Visiting Granada, Nicaragua

A View of The Mombacho Volcano from the Streets of Nicaragua. “Mombacho from Granada” by Andarin2 – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

We were completely blown away by the beautiful city of Granada and enjoyed a five-week stay, renting a gorgeous studio apartment we found on Airbnb for $500 (for our entire stay). The city was breathtakingly beautiful, with colorful homes and businesses lining the streets. Francisco Hernández de Córdoba founded the city in 1524, expanding the Kingdom of Castile in Spain. You can clearly see the Spanish influence in the architecture around Granada.

A Beautiful Home in Our Neighborhood in Granada, Nicaragua.

A Barbershop in Our Neighborhood.

Iglesia La Merced, Originally Completed in 1539.

Added benefits to expat communities are the many restaurants that come along with them. While we usually eat from local restaurants, called ‘sodas’ in Central America, from time to time we like to spoil ourselves with a little comfort food. Luckily, Granada has a plethora of restaurants and during our stay we enjoyed great vegetarian restaurants as well as amazing traditional Nicaraguan meals and even Americana when missing home. One of my highlights was the ice cream parlor that made the best $1 ice cream cones ever, despite how quickly they melted in the Nicaraguan sun.

Enjoying Our Favorite Ice Cream Cones in the Shade to Escape the Nicaraguan Heat.

There is also Telepizza, which is their version of Pizza Hut, which we enjoyed for our Superbowl Party.

Our Superbowl Celebration with Victoria, a popular Nicaraguan beer.

Telepizza, the Nicaraguan Version of Pizza Hut.

We even found a family market that allowed us to purchase a full week of fresh groceries for $50. The produce was so fresh; we would get everything from bananas to watermelon, and enjoy them in the garden to our studio in Nicaragua.

Fresh bunch of bananas that cost us 50¢.

This was my regular breakfast while living in Nicaragua, living a vegetarian diet.

There is so much to do in the city that you can easily have an activity filled day if you want to do more than enjoy the food and architecture. Lake Nicaragua runs through Granada and can be accessed on an all day tour for $20. You can also enjoy horse and carriage rides throughout the town center for $10.

“Lake Nicaragua” by Zach Klein – originally posted to Flickr as Lake Nicaragua. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

“Town Square – Granada, Nicaragua”. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikipedia

A Horse and Carriage Ride Around the Tow Center is Only $10 in Granada.

Granada was my favorite city throughout Central America and I often tout it as my favorite city on this entire journey. Of course Rome swept me away with its architecture, but Rome gets cold, and lacks the natural beauty that Granada exemplifies. The same goes for London and every other city we visit in England. Majorca, Spain is the first place we have visit that questions my favorite city we have lived in thus far.

Granada will always have a special place in my heart. We truly enjoyed visiting Granada Nicaragua. 

xoxo