Rivas

Rivas sits on the narrow isthmus between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific, and its position has always been its significance: the transit route across the country ran through here during the California gold rush, and the town has been fought over and passed through repeatedly since the colonial period. What remains is a modest colonial centre with a large parish church, an old market, and the Museo de Antropología e Historia in an eighteenth-century hacienda house on the edge of town. For most travellers Rivas is a transfer point: buses to San Jorge for the Ometepe ferry, to San Juan del Sur and the Tola beaches, and along the highway to Costa Rica. Horse carts still work as taxis in the streets.

What you actually see

• The colonial centre - parish church, market and old streets.
• The hacienda museum - anthropology and history in an old estate house.
• Horse carts - still used as everyday transport in the town.
• The transfer hub - buses for Ometepe, the coast and the border.

When to go

December to April for dry travel. The town is hot year round. Most visits are dictated by onward transport rather than by the town itself.

Honest expectations

Rivas has few sights and most people pass through in under an hour. The museum keeps limited hours and is modest. The bus terminal is chaotic and taxi drivers push hard for fares to San Jorge and San Juan del Sur.

Nearby

San Jorge and the Ometepe ferry lie west; San Juan del Sur is southwest.