Sightseeing in Granada City - what to see. Complete travel guide

If you decide to spend your vacation in Nicaragua, it is hard to think of a better destination than Granada for this purpose. This city is widely famous for its beauty and numerous landmarks. Granada is located not far from the capital, and the city is very hospitable to foreign guests. As a rule, tourists enjoy exploring new places on foot, and there is a special pedestrian street for this purpose in Granada. This street leads directly to Malecon, a popular waterfront destination. This street is quite crowded and mostly attracts tourists and other foreigners. Travelers might notice how unusual houses in Granada are. Most of them are painted in different colors. If you happen to visit this place, you will see that Granada, indeed, has much to offer to its guests.

Granada City was founded in 1524. Conquistador Francisco Hernández de Córdoba was the founder of this settlement. He named Granada after a Spanish city. He chose a strip of land between North and South America as the location for a new settlement. When the Spanish owned this territory, Granada was developing actively and getting richer. Gold deposits were the main reason for wealth. The Spanish mined gold and transferred it to other countries. Besides the precious metal, this region had other mineral deposits that were also mined and sent to Spain.

Naturally, such a rich land couldn’t stay unnoticed for many years. At that time, the region was continuously suffering from sea attacks. Pirates were continuously trying to attack Granada and capture gold and other treasures. Despite frequent invasions, this Nicaraguan city kept developing. Slowly, it became so big and important that Granada became the financial capital of the country. Moreover, tourists enjoy visiting this gem in Central America more than any other city in Nicaragua. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Local people are friendly and hospitable. It is absolutely normal for them to invite an unknown person, even a tourist, to visit their house and even make a party for the guest. Tourists can refuse the invitation politely and ask to change the date of the visit. If a guest agrees to visit a house of a local person, he or she must be prepared to listen to hospitable hosts who will surely tell the guest about the history of their homeland, main landmarks, and traditions. Don’t be surprised if the host gives you a small present after the dinner – this is normal in Nicaragua.

Do you want to learn more about the process of making true chocolate? Then the new museum in Granada dedicated to this all-time favorite dessert is waiting for you. Children are particularly fond of visiting this museum. During a visit to the museum’s workshop, you will learn how to make this “brown” dessert and how to roast and grind cocoa beans in order to make authentic Nicaraguan chocolate. Every visitor is welcome to try to make their own chocolate. Who knows, maybe you manage to make a new variety of chocolate that will become a big hit. Needless to say, no one leaves this venue without sampling the finest and freshly made chocolate.

The central park is the next attraction that tourists and travelers enjoy visiting. This is an excellent place to relax and forget about everything. If you are lucky to visit this place during holidays or other festivities, you will see how skilled locals are in organizing colorful and loud parties. On a hot day, it is incredibly pleasant to sit near a fountain that always attracts numerous locals and tourists. People often throw coins into the fountain in order to return to this place once again. Tourists might also find it interesting to take a ride in a real horse-driven cart.

Granada City is also famous for one more natural attraction – the Masaya Volcano National Park. This is a beautiful volcano with no less picturesque surrounding nature, so no wonder why so many tourists want to visit this attraction. There are several cars near the entrance, and visitors can use these cars to get around. Don’t forget to visit the local museum where you can learn more about the volcano and animal world of the national park. There are many interesting items that cast the light upon the history of the park.

The next stop is near the volcano crater. This is where visitors can enjoy a truly mesmerizing view of Masaya. There is still some smoke near the crater as if there are several dragons sitting inside. The diameter of this amazing natural landmark is eight hundred meters. Try not to breathe the smoke in because it is quite acrid. If the weather is quite windy, do not come close too fast in order not to get poisoned by the smoke. There is a cross on the mountain opposite the volcano. The Spanish installed this cross a long time ago. This way they wanted to exorcise evil spirits living in the “Hell’s throat”.

Buses connect the capital of the country, Managua, to Granada City. One hour later, the bus driver will stop in the city of your destination. When departing from Ometepe, the bus ride will be somewhat longer – roughly two hours. The longest route starts in Costa Rica and lasts three and a half hours. As Granada City is not big, it is comfortable to explore it on foot.