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Exploring rainbow cobblestone streets, climbing into the bell tower of historic churches and kayaking through jungle-clad islets with monkeys swinging overhead – there are so many great things to do in Granada!
I won’t hide it, Granada was not our favourite city and we had really mixed feelings about it.
There is no denying there are some fantastic activities to do in and around the city though, and between the charming colonial centre and the lakes and volcanoes all around the city, you can get a taste of everything in Granada.
To help plan your trip, these are the 12 best things to do in Granada Nicaragua. To make the list more digestible, I’ve broken it up into two sections:
- Things to do in Granada’s city centre
- Day trips and things to do around Granada
Planning a trip to Granada
Before you keep reading this list of things to do in Granada, I’d recommend reading our Granada travel guide first. It covers all the other important info you need to know about the city, like getting there, getting around, where to stay, the best places to eat and other handy tips to get your bearings.
🌻 Everything you need to know about Granada, Nicaragua
Things to do in Granada Nicaragua: in the city
1. Take a walking tour
I think the best way to get your bearings in a new city is to take a walking tour.
I must say, the walking tour we took in Granada wasn’t a patch on the incredible tour we did in Leon, but it was still a good thing to do on our first day in the city. We learnt some interesting facts and history which were helpful as we continued our own explorations of the city.
You can book free walking tours in Granada via GuruWalk, and most of the hostels in the city also offer them, like Selina and Hostel Oasis. Even if you’re not staying there, you can pop in to check the schedule.
Just remember whilst they are ‘free’ walking tours, you should tip your guide at the end.
2. Climb the bell tower at Iglesia Nuestra Señora de la Merced
Iglesia Nuestra Señora de la Merced might not have the same street appeal as the marigold-yellow Catedral de Granada, but what it does have is some epic views!
It’s possible to climb up the steep spiral staircase to the bell tower of the church. It’s tight up there, but you get almost 360° views over Granada, including an unobstructed view of the cathedral. You can see out to Lake Nicaragua and Volcan Mombacho too.
It is free to enter and look around the church, but it costs 35 Cordobas or $1 to go up to the bell tower.
It’s a beautiful spot to see the sunset if you can time your visit for the afternoon, just note that the last entry is 5:30 pm (I’d get there a bit earlier to be safe), and they will usher you down before 6:00 pm.
3. Ogle at the beautiful Cathedral de Granada
Officially the Catedral Inmaculada Concepción de María, the vibrant yellow cathedral is the icon of Granada.
It’s undeniably eye-catching and you’ll catch glimpses of it from everywhere in the city. With its deep, marigold-yellow exterior, terracotta-coloured domes and ornate windows, it’s everything a colonial church should be.
You can also climb up the bell tower of this cathedral. On the way up the stairs, there are a series of porthole windows where you can snap some interesting photos and get a great view over Parque Central. Don’t forget to wander out onto the balcony too, with a perfect aerial view over the park.
It’s free to enter the church, but if you want to climb the tower, it’s 30 Cordobas. From memory, I think the tower is open every day until 6:30 pm, but the last entry would be earlier than this.
4. Hang out in Parque Central
The heart of Granada, Parque Central is an open plaza full of beautiful trees, rotundas, food stalls and souvenir markets.
The cathedral sits on the eastern edge of the plaza, and the rest of the park is surrounded by government buildings, hotels and restaurants.
It wasn’t our favourite plaza, as it seemed to be the congregation point for touts selling all kinds of tours and horsedrawn carriage rides, with a lot of children begging.
Please do not take a horse-drawn carriage ride.
The horses are very poorly treated, they are skinny and overworked, stand in the blazing sun all day and we rarely saw any water for them. It was incredibly sad and distressing.
This is not an ethical experience, and the more tourists who continue to pay for it, the longer the neglect will continue.
To be honest, we walked through the plaza as quickly as possible whenever we passed through to avoid the hassling. Which is a bit disappointing given it is a very pretty park and the shady gardens would be a lovely place to rest and have some respite from the sun.
I wouldn’t hang around here at night, there can be some questionable characters.
5. Check out Plaza de la Independencia
Adjacent to the cathedral and Parque Central is the Plaza de la Independencia. It’s a smaller, more open area, but it has a few interesting features.
There is an obelisk honouring the city’s independence from Spain in 1821 and some gorgeous colonial buildings lining the plaza in different pastel tones. We loved the double-storey design with balconies.
While you’re here, pop into Casa de los Tres Mundos, also known as ‘Casa de los Leones’. It’s a cultural and arts centre, primarily hosting events for the local community, but it’s still nice to wander around as a tourist.
The building is beautiful, there are lovely gardens and you can see some artwork. Entry is 20 Cordobas and they are open Monday – Saturday from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm.
6. Stroll the pedestrian street Calle La Calzada
Running east from Parque Central to the shores of Lake Nicaragua, Calle La Calzada is the restaurant/bar/nightlife hub of Granada.
For a few blocks closest to the cathedral, the street is pedestrian-only (theoretically, keep your eyes out for motorbikes!).
It’s lined with trees and potted plants, with pretty mosaic artwork on the ground. The buildings along this street are a rainbow of colours, from the brightest pink to the deepest blue, they were gorgeous!
In the mornings it’s a quiet place, lovely for a peaceful stroll, to take some photos of the pretty casas and soak up the view of the cathedral.
By late afternoon, it’s a hectic, high-intensity strip full of restaurant hawkers waving menus at you, competing music blasting from bar speakers and a steady flow of desperate and downtrodden locals begging for money.
We didn’t eat or drink here as most of the restaurants and bars are resting on their location laurels rather than providing quality food or service, although Pan de Vida and Monna Lisa are two better options if you’re interested.
7. Cycle to the Malecon de Granada
Granada sits on the shores of the enormous Lake Nicaragua. There is a small waterfront promenade, the Malecon de Granada, with a nice park and the city’s pier.
It’s 1.5 km (0.9 mi) from Parque Central to the waterfront, along Calle La Calzada. A nice way to explore this area is by bike, and we rented from Maximus Bicycle Rentals for 70 Cordoba (~$2) an hour.
The Malecon was given a facelift a few years ago, and it feels nice and well-kept, with some classic ‘Granada’ letters, other photo props and raspado (shaved ice) carts. But it’s very small and quiet and lacks the atmosphere these kinds of areas usually have.
There are a couple of restaurants, but the Malecon ends quite abruptly and isn’t very long. You could continue cycling/walking down the road towards Santa Cruz, a beach-front area on the lake known as Centro Turistico. It’s not really nice for swimming though, and we knew we would return to the area to go kayaking on Las Isletas (the real gem here), so we didn’t bother.
We visited during the day, so maybe if you go back in the evening or on the weekends, it might be different. Although we were warned not to hang around here at night due to the risk of robbery.
We love bike riding so we weren’t disappointed with our visit. It was a nice way to spend a few hours. You don’t need to rent the bikes for longer than 2 hours, 1 hour would probably do it.
8. Browse the bustling Mercado Municipal
Granada’s Mercado Municipal is like most Latin American markets – hectic, high-intensity and full of all sorts of goodies.
The difference here is that the activity is barely confined to the walls of the market building, and instead spills out into the neighbouring streets.
Calle el Comercio is the main thoroughfare, and haphazard stalls cover the surrounding streets. Stands of knock-off Gucci sunglasses sit next to boxes upon boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables, all shielded from the oppressive heat with plastic tarps rustling in the breeze.
If you can fight your way through the stalls to the brick-and-mortar buildings behind them, there are some great thrift shops here. There was a cluster around the corner of Calle el Comerico and Calle Estrada.
Time your visit to the market with lunch, and stop at Tostometro for one of their famous tostone burgers! It’s one of the best places to eat in Granada.
Things to do in Granada: around the city
9. Kayaking the Las Isletas de Granada
Of all the things to do in Granada, kayaking the Las Isletas de Granada was our favourite.
We had read a few things saying this wasn’t very exciting, and we weren’t planning to do it. But after falling into a bit of a funk, not loving the city and feeling miserable, we decided some time in nature might do us good, and it turned out to be the best part of Granada.
Las Isletas de Granada is a set of 365 islets in Lake Nicaragua that were created by an eruption from Volcan Mombacho over 20,000 years ago.
Today, these jungle-clad islands are an excellent place for birdwatching, spotting monkeys and seeing the contrasting mix of fishing shacks and luxury mansions on the private islands.
While you can take a motorised boat tour through the isletas, we would highly recommend a kayak tour. You’re quieter and stealthier and can slide through narrow, lily-pad-filled channels between the isletas and get a closer look at any birds or wildlife.
We booked a kayak tour with Vladimir Kayak and we cannot recommend them more highly. We were picked up from our accommodation in Granada for the 15-minute drive to the dock and spent 3 hours cruising through the canals.
Our guide was so knowledgeable about the flora and fauna of the area, and he pointed out howler monkeys, all kinds of birds from herons to kingfishers, and lots of interesting information about the islands and who owns them.
We opted for the sunset tour, and our paddle concluded with the most incredible golden sunset over the lake, with a Toña beer. It was perfect. They also offer a sunrise option which would be equally special, with probably even more birdlife.
I highly, highly recommend this experience. We left feeling so refreshed and rejuvenated. We never expected to see such a beautiful, natural area with so much wildlife so close to the city.
If we ever came back to Granada, I would plan to spend a night or two at one of the stunning ecolodges on the isletas. If you’ve got the time, look into:
10. See lava at Volcan Masaya
One of the most iconic things to do in Granada is to take a night tour to see the Masaya Volcano, one of the only places in the country where you can see bubbling lava inside the Santiago Crater.
It’s less than an hour from Granada to the Parque Nacional Masaya and there are dozens of tours from the city each evening.
You can also visit independently, but the cost of the tours (which usually include entry to the park) versus organising your own transport and paying the park fee is marginal. I compare all the options more closely in my Masaya Volcano guide.
This is one of the most popular sights in the entire country, so yes, it’s crowded. The experience isn’t great, as you’ll be tussling and pushing for a look down into the crater and rushed. But it’s not too expensive and in our opinion was totally worth it to see lava!
🌋 Read our complete guide to Masaya Volcano
⚠️ Note: this is an incredibly active volcano that is constantly changing. The visitor experience is not always the same, and what we saw on our visit will not be exactly what you see.
There was an incident at Masaya Volcano in March 2024, where a landslide dropped rocks into the crater, concealing the lava lake. There have been frequent small earthquakes and continued landslides making the crater unstable, and from what I understand, this part of the park is currently closed.
It’s a dynamic and everchanging environment so check in with a tour operator in Granada before booking to confirm the latest information.
If there is increased and dangerous activity, the park will close. Sometimes there are strict limits in place for how long you can stay near the crater due to the sulfur and gases.
11. Hike the cloud forests of Volcan Mombacho
A complete contrast to the fiery, magma-filled Masaya, Mombacho Volcano is covered in a verdant, green cloud forest home to birds, monkeys, creepy crawlies and elusive mammals.
Sitting at 1,345 metres (4,412 ft), the green, jagged peak looms over Granada, just half an hour outside the city. It’s active but mostly dormant, save for the sporadic puff of smoke, and the bubbling fumaroles you’ll see concealed on the forest floor.
The slopes of the volcano are full of rural villages and coffee farms. Towards the summit, inside the Reserva Natural Volcan Mombacho, there are three trails of varying lengths to explore the forest, fumaroles and crater.
A visit to Volcan Mombacho is overly complicated and can be very expensive, if you’re hoping to avoid a 6 km (3.7 mi) walk up a 40% grade hill to the summit, from where the trails start. It took us a long time to calculate and compare the different options for visiting, and we’ve laid it all out in a dedicated guide to the Mombacho Volcano.
☁️ Read our complete guide to Mombacho Volcano
12. Chill out at Laguna de Apoyo
I’ve saved this for last, not because I think it’s any less worthy, but because I think it’s SO worthy it should actually be visited as its own destination for a couple of nights, not as a day trip from Granada.
The beautiful Laguna de Apoyo is a freshwater lake inside an extinct volcanic crater. It’s a peaceful, jungly area with just a handful of accommodations on the western shore of the lake, offering access to swim in the clean, blue waters, heated to a delightful temperature by underwater fumaroles.
If you’ve only got a day, the easiest way to visit from Granada is to get a day pass to one of the accommodations cum beach clubs. They all provide access to the lake via small beaches, with lounges and hammocks, amenities like inflatable tubes, kayaks or paddleboards and on-site restaurants.
Laguna Beach Club and Casa Marimba are good options, but the most popular and convenient is Hostel Paradiso which offers a package including a day pass plus a return shuttle from Granada for just $14 USD. You can read more about visiting for the day, and how to do it independently if you want to, in my Laguna de Apoyo guide.
It’s a lovely, leisurely place and if you’re looking for somewhere to relax for a few days, I highly recommend staying for a night or two. We were so happy with our choice to stay at Hostel Paradiso for 2 nights, it was bliss.
🌴 Read our complete guide to Laguna de Apoyo
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Final thoughts: Things to do in Granada Nicaragua
Although we had mixed feelings about Granada, we really enjoyed many of the activities.
Kayaking in Las Isletas was a big highlight and seeing lava at Masaya Volcano was a bucket-list experience. The city itself is charming and very pretty, and I can totally see why people love it.
I hope this list of things to do in Granada has been helpful for planning your time in the city. Don’t forget to also read my Granada travel guide for info on other elements like where to stay, where to eat and transport info.
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