If you are leaving from Managua you need to go to the Mercado Mayorero.
We are missing a bit of info for this page, help us fill in the details if you have them!
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!
From Matagalpa to Cascadas Blancas in Santa Emilia the regular bus costs C$20 ~30mins.
If anyone interested in going to Waslala, east of Matagalpa the regular bus takes ~4hrs C$100 and the express bus takes ~3hrs C$120. The road is paved to El Carmen, then its dirt. Waslala is small town in the mountains, limited tourism and nice fincas.
I just did the journey from Matagalpa to León. As well as the 3 express bus services every day there are also minibuses leaving from the same terminal (the southern bus terminal) throughout the day. The cost was 100C and it took about 2.5 hours. There is no fixed schedule, they just leave when they’re full. I was also told that there are non-express buses to León throughout the day too, but I didn’t take one so can’t comment on whether this is true.
I took a bus from Matagalpa depart at 11:20 to San Isidro about 1hour (cost26).
At San Isidro there are the time table to go to Leon :)(cost55)
Hello! So to get to the airport from Matagalpa you can 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.
Thanks, Min!
Just a note about the Matagalpa to Masaya service…..buses leave at 1400 and 1530 from Cotram Sur, though not on a Thursday and one other day…..anyone know? Anyway, we were waiting for the 1400 bus, which was nearly full by the time it pulled up. It turned out they had been boarding passengers outside the bus station before time so check this out In order to secure yourself a seat. We travelled on a Friday and it was busy. Nb, the bus will travel back up towards Estelì for about half an hour before turning off towards Masaya.
https://www.labuenaonda.com.ni/pdf/By_public_transportation.pdf This page was really useful for me planning travel from Matagalpa! I followed the San Isidro tip, and it worked great for me- I only had to wait 20 minutes for a bus at San Isidro, and the total journey took about 3 hours and 45 minutes.
Thanks for sharing that link here, Emilie! I am sure it will be helpful to others too!
The bus from Matagalpa to Leon is starting at 8:30 instead of 9:30, same says the bus schedule board at the bus terminal. As an alternative its possible to take a bus to Estelli and change at San Isodro to the bus to Leon. This takes 3.5h in total and you can start at different times of the day, not just early morning or afternoon.
Thanks so much for your contribution, Mo! I have added your information above.
Thanks for running this website 🙂 I just wrote San Isodro, must be San Isidro, my fault.
Thanks! Yes it is. I did a copy/paste and didn’t notice the spelling mistake. Thanks again for your contribution, Mo! 🙂