Granada: The Colourful Colonial City You Shouldn’t Miss in Nicaragua

Riding into Granada on my motorbike felt like arriving in a real-life postcard. After days of exploring Nicaragua’s quieter landscapes, suddenly finding myself surrounded by horse-drawn carriages, colourful colonial buildings, and cobbled streets felt like stepping into a completely different world. With Lake Nicaragua sitting beside the city, Granada had a charm that was impossible not to notice from the moment I arrived – even if I was slightly distracted by the cobbled roads trying their best to shake both me and my motorbike apart. Before visiting, I had already heard countless travellers describe Granada as one of Nicaragua’s must-see destinations. I expected the colonial architecture to remind me of places like Antigua in Guatemala or San Juan in Puerto Rico – and in many ways, it did. As I usually do when arriving somewhere new, I found a hostel in the heart of the old town, parked up my motorbike, and set off to explore the streets on foot, seeing where the city would take me. What surprised me most was discovering that Granada was about much more than its beautiful colonial centre. While chatting with locals and other travellers, I kept hearing about the nearby Islets of G...