Uncle Julio

Getting us around the country

We did not hire a car for our month in Nicaragua. We tried to find a good balance of experiencing a lot of the country, while also staying still long enough in each different region to really get to know it. We would stay for around 5 days in each different location then spend a day in transit.

While hiring a car is relatively cheap compared to Europe, I prefer exploring by foot. Instead we piled the family into a private taxi for our travel days.

Our air BnB host recommended a driver called Julio and we used him for the first journey from Managua airport to Granada (1 hour) as soon as we first touched down in the country. He was great. Our flight was delayed and he was not bothered at all.

We continued to call on Julio for all our travel around Nicaragua. He became uncle Julio facilitating all sorts of adventures including Apoyo, Mombacho and the airport runs for the Corn Islands.

Julio is a lively Nicaraguan from Granada and was willing to take us anywhere in the country. He's very chatty if you know some Spanish, and offered me regular mini lessons to up my game in the native language.

Julio drives a very comfortable 5 seater saloon car with a big boot and his prices are extremely reasonable. For example, I'm writing this from a journey with Julio from Managua airport, via Granada for a bag pick up and then on to the Ometepe ferry port (2.5 hours altogether with stops) and we are paying $70. Julio takes dollars and Cordobas.

I would highly recommend Julio for trips in and around Granada and Managua. He is even willing to do trips further afield like the Ometepe ferry to San Juan Del Sur, but there is an additional cost for his travel from Granada.

You can contact him on 505 8899 0121 and he prefers a WhatsApp message.