Lakefront Travel Video Guide

Lakefront Travel Itinerary

• Maps and flag of Nicaragua
• Lakefront travel photos
• Lakefront travel forum
• Flights to Lakefront
• Hotels in Lakefront
• Hostels in Lakefront
• Buy the guide book!

Perched like a huge white futurist bird 200m north of the Plaza de la Republica, near the swampy shores of Lago de Managua, is the Teatro Nacional Ruben Dario , Managua's main cultural venue. Foreign orchestras and dance troupes on tour perform here, along with Nicaraguan theatre groups. Check the Guia Facil or La Prensa for details of events - though bear in mind that theatre performances are in Spanish only. If the building is open, it's worth going inside to see the massive chandeliers, marble floors and the stirring view out to the lake from the enormous second-floor windows. Outside the theatre, a determined attempt has been made to transform the lakeshore boardwalk, or Malecon , with bars and food kiosks, plus a Ferris wheel and a couple of fairground rides. It gets quite lively at weekends, though it's fairly deserted during the week except for stray kissing teenage couples. Just south of the Malecon is the vast Plaza de la Fe Juan Pablo II , a recently constructed square whose central obelisk commemorates Pope John Paul II's two visits to Nicaragua. Like the Malecon , the plaza is rarely busy, and is also one of the fiercest sun traps in the city, though it looks better at night when floodlighting adds some definition to its vast expanse.

There are pleasant views across the lake to the north from the Malecon, where Volcan Mombotombo and little Mombotombito sit side by side against the horizon on the far shore of the lake, 50km away. Mombotombo's capacity for destruction is evoked in the Museo Huellas de Acahualinca (theoretically Mon-Fri 8am-noon & 1pm-3pm; US$2),

just west of the Malecon in barrio Acahualinca (take a taxi or bus #112), a shabby little monument to a sort of Managuan Pompeii. On display are animal and human footprints from prehistoric unfortunates fleeing one of the volcano's frequent eruptions - preserved in volcanic ash, the footprints date back between 10,000 and 6000 years. In any other context this little display wouldn't merit a visit, but given that it's Managua, you might want to take a look if you have some time on your hands.

Your Tips For Lakefront

• Lago de Nicaragua Travel Videos
  Nicaragua Travel Itinerary
  Standing on the shore and looking out into its expanse, you can imagine the surprise of the Spanish navigators in 1522 when, nearly certain they were heading towards the long dreamed of route to the Pacific, they instead came upon Lago de Nicaragua . - Nicaragua
  

• North Nicaragua Travel Videos
  Nicaragua Travel Itinerary
  Nicaragua's north is really two regions, divided by geography and climate as well as - to an extent - the character of their inhabitants. - Nicaragua
  

• Southwest Nicaragua Travel Videos
  Nicaragua Travel Itinerary
  The vast majority of Nicaragua's population lives in the fertile plain that makes up the southwest of the country. - Nicaragua
  

• Atlantic coast Nicaragua Travel Videos
  Nicaragua Travel Itinerary
  Nicaragua's Atlantic coast is low-lying, soaked with mangrove swamps behind which loom near-impenetrable jungles - a vast region comprising about half of Nicaragua's total landmass. - Nicaragua
  

• Managua Nicaragua Travel Videos
  Nicaragua Travel Itinerary
  Hotter than an oven and crisscrossed by anonymous highways, there can't be a more tourist-unfriendly capital than MANAGUA . - Nicaragua