Granada

The oldest European city on the American mainland (founded in 1524), Granada (or La Gran Sultana, as it’s nickname goes) is situated on the north-western shore of Lake Nicaragua and represents colonial Nicaragua and Central America at its most photogenic. Only Antigua in Guatamala comes close (also Leon, Nicaragua). Renaissance and Baroque style churches touch the sky while mustard, peach and salmon-colored buildings huddle around a Spanish-style Central Plaza strewn with shoeshine boys and horse drawn carriages resting in the shade. Granada is the one place that virtually EVERY tourist coming to Nicaragua will visit, and over the years the gentrification of the city has produced an eclectic restaurant and bar scene, and numerous little boutique hotels springing up behind the city’s ornate carved doors. The best thing to do in Granada is just to walk around, soaking up the atmosphere. Granada also has easy access to Lake Nicaragua and its Isletas, the breathtakingly beautiful Laguna de Apoyo, a 200m-deep crater lake with “healing waters”, and also the cloud forests of Volcan Mombacho, which towers over the city like a guardian.

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