As always, we complete these adventurous border crossings the cheapest way possible, but there is an easier, more expensive way. Companies like Rooney shuttle run the D&D Brewery, Lake Yojoa, Honduras to Leon, Nicaragua route. They charge $60 per person and leave at a nicer time. Buy hey, where’s your sense of adventure? To see how to get from D&D Brewery to Leon by chicken bus read on.
Make sure you have filled in the Nicaraguan entry form online before setting off!
Lake Yojoa (D&D Brewery) to Leon - steps at a glance
| Where to start journey | Journey time | Cost | Transport type |
D&D Brewery to La Guama | Opposite side of the road to where you were dropped off on way to D&D | 20 minutes | L50 (£1.60/$2) | 16 seater shuttle (AC) |
La Guama to Tegucigalpa | Opposite V-904 on CA5 | 3 hours 2 minutes | L130 (£4.20/$5.25) | 30 seater mini bus (AC) |
Tegucigalpa to Choluteca | Transportation Lenca - 12 Calle & 8 Avenida | 4 hours 30 minutes | L130 (£4.20/$5.25) | Coach (no AC) |
Choleteca to Guasaule (Frontera) | Terminal de buses - Choleteca | 1 hour | L45 (£1.45/$1.80) | Chicken bus |
Guasaule Frontera | Keep walking in the same direction as bus | 45 mins (the time it took us to get through all the exit and entre border checkpoints) | $13 (entry fee to Nicaragua) | Feet |
Guasaule (Frontera) to Leon | 200m up the road from Nicaraguan passport control | 2 hours 25 minutes | C$80 (£1.75/$2.20) | Chicken bus |
Leon bus terminal to central plaza | Terminal de buses Leon | 10 minutes | C$50 (£1.10/$1.40) | Taxi (or you could walk) |
D&D Brewery to Leon - step by step
D&D Brewery, Lake Yojoa to La Guama
The day starts with an ungodly alarm as you need to be on the road ASAP! After a quick bite to eat it’s time to don your backpack and walk to the “main road” to catch the first bus.
The bus is heading in the direction of Peña Blanca so when you get to the main road cross over and wait in the shelter opposite the road to D&D. Get the shuttle which states “Mochito Las Vegas” on the front and ask for “La Guama, Autobus a Tegucigalpa”. The bus passes at 5:30am so try to be there a little earlier than that. The bus was fairly full so our backpacks were hoisted onto the roof and we got the front seats.
Cost L50 (£1.60/$2), duration 20 minutes.
La Guama to Tegucigalpa
The first bus will drop you off in La Guama on the CA5 at the T junction of the V-904. A bus will likely be waiting there and someone shouting “Tegucigalpa”. If not, wait for the bus with “Tegucigalpa” on the front. Again, main backpacks were hoisted on the roof & we boarded a nice clean AC’d bus. The bus left at 6am and stopped once for a quick toilet stop & arrived in Tegucigalpa at 9:20am.
Upon arriving at the final bus stop in Tegucigalpa, turn out of the car park and head south (left out of car park) on 7 Avenida. Take the second right and go over one block and you will see Transportes Mi Yelvita on the right. Whilst walking you are likely to have a number of ticket touts approach you & they will show you the way to the booking office.
Cost L130 (£4.20/$5.25), duration 3 hours 20 minutes.
Tegucigalpa to Choluteca
Upon arriving at the booking office we were told the bus would be 20 minutes (and it was) and the price was L130 per person as was quoted on the wall. The nice young guy that walked us here got a small cut of that. The bus left at 10am, it was a large coach with no AC but windows opened throughout.
The bus to Choluteca took just over 4.5 hours getting in not long after 2:30pm.
Cost L130 (£4.20/$5.25) duration 4 hours 30 minutes
Choleteca to Guasaule (Frontera)
Upon arriving at the Terminal de buses Municipal in Choleteca, you simply need to cross the road and walk into the bus station. I use bus station in the loosest sense of the word as there is no desk but this is the place the chicken buses collect people, shouting where they are heading. As a general rule, if you are a lost-looking gringo someone will approach you asking where you are going to offer help. If not ask someone and they will help. You just need to say you are heading to Guasaule (Gwa-saw-lay) frontera, and you will be told where to go. We were told to stand on a cut through road next to a pile of rubbish. But sure enough within 15-20 minutes a bus came heading to Guasaule frontera. So at 3pm we were on the road, charged gringo price of L45 rather than L40 which everyone else was paying, but we were on the road.
Cost L45 (£1.45/$1.80), duration 1hr
Guasaule Frontera
Exiting Honduras couldn’t have been easier. Quick scan over your passport and a stamp and done. Then you head over the bridge to Nicaragua.
Getting through the Nicaraguan side gets a little more complicated. Make sure you have filled in the entry form online.
The first stop is a blue hut in the middle of the road where you need to show your Covid vaccination & they give you an immigration form to complete to declare you are not carrying any illegal items or large amounts of cash. This is handed in when you go through the scanners with your rucksack.
Next, you have to keep walking through an area which feels nothing like a border, apart from the mass of trucks. Cross over a roundabout then another 100m up the road you get to passport control. At the first window, they check your passport & give you a slip of paper. At the next window, you pay the $13 USD entry fee (don’t lose the bit of paper).
After this, you walk behind passport control towards baggage check. Pass in the immigration form you were given to complete at the very first checkpoint (the blue hut) to be checked before it is handed back to you (not sure why, we kept hold of ours in case it was needed on exit from the country).
The last step, walk up the road another 100m to another blue hut where an official takes the other slip of paper from you.
You are now in Nicaragua!
Guasaule (Frontera) to Leon
Walk up the road 200m and you will see a collection of collectivos in a car park on the left. We were lied to saying that all buses to Leon had finished at 1 pm and we would need to take a collectivo to Chinandega, and then take another bus to Leon. Luckily whilst waiting for the collectivo to fill up we saw the “Leon Expresso” chicken bus pull in at 5 pm. We promptly jumped off the collectivo, grabbed our bags and climbed aboard the direct bus.
The expresso may have been a lie! We sat on the bus for 50 minutes before it left. A long last leg and we arrived in Leon at 8:15 pm.
Tip: Whilst the last direct bus to Leon being at 1pm was a lie, the 5pm bus is in fact the last bus. If you do miss this, don't despair as you can take the collectivo options and still make it to Leon that evening. We are not sure of the prices, however. If you end up taking this alternative, if you could let us know in the comments it would be greatly appreciated!
Bus cost C$80 (£1.75/$2.20) and took 2 hours 25 minutes.
Unfortunately, the Terminal de Bus is on the outskirts of Leon so after a long day's travel it’s time to grab a taxi rather than walk. The cost of a taxi to the main square was C$100 (C$50 per person £1.10/$1.40)).
Summary
We’ve taken on quite a few journeys in Central America via local transport as it’s so much cheaper. Yes, this was one of the more tiring travel days but if we were to do the journey again we’d tackle it the same way.
If you take on this journey we’d love to hear how you got on.
Happy travels.
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