Head to the main bus terminal in León. Take a microbus from León to UCA microbus terminal in Managua. From there walk about 10 meters to the microbus heading to Granada. *Don’t be shocked if two companies start competing for your attention. There are two microbuses to Granada that sit next to each other and when the rule is that you leave only when full – your patronage is truly desired. I have literally been grabbed and pulled in two directions by two different people. Don’t worry, it’s more annoying than dangerous. They do it to almost everyone, including little old ladies.
Door to door this trip will take you from between 3.5hrs and 4.5hrs and will cost you (as of 03/16) 79 Cordobas.
Option 2: Do exactly as above but go by regular bus and save a little over $1 and use pass through the Mercado Roberto Huembes station instead.
Update on prices. I paid 78 Cordoba from leon to Managua then 37 to get to Granada. Total trip took about 3 1/2 hours. Happy travels.
With large backpack?
An alternative route is to use the chicken bus. This is a good option if you have large baggage.
You must take the bus to Managua from Leon. It arrives at Mercado Israel Lewites.
The bus to Granada Leaves from Mercado Roberto Huembues.
To get in between the two terminals you have two options. Take a taxi (expensive), or take the city bus (2.5 cordobas). The bus runs along the main road outside the terminal. You need to walk a few minutes to get to the stop. The bus number that goes is #110 and it passes quite often. Any locals can point you in the right direction, Nicaraguan are incredibly friendly 🙂