Honduras to Nicaragua is not the easiest border crossing in the world, but we managed it in the end without too much hassle. Check out our experience of crossing between Tegucigalpa and Leon via the Guasaule border crossing below. If you’re not staying in Tegucigalpa (which isn’t for everyone..) then you will need to find a way to get to the Blanquita Express office in Tegus early enough to be able to make this journey – you probably need to be leaving Tegucigalpa no later than 9.30am.
Tegucigalpa to Guasaule via Choluteca
We first took the bus from Tegucigalpa to Choluteca using Transportes Blanquita Express (https://maps.app.goo.gl/qwb1gYWf5UwT9DLG7, co-ordinates 14.085180963621763, -87.21102510640118). In terms of security, Transportes Blanquita Express seemed to be the best of a bad bunch. We got the bus at around 9:30am. I won’t lie, like everything else Tegucigalpa-related this was pretty sketchy, which is part of the experience I guess. When we jumped out of the Uber at the Blanquita office in the centre of Tegucigalpa there were buses parked everywhere and we were immediately surrounded by guys aggressively shouting in our face, trying to get us on their bus. Most of the parked buses had no company branding or logos and people already on them, the drivers all seemed to be competing against each other and it was unclear which was the legit Transportes Blanquita bus. We tried to walk into the Blanquita ticket office to avoid the chaos but there was just a luggage handler in there who told us to go back outside. We eventually just got on the bus that was parked closest to the Blanquita office once we had confirmed with the driver that it was going to Choluteca.
The bus journey itself was fine and actually quite comfortable in the end. We had heard reports of bus jackings and robberies along this route, some seriously dodgy-looking guys boarded at one point and we were convinced they were going to hold the bus up but that didn’t happen and we made it to Choluteca in one piece.
Pulling in at the bus stop in San Lorenzo near Choluteca – you won’t find many gringos on this route
In Choluteca the bus dropped us off at the Blanquita depot. This is a few blocks away from the main bus terminal (https://maps.app.goo.gl/267X5WbQggDhaRot9) which is where to catch a colectivo to the border at Guasaule. We walked towards the terminal and saw a colectivo for Guasaule pulling out just as we arrived, so we flagged it down. The minibus was already full but crammed us in anyway among the luggage, making for a very sweaty and eventful journey holding a random guy’s bucket!
The minibus drove around the miles-long queue of trucks waiting to cross the border into Nicaragua and dropped us off in Guasaule right at the border. We were able to change our remaining lempira into Nicaraguan cordoba on the street here at a good rate.
Passing the endless stream of trucks at the border
The border formalities to exit Honduras were straightforward, we got our exit stamps and walked over the bridge into Nicaragua. The entry into Nicaragua was not so straightforward, there is a lot of conflicting information online about the Nicaraguan border process and I’m not sure the border guards know exactly themselves. We had read info beforehand about needing photocopies of passports etc, there was also an online form that we supposedly needed to complete which didn’t seem to work properly. I can’t speak for the experience of other people, but in the end none of this was necessary for us.
Entering Nicaragua
We entered the immigration building and queued up, only to be pulled into a side room by a female guard. She asked us some information about our contact details, profession, where we were staying etc and took the details down on her computer. She then checked our passport stamps, saw we had been to Colombia and asked to see our yellow fever certificates. This took us by surprise as we’d never heard or read anything suggesting yellow fever vaccination was a requirement to enter Nicaragua. Thankfully we had our vaccination certificates with us, we presented them to the female official and we were then allowed to join the queue for the entry stamps. Later in Leon we met some other travelers who had passed through the same border point that day on a Ticabus, they said that they had also been asked for their yellow fever certificates which had caused problems for some people on their bus that didn’t have them.
After rejoining the queue for stamps we passed through without a problem and paid the Nicaraguan entry fee of $13 each in cash in US dollars. The border agent didn’t accept one of our $5 notes as it had a small tear and we had to give him a higher denomination bill, this wasn’t a problem as he actually went out of his way to get change for us.
From the border we walked a few hundred metres down the highway to the bus terminal in Guasaule (https://maps.app.goo.gl/rSeFEi5jnrnu87JS9, co-ordinates 13.061476846729034, -86.9459873792906). There is a small station here with a few shops and it is possible to buy snacks and drinks while waiting for the bus. We waited around for an hour for the chicken bus to Leon at 4:30pm – I believe this is the last direct bus of the day so make sure to arrive before then to avoid having to change at Chinadega or somewhere.
In the chicken bus heading for Leon
In total we paid 132 lempira each for the bus from Tegucigalpa to Choluteca, 80 lempira each for the colectivo from Choluteca to Guasaule and 80 cordoba each for the chicken bus from Guasaule directly to Leon. We set off from Tegucigalpa at around 9:30am and arrived into Leon at around 7pm. The bus to Leon dropped us off at the side of the highway rather than the Market Terminal as we had expected, from the place we were dropped off it was about a 30 minute walk to the centro historico.
For more Nicaragua content click here, and for more Honduras content click here! For my guide to public transport and chicken buses in Central America, click here!