua, you’ll need to cut out some of the destinations above, or limit how much time you spend in each.
We visited all of the above except for Esteli and León, and spent anywhere from 1-3 days in each place.
Here’s how we did it (plus optional add-ons to make the modifications that suit you!)
Day 1: Fly into Managua
We flew into the Managua’s international airport (ACS), and we hired someone from a Facebook group to pick us up and drive us to San Juan del Sur (2.5 hour drive.)
Once we got to San Juan del Sur, we checked into Hush Maderas, our accommodation. I chose them because of the infinity pool overlooking the ocean, the availability of vegetarian food, and yoga onsite.
A note: San Juan del Sur is known for having a bit of a surfer, young backpacker party paradise. This doesn’t fit me, but I still enjoyed Nicaragua. I loved the peace and quiet of the accommodation we stayed at.
Day 2: San Juan del Sur
We woke up at our amazing accommodation in San Juan del Sur, which served the most hearty, delicious breakfasts with Nicaraguan coffee.
We took a short hike from our accommodation through lush jungle to get to the beach, and we also spent the day on our accommodation, which had an infinity pool.
I’m not a surfer, but we enjoyed having a relaxing day on the beach, watching the waves and other people surf on the San Juan del Sur beach.
We also did yoga on the rooftop at Hush Maderas, and to our surprise, there was actually a small earthquake that we could feel from where we were. It ended the class early.
Day 3: Head to Ometepe
From San Juan del Sur, we headed to the island of Ometepe. Initially, this island wasn’t a part of my itinerary – but upon doing more research, I realized I couldn’t miss it!
We had our driver pick us up at Hush Maderas, and he dropped us off at the port in San Jorge (40 minute drive), where we took a ferry to Ometepe island.
The ferries leave pretty regularly and take over an hour to reach Ometepe.
Once we got to our accommodation on Ometepe – we were in such awe. We had a perfect view of the volcano. We only had 1 night here but it was one of the most memorable of all my nights in Nicaragua.
We stayed at Ananda Guesthouse. It had a perfect view of the Conception Volcano.
Optional: Spend a whole day on Ometepe
Omepte was a place that I squeezed into our itinerary last minute after realizing that it was a ‘must-see.’ And boy, do we wish we had more time there.
It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen and I really wish we’d had more time. If you can manage 2 nights on Ometepe, I’d say to absolutly do it.
Ometepe had great food. You can get around by walking, or renting bikes. You can also hire taxis.
Day 4: Head to Granada
From Ometepe, we headed to Granada.
We took the ferry from San José del Sur on Ometepe back to the mainland Nicaragua. From there, we hopped on a bus to Granada (about an hour and a half drive.)
In Grenada, we checked into Hostel Oasis – I was drawn to it because of the multi-level balcony hallways looking down into the courtyard swimming pool.
Granada is a beautiful and walkable city that is worth spending a good couple hours just walking around and exploring.
In addition to that, an absolute must in Granada is an excursion to Masaya Volcano.
Many of the Masay Volcano tours are at night, to raise your chances of seeing the glowing, bubbling lava. We were lucky to see it.
Plus, we caught a beautiful sunset. But you can also take a day tour to Masaya.
Optional: Spend another full day in Granada
One night isn’t a lot to spend in Grenada, because you want time to explore the city, plus take a tour to Masaya Volcano.
I’d recommend enjoying Granada, and spending a minimum of 2 nights (we spent 2 nights there.)
After our time in Granada, we returned to the Mangua Airport and flew out to Little Corn Island. I recommend seeing the Corn Islands (Big Corn or Little Corn Island.) I didn’t have a chance to make it to Léon on this itinerary. However, if you do want to see Léon (especially in addition to the Corn Islands), then you may need to add a few days to your itinerary
Day 5: Fly to Bluefields, on Big Corn Island
The La Costeña airline took us to Bluefields on Big Corn Island; from there we waited for the Panga to take us to Little Corn Island.
I specifically wanted to go to Little Corn Island to take my Advanced Scuba certification with Dolphin Dive. However Big Corn is a nice place to stay as well.
Both of the Corn Islands (Big Corn and Little Corn) have a very different atmosphere and culture from the rest of Nicaragua. To be honest, they didn’t feel like they’re even the same country.
In case you’re trying to choose between the two – Big Corn is a bigger island, and has more to do. It has more upscale places to stay and eat, yoga classes, and even some dramatic oceanside walks. Little Corn is a lot smaller and slower paced, and rustic feeling.
Day 6: Little Corn Island
We spent 3 days on Little Corn Island because of my scuba diving course. Little Corn has good snorkelling, lots of patio restaurants with stray dogs sleeping on the patio, kind and friendly people, decent food, a chill nightlife scene.
Optional: Spend 2-3 days on Little Corn OR Big Corn
If you’re heading out to the Corn Islands, then spend a few days enjoying the island life.
Little Corn is a quiet place, completely car-free, and it’s the kind of place where you want to focus on ‘being’ rather than doing.
People say that Little Corn is what Caribbean islands were like before big chain hotel resorts stepped in. No chain restaurants or hotels, no major tours.
It’s a peaceful, authentic little place and we absolutely loved it. If you have extra time to spend, then I think you should.
You could spend your time in Big Corn instead. If you prefer an island with a bit more to do, then I think you’d prefer Big Corn Island over Little Corn.
Day 7: Panagua back to Big Corn, and fly back to Managua
We took the early morning panagua back to Big Corn, and were soon on a flight to Managua.
We had a few hours on Big Corn before our flight back to Managua, so our driver took us around to explore a bit.
If you can get it to work out time wise, it would be awesome if your flight home left from Managua on the day you fly back there from Bluefields.
We instead though, checked into a hotel in downtown Managua before flying home.
Optional: Spend a day in Managua before flying home
Managua isn’t like a gorgeous city of anything but I am glad that we spent a day there before we flew home.
My husband (then boyfriend) actually joined the trip later, so he wasn’t on the same flight as me. So, he left a day early and I had a day in Managua by myself.
In case you have any concerns, its a safe city and I didn’t have any problems there. I took long walks alone, in the afternoon and at night.
A Final Thought on Nicaragua
If you do decide to head to Nicaragua, I do recommend giving it a good amount of time (up to 10 days if you can) instead of rushing it.