Nicaragua is one of the cheapest countries I travelled through in Central America, but you don’t have to travel on a shoestring to keep costs low.
Over 15 days in Nicaragua, I spent around £45 per day. That included accommodation, food, drinks, transport, activities and nights out. I stayed in hostel dorms, ate at a mixture of local and Western-style restaurants, drank regularly, rented a moped, went to some of Nicaragua’s biggest parties and paid for activities such as volcano boarding.
In other words, £45 per day wasn’t a bare-bones backpacker budget. I wasn’t staying in private rooms or travelling luxuriously either, but I also wasn’t constantly counting every Córdoba.
Quick Facts: Nicaragua Travel Costs
- My Nicaragua budget: ~£45/day
- Trip length: 15 days
- Total spent: £678.77
- Travel style: Comfortable backpacking
- Included: Hostels, food, drinks, transport, activities and nightlife
My route: León → Granada → Ometepe → Popoyo.
My £678.77 figure excludes international flights and spending outside Nicaragua. I also excluded a cash withdrawal I made after leaving Nicaragua for Panama.
Contents
- How much did I actually spend in Nicaragua?
- How much does accommodation cost in Nicaragua?
- How much does food cost in Nicaragua?
- How much does alcohol cost in Nicaragua?
- How much does transport cost in Nicaragua?
- How much do activities cost in Nicaragua?
- Is Nicaragua expensive for backpackers?
- How much money do you need for Nicaragua?
- Nicaragua travel cost FAQs
How Much Did I Actually Spend in Nicaragua?
I spent £678.77 in total during my 15 days in Nicaragua, which works out at roughly £45 per day.
This isn’t an exact science. It’s my rough total based on the card transactions I could identify as Nicaragua spending, plus my cash withdrawals during the trip. It gives a good indication of what I actually spent, rather than trying to construct a theoretical daily budget.
That £45 per day included accommodation, food, drinks, transport and activities.
I wasn’t travelling on a shoestring either. I stayed in hostel dorms, ate at a mixture of local and Western-style restaurants, drank, rented a moped, went to some of Nicaragua’s biggest parties and paid for activities such as volcano boarding.
At the same time, I wasn’t travelling in luxury. For me, £45 per day was a comfortable backpacker budget.
How Much Does Accommodation Cost in Nicaragua?
Accommodation was one of the biggest reasons I was able to keep my overall costs down.
I stayed in dorms throughout Nicaragua, with the places I booked generally costing between £8 and £18 per night.
| Destination | Hostel | Nights | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| León | Bigfoot | 2 | £18.94 |
| Granada | Oasis | 3 | £24.06 |
| Ometepe | Zopilote | 3 | £33.15 |
| Popoyo | Big Surf House | 6 | £17.93/night |
There is a bit of context needed here.
Three of the four hostels I stayed in were among the best options in their respective locations, rather than me simply choosing the absolute cheapest bed available.
Ometepe was the exception. By the time I booked, many of the most popular hostels were already full. I ended up at Zopilote, but if I had managed to get into El Pital or Raindance Hostel, I would likely have paid more.
In Popoyo, my dorm was around £17.93 per night, making six nights approximately £107.58.
So, based on the hostels I stayed in, £10–18 per night gives you a good idea of what to expect for a dorm in popular backpacker destinations, although popular hostels and private rooms can obviously cost more.
For more recommendations, see my guide to where to stay in Nicaragua.
How Much Does Food Cost in Nicaragua?
Food was another area where Nicaragua was very affordable, particularly if you eat local food.
I ate at a mixture of local restaurants and Western-style cafés, and there was a noticeable difference between the two.
As a rough guide from the prices I came across:
- Beer: around £1.90
- Coffee: roughly £1.20–£1.80
- Smoothies: roughly £1.80–£2.20
- Western-style breakfasts: roughly £2.50–£4.50
- Local restaurant mains: roughly £3–£4
The exact exchange rate obviously changes, but these give you a useful idea of what prices felt like while I was there.
Local Food vs Western Food
You can eat very cheaply in Nicaragua if you stick to local food.
Once you start eating at the more Western-style cafés and restaurants that are popular with backpackers, prices increase, although they were still relatively inexpensive compared with the UK.
Kooks Cafe in Popoyo was a good example. Breakfast dishes ranged from roughly £2.50 to £4.50, while coffees were around £1.20–£1.50 and smoothies around £2.
On Ometepe, El Pital was another example of the more expensive Western end of the spectrum. Their smoothie bowls and Western-style dishes were around £4–5.
But there is one thing at El Pital where I would absolutely ignore the budget:
The Famous El Pital Cheesecake
El Pital’s cheesecake is famous among travellers for a reason.
It is firmly in the category of “yes, this costs more than a local meal, but just buy it anyway.”
If you’re staying on Ometepe, I’d genuinely budget for it. It was one of those foods that made the slightly higher Western-style prices worthwhile.
How Much Does Alcohol Cost in Nicaragua?
Alcohol didn’t exactly break the bank either.
One price that stuck with me was around £1.90 for a beer.
That makes it very easy for drinks to become a relatively small individual expense while still adding up over the course of a trip.
And I definitely wasn’t avoiding alcohol during my Nicaragua trip.
Between hostel socialising, nights out and the country’s major backpacker parties, drinking was part of my normal travel budget.
This is another reason I wouldn’t describe my £45 daily spend as a shoestring figure.
How Much Does Transport Cost in Nicaragua?
Transport was another area where I found Nicaragua very affordable.
I used a mixture of public buses, shared taxis, tourist shuttles and private taxis depending on the journey.
Granada to Ometepe
Getting from Granada to Ometepe by public transport was particularly cheap.
I remember paying only a couple of pounds for the bus, followed by roughly the same again for the ferry.
If you’re happy using local transport rather than booking a tourist shuttle, this journey doesn’t need to cost much at all.
León to Granada
For León to Granada, I used a shuttle.
Current shared shuttle prices are generally around US$18–20, depending on the operator, so I’d use roughly that as a guide if you’re planning your own trip.
Local buses are cheaper again, but the shuttle is considerably simpler if you’re carrying a backpack and want to avoid figuring out connections.
Ometepe to Popoyo
For Ometepe to Popoyo, I split a taxi with another traveller who had already arranged the journey. I think I gave him around C$500 for my share, although this is one of the prices from the trip that I don’t have an exact record of.
Sharing taxis and private transfers like this is a useful way of keeping transport costs down when travelling Nicaragua.
Cash Is Particularly Important in Popoyo
One thing I’d plan for differently is cash.
Popoyo is much more cash-dependent than the other places I visited, and there isn’t an ATM in town.
I’d therefore make sure you withdraw enough money before heading to Popoyo rather than assuming you can simply get more when you arrive.
León, Granada and Ometepe were less of an issue in this respect, although I’d still carry some cash for smaller restaurants, transport and other businesses that don’t take cards.
For more detail on getting between destinations, see my guide to getting around Nicaragua.
How Much Do Activities Cost in Nicaragua?
This is probably the part of your budget where you’ll see the biggest variation. Some of the best things to do in Nicaragua are free or very cheap, while the big organised experiences can cost considerably more.Volcano Boarding
Volcano boarding was one of my highlights from León. The tour price I found was around US$37.90, or roughly £30. It’s one of the more expensive individual activities you’ll pay for in Nicaragua, but it’s also one of the country’s signature experiences. Find out more in my León travel guide.Treehouse Parties
The famous Treehouse parties near Granada are another larger expense. Tickets are around US$30, with organised transport included. That is obviously a lot more than a hostel night or local meal, but if you’re travelling through Nicaragua’s backpacker circuit, it’s the sort of expense you may want to factor into your budget rather than being surprised by it. Read more in my Granada travel guide.Surfing in Popoyo
Surfing doesn’t necessarily have to cost much either. A board rental price I came across in Popoyo was:| Rental | Price |
|---|---|
| One session / 3 hours | US$10 |
| Full day | US$12 |
| 24 hours | US$15 |
| One week | US$75 |
Is Nicaragua Expensive for Backpackers?
No. Nicaragua is one of the more affordable countries I travelled through in Central America.
My own spending of around £45 per day is probably the most useful benchmark I can give.
That allowed me to stay in good hostels, eat out, drink, use a mixture of public and private transport and pay for some of the country’s big experiences.
If you travel more simply, you can obviously spend less. If you choose private rooms, Western restaurants, private transport and lots of organised tours, you’ll spend more.
The main takeaway is that you don’t need a huge budget to travel Nicaragua comfortably.
How Much Money Do You Need for Nicaragua?
For a trip similar to mine, I’d use around £45 per person per day as a sensible starting point.
- 1 week: ~£315
- 2 weeks: ~£630
- 3 weeks: ~£945
- 1 month: ~£1,350
These are simply projections from my actual daily spending, rather than a promise that you’ll spend exactly this amount.
Your accommodation choices and how many activities you do will make the biggest difference.
For me, the important thing is that £45 per day gave me enough freedom to actually enjoy Nicaragua rather than constantly trying to minimise every expense.
