The busiest domestic bus routes are those between the capital and the provincial cities, particularly LeA?n in the northwest and Granada in the south. Other main routes run to Matagalpa, EstelA­, Masaya and Rivas, the last for connections to the Costa Rican border and the beach town of San Juan del Sur. Express buses also run on most routes from the Mercado Mayoreo - quicker but more expensive than normal buses. You can get most of the way to the Atlantic Coast by bus, a bone-jarring ten-hour trip from Managua to the port of El Rama, from where boats go upriver to Bluefields on the Caribbean. An alternate route is with a private bus company called Empresa Vargas PeA±a (tel 280-1812 in Managua; tel 822-1410 in Bluefields), who provide bus transport to Rama and then a connection by launch to Bluefields: the company has three departures daily from the Mercado IvA?n Montenegro (5am, arriving in Bluefields at 3pm; 2.45pm, with an overnight stay in El Rama; and 9.30pm, arriving in Bluefields at 7.30am).

Barring international bus services, tickets for which usually need to be bought between one and three days in advance, you can't reserve tickets on any buses within Nicaragua. Buses leave when they become full, which is usually pretty quickly - every fifteen or thirty minutes, with less frequent services leaving every hour or ninety minutes.

Grupo Taca has daily international flights between Managua and San JosA©, while Copa handles flights to and from PanamA?. The main domestic airlines are La CosteA±a (tel 263-2142/3/4; www.flylacostena.com ) and Atlantic Airlines (tel 222-5787), which both run frequent and reliable scheduled services, mainly to and from the Atlantic Coast. There are daily services to Puerto Cabezas and three flights weekly (Tues, Thurs & Sat) to WaspA?m on the northern Atlantic Coast; flights run to Bluefields several times a day, with two services daily to Corn Island. Advance reservations are essential. Both airlines have offices at the airport and agencies across the city.