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!
We travelled to Matagalpa from León the other day by minibus that left at 11am. It cost C$110 each but the guy who loaded our bags on the roof charged us C$50 each 🙄 Our friend who took the same minibus the next day wasn’t charged for his bag. It took 2.5 hours to Cotran Sur.
Guys at the station confirmed that the express buses still go at 4.30am, 7.30am and 2.40pm. I also spoke to a guy that said there was a minibus at 5am.
To update the prices for a day trip to Cascada de la Luna, it now costs C$50 each way on a chicken bus and takes about 90 minutes. You go from the northern terminal.
Got on the express bus to managua today but it left at 12.20 (and had a sign saying the same) on the front so definitely get there before half past if you’re looking for the express. Cost 105c each
Matagalpa to León: in addition to the camionettas there are mini buses that leave Coltran Sur when full. According to my hostel, they leave between 9h and 11h. Cost me 110 cordobas.
Matagalpa-Managua express bus: C$ 105
Jinotega/Matagalpa – Masaya – Granada
I did this from Jinotega, but you can do the same from Matagalpa, which is better connected.
Bus from Jinotega|Matagalpa go to Managua arrive at Mayoreo Terminal. If you go to Masaya or Granada, you need to exchange terminals. For that, take a taxi to UCA.
Optionally, you can do what I did to skip Managua. In my case, locals helped me to stop at PARADA LA GALLERA, in a village before Managua.
Cross the road and take the bus to Masaya.
From Masaya, there are buses to Granada.
2020/01/26
Managua-Matagalpa
95cordoba
I don’t know if this belongs here since it’s more of a day trip but:
– for a trip to selva negra you can take the bus to jinotega and asked to be dropped off at selva negra. I don’t know where the bus leaves we just checked Google maps for the most obvious route to jinotega and found a bus stop there. It takes about 30 minutes and 20 cordobas.
– fo a trip to waterfalls Cascada de la Luna and Cascada blanca you can take buses to waslala or la Dalia and ask to get dropped off. We did first Cascada de la Luna, which had a zip line, trip took a little over an hour and 40 cordobas. From there we took the samen bus in the Opposite direction and got off at Cascada blanca (took us 40 minutes and 30 cordobas) and from Cascada blanca we took the same bus back to matagalpa.
With the same bus I mean all buses on that particular road. They all go between matagalpa and the cascadas.
July 2019 Express Managua matagalpa now C$95