León, Nicaragua's most venerable city

[David Paul Appell]

When it comes to tourism in Central America’s largest country, the city that tends to get most of the attention is Granada (while ironically, capital Managua is pretty much avoided by all but business people). But in many ways I find its traditional – and less tarted up for tourists/expats – rival Santiago de los Caballeros de León, even more fascinating, beginning with the fact that despite its somewhat lower contemporary profile among foreigners, Nicaragua's second largest city (after Managua) is actually is actually home to the country’s oldest history, and indeed has always been considered its intellectual, cultural, and even emotional capital. Located just several miles in from the Pacific coast – a 90-minute drive northwest of Managua and some 2½ hours from Granada – much of León’s appeal is in fact similar to Granada’s, in the sense that it’s packed with wonderful... keep reading