If you are leaving from Managua you need to go to the Mercado Mayorero.
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Matagalpa to León
Matagalpa to León: 8:30am, 3pm, 4pm, 88C$ and takes about 2.5-3hrs. You can also take the bus to Estelli and change to the bus to León in San Isidro to the bus to Leon. This gives you more options for times to travel and the total trip takes 3.5hrs.
León to Matagalpa: from León there are only 3 per day. I’d arrive a bit early to be sure you get the bus since after asking several people including the driver at the station we got slightly different times. The driver told us: 4:20am, 7:30am, 2:45pm, 88C$ and takes about 2.5-3hrs.
Matagalpa to Managua
There is an express bus which takes 2hrs and it costs 82C$. It leaves every hour from 4:30am to 6:30pm. There is also a regular bus that takes 3hrs and leaves every half hour and costs a bit less.
Managua to Magatalpa: The bus leaves Managua from the Mercado Mayorero. Same schedule as buses going the other way (see above). You can purchase your ticket at the station and be assigned a seat. You can also take the bus to Jinotega and get of in Matagalpa.
Managua Airport to Matagalpa
Buses leave from the Mercado Mayorero, which is about a 5 minute drive from the Managua airport. You don’t need to go all the way to the Terminal as the bus will pass the bus stop La UNA. To walk there head out of the airport, take a right on the main road and walk about 5 minutes. If you want to be sure you’ll have a good seat you will need to go to the Terminal Mercado Mayorero to buy your ticket.
Matagalpa to Managua Airport: One traveller has told us this is really easy. On traveller named Min says : “You just get on any bus headed to Managua (the ruteado is an hour longer and 30 C cheaper) and just ask to get off at the airport. Super easy and get to bypass Managua”
Matagalpa to Estelí
From Terminal Mercado Sur buses leave every half hour from 5am to 5pm. The trip takes about 1hr 45 minutes and costs about 40C$.
Matagalpa to Jinotega
Buses run very often: every half hour from 5am to 5pm. Both ways and cost about 40C$.
Thanks!
A huge thank you to adventurer and traveller Arden for help with our bus info. Check his instagram at @ardennl for some sweet travel shots! Or check his photos here: Arden de Raaij
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’ve been going from León to Matagalpa and back in the small van-like busses. They arrive irregularly without schedule and we found them to be very crowded. Make sure to line up once you arrive in order to get a seat. When the bus arrives just drop your luggage next to it and hurry to get inside for a seat. The driver will make sure your luggage goes on the roof. If you wait too long all real seats will be taken and you will have to sit in a very uncomfortable spot, like going backwards crouched behind the driver’s seat.
For the price: it is 110 córdobas per person. On the first trip we were the only ones with luggage on the roof and were told it costs am extra 80 córdobas per piece. On the second trip there were also locals with suitcases and nobody had to pay extra for it. However, we overheard the driver talking to someone about “making the gringos pay for the luggage like they do on the airplanes”. So I guess it depends on the driver and how well you can argue with them 😉
Hi,
Thanks for the information. We took also the bus from León to Matagalpa at 7:30 am, the cost was 110 cordoba pp. They wanted us charge for our backpacks, each 50 cordoba, but thanks to read your comment, I just said them that nobody pay for it and we will neither. They accepted so don’t pay for the luggage!
My question is that the bus from Matagalpa really goes back at 8:30 am? I read on other portal that it goes at 9:30 am.
Thanks,
Daniel
Hello 🙂 we recently took the journey from Managua Mayoreo to Matagalpa on the the slow bus (3 hours) and paid 90 cordobas each.
We also took a bus to Cascada Blanca from Matagalpa Contran Norte and it cost us 25 cordobas each.