The main terminal in León is a classic busy bus station. All of the regular buses line up in one area and microbuses each have their own zone. Buses are constantly coming and going as are regular and pedal taxis. Much of the streets surrounding the terminal are clogged with little market shops and traffic.
The terminal is about a 15minute walk from the city centre touristy zone. A taxi should cost you about 20C$. I don’t know why I do it to myself, but every time I have just walked it … and then half way through I am trying to remember why I am. It’s not a horrible walk, but León is hot and a taxi is pretty cheap. Treat yourself! If you are leaving from the station by taxi see if you have the address of your hotel available. There are so many hotels and hostels don’t be surprised if you taxi driver isn’t familiar with a lesser known one.
León to Managua
Microbuses arrive at the UCA.
Expreso (bus) every 30minutes, takes 2.5hrs and costs 52C$.
(microbus) leaves when full, operates between 4am and 7pm, takes about 2hr and costs 61C$
León to Chinandega
Buses arrive at the Mercado Bisne.
(microbus) leaves when full, 31C$, about 45min (4:30am – 8pm)
(bus) every 20 minutes, ~18C$, 1.5hr (4:30am – 6pm)
León to Matagalpa
From León there are 3 express buses per day to Matagalpa. I’d arrive early just in case. The schedule according to the driver is 4:20am, 7:30am, 2:45pm, 88C$, 2.5-3hrs. We are told there are also microbuses that make the trip but we don’t have any info at the moment.
León to Estelí
The trip takes about 2.5hrs and costs 95$C. Have a read through the comment below for some great trip info! There are mini buses to Estelí in the morning but another option is to route through san Isidro and link up to another bus headed to to Estelí or Matagalpa.
León to Las Peñitas
Here is some advice from a fellow travellers. Thanks, Melanie!:
“We took a bus from Leon to Las Penitas. It should leave at every hour but honestly it just goes when full, which in our case was 30min later. It is really cheap, around NIC10 and even though there are shuttle services from Leon to this lovely beach for around US $4, If you are on a budget the local bus is a nice experience and it didn’t even take much longer than the shuttle (about 30min). Note: the bus first goes to Poneloya, but if you want to go to the Las Penitas just stay in the bus, it will turn around to stop in front of Barca de Oro (bigger hotel) and some other stops in Law Penitas too”.
León to Rota (Cerro Negro)
5:50am, 11am, 3:30pm, 2.5hrs, ~40C$
*I need to double check this one – let us know if you have taken this bus.
León to Granada
To get to Granada you route through Managua. It’s very easy and door to door you are looking at about 3.5hrs and a total cost of 79C$ (2016) when going by microbus. First head to the Main Terminal in Leon and get the microbus going to Managua. You will arrive and depart from the UCA terminal in Managua so it’s easy!
León to Masaya
Same as above, you need to route through Managua, but when you get to the UCA look for the microbus headed to Masaya. Microbuses leave when full from 6am to 9pm. From Managua to Masaya they cost 24C$ and the trip takes 0.5hr
Tica Bus
You can now finally purchase your tickets online with Tica Bus! Or you can buy your ticket from a very nice and helpful travel agency in town called Benitours (505-2315-2349) see map. Be aware that you need to get to the highway on the outside of town to catch the bus. If you don’t speak Spanish then best to have the travel agent at Benitours write the location of the Tica Bus stop on a piece of paper which you can then give to the taxi driver. I met one traveller who missed her bus in the morning after the taxi took her to the wrong spot, so it’s good to have this info just in case! The bus stop where the Tica Bus will pass is indicated on the map above but you can also find it by using the landmark: El Restaurante Caña Brava (google maps). The bus will stop about 50 meters north from here. It will stop in en frente de la entrada de la Ceiba.
Other destinations
San Isidro (46C$), Nagarote, Salinas Grandes (20C$, 1.5hrs – see comments below for more info).
If you have taken these buses, share your information below!
Help your fellow traveller
If you have taken any of the buses on this page, please drop us a comment below about how the trip went, what time you left, how long it took and what it cost. And, definitely let us know if we have anything wrong.
Lets help each other in our travels!
We took a bus from Leon to Las Penitas. It should leave at every hour but honestly it just goes when full, which in our case was 30min later. It is really cheap, around NIC10 and even though there are shuttle services from Leon to this lovely beach for around US $4, If you are on a budget the local bus is a nice experience and it didn’t even take much longer than the shuttle (about 30min). Note: the bus first goes to Poneloya, but if you want to go to the Las Penitas just stay in the bus, it will turn around to stop in front of Barca de Oro (bigger hotel) and some other stops in Law Penitas too.
Thanks, Melanie! I added your info above.
Salinas Grandes costs C$ 18.
One thing about arriving and get catched by the tricicletas. Leave the market and one or two blocks later the have all regular prices😁 “regular” for a drive to the center would be CS 20, with luggage a bit more.
Thanks!
When I arrived in Leon from Managua with my minibus, the guys with the bicycle taxis were literally JUMPING on our bus and when we stopped, they opened the doors and the back and tried to make me go with them. Very intense! And after speaking to other travellers, it seems like they do it to everyone at this bus station. Just a heads up guys!
Thanks for the comment, Ebba. I agree! It is really stressful when you get mobbed like that. In the past I have been so frustrated by feeling like a raw piece of meat that I just walked to my hostel instead!
Just wanted to say we travelled by microbus from León to Estelì this morning……a Sunday. An old guy was ‘recruiting’ passengers for the Estelì bus before it arrived and a short queue had formed by the the bus arrived at around 1100. We waited on the bus for a further hour until the final three seats were taken. We paid 100 NIC each but had the good roomy seats behind the driver. Our packs went on top and were roped on. We arrived in Estelì Cotran Nor on the Pan American just over two hours later: 1410, and took a taxi into town from there. The road was good, scenic and often straight. We stopped for 5-10 mins en route for snacks/baño.
Hi we just travelled from Leon to Managua then onto Grenada, we got the micro bus which was super easy. They were very frequent and leave when they are full.
Prices were for January 2nd 2018, it cost 61 Córdoba each for Leon to Managua and it stops right at the UCA station where again all the buses have names of where they are going. We jumped off our bus and straight onto the next.
The bus from Managua to Granada we were charged 30 Córdoba each plus 30 for both our rucksacks taking up one seat. I guess this is fair if they can’t fill a seat but make sure they don’t try to charge you for each bag rather than each seat.
I have a question regarding the time estimates. Is it realistic “about 1 hour” for a distance of ~100km? It will need to travel non stop with a speed of 100 km/h to make the distance in 1 hour. Google Maps says it’s close to 2h with a car. Did you guys actually made just 1h with the microbus?
Hi Radu! Thank you for catching that typo. You are right, it should be 2hrs.
There are minibuses to Estelí leaving in the morning, one at 9 and I think one later as well, but it fills up fast and you have to be there very early. I went once and the bus was maybe an hour delayed with loads of people waiting, the second time we came well before 9 and we realized we wouldn’t nearly fit on the bus. A better option in my opinion for both Estelí and Matagalpa is to look for a chicken bus to San Isidro, they’ll drop you at the crossroads with some hammock stands where you’ll catch a second chicken bus to either Estelí or Matagalpa in no time. Lots of people change there so you can just as someone where to wait. It worked out super well for me, but I caught a San Isidro bus pulling out of the station in León so I don’t know how often they leave. This was about a year ago, but probably hasn’t changed much.
Thanks Janni! Great contribution of info.
Great to meet you and thank you for the bus travel advice. You reaaaally helped me make a plan for the next part of my travels. I took the Chinadega bus and you were right. 31C, and about 1hour.