Have Camera Will Travel | Places HomepageHave Camera Will Travel | Places

David Coleman Photography

  • Places
  • Washington DC
  • Cherry Blossoms
  • Tips & Tricks
  • Photos
  • Africa
    • Tanzania
  • Americas
    • Mexico
    • Guatemala
    • Nicaragua
    • Panama
    • United States
      • Washington DC
        • Cherry Blossoms
    • Argentina
    • Chile
    • The Caribbean
    • Canada
  • Antarctica
  • Asia
    • Myanmar (Burma)
    • Vietnam
    • Laos
    • Japan
  • Australasia
    • Australia
    • Vanuatu
  • Europe
    • Denmark
    • Norway
    • Turkey
    • Belgium
    • Greece
    • United Kingdom
      • England
      • Wales
    • Czech Republic
    • Austria
    • Portugal
    • Poland
    • Italy
    • Germany
    • France
    • Russia

Granada’s Market

Mercado Municipal, Granada, Nicaragua

Yuca Root at Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Chopping yuca root. Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Nicaragua // Granada Nicaragua· markets Location: [post_gps_latitude], [post_gps_longitude]

I love morning markets, and I always make a special point to go to them if a town has one. They’re often one of the best ways to get a good dose of local flavor. They’re an essential part of the life-blood of the local community, and the locals depend on them for everyday basics of food and home supplies. So if you want to see what the locals are eating (as opposed to what’s being served in the fancy pants tourist restaurants or even in the street food), there’s no better place to start than bright and early at the morning market.

Granada’s market is especially good. It’s large and colorful, pungent and bustling. And insofar as markets go, it’s really the only show in town, so everything is concentrated here.

This market is very much for locals, not tourists. If you need chicken, pork, or fish for the night’s dinner, this is the place. Likewise if you need fresh yucca root, mangos, limes, milk, rice, cheese, fresh plantains or just about anything you’d put on your plate if you lived in Nicaragua. You can also get home essentials, such as basic hardware supplies like rope and tools as well as a few vendors selling clothes or Central American party supplies (ie. that is to say, piñatas). And there seems to be an over-representation of flip-flops and colorful bras. You can find some uninspired tourist trinkets in stalls in the surrounding streets, but if you’re after souvenirs you’re better off going elsewhere.

While it’s not technically a morning market in that it’s open all day, it’s at its best in the morning when the fresh food vendors are out in force selling their wares. Many vendors selling non-perishable items often remain open throughout the day. But there’s no refrigeration, so freshness is key. And it’s also why the briskest business is done early in the day so that the food doesn’t have to sit out long before the day’s heat kicks in.

The market is located just a few blocks south of the main square and is housed (well, sort of housed) in a building that is potentially quite striking. But the building has seen better days. Now it’s not much more than a facade, and a long neglected one at that.

The real action of the market happens behind that facade in a few blocks covered by a ramshackle roof built up over time as pieces of corrugated iron layered over each other to keep the harsh sun and rain off. Under that low roof is a warren-like maze of narrow pathways between vendors selling anything that locals might need for their day-to-day lives.

It’s not the sturdiest structure you’ve seen, and the market is not going to pass any fire code or accessibility inspections–or pretty much any inspections, for that matter. Someone presumably controls who can set up shop where–as well as regulating operating hours and mediating disputes between vendors–but it appears for all the world to be a self-regulating free-for-all. It also spills out into the surrounding streets, with some of the busiest sections being outdoors.

Photos of Granada’s Mercado Municipal

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Fruits and Vegetables at Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Stalls at Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada--28-COPYRIGHT-HAVECAMERAWILLTRAVEL.COM.jpg

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Yuca Root at Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Fruits and Vegetables at Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Yuca Root at Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Stalls at Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

Granada's Market (Mercado Municipal)

Photo by David Coleman. How to license & download this image.

What to Know Before You Go

  • If you want the best local flavor, go early in the morning. Because there’s no refrigeration, most of the stalls selling perishables like meat, poultry, and fish are only open during the morning. By mid-morning the day’s stocks can be running low. It’s buzzing by 7am (it opens a bit later on Sundays, at 8am).
  • It’s crowded and some areas can be a bit cramped if you have issues with claustrophobia. A good sense of direction also helps, because once you’re inside you don’t have any external reference points to work with.
  • While not essential, closed walking shoes with a decent sole aren’t a bad idea. For one thing, the floor is uneven and can be slippery. For another, there’s no telling what you might end up stepping in. Clean-up involves buckets of water over the chopping bench, washing all of the waste onto the floor, where it drains through a series of gutters. All that fish and chicken and meat and vegetable waste has to go somewhere. By all means, wear flip-flops if you want, but don’t say I didn’t warn you!
  • If you’re tall, watch out for low-hanging sections of roof!
  • This is very much a market for the locals. You can find a few souvenir-type offerings in the streets around the outside, but if you’re after handcrafted goods or souvenirs you’re much better off at one of the stalls on the Parque Central or in one of the tourist shops in the area around the park.

Where to Next?

  • Parque Central at Dusk, Granada, Nicaragua
    Granada's Parque Central
  • Lake Nicaragua Cows Grazing on Granada Beach on Lake Nicaragua
    Granada's Waterfront by Lago Nicaragua
  • Streets of Granada, Nicaragua
    Granada, Nicaragua
  • Altar Piece in Cathedral of Granada, Nicaragua
    Catedral de Granada
  • luang prabang 03 copyright havecamerawilltravel com - Luang Prabang's Morning Market
    Luang Prabang's Morning Market
  • Iglesia de la Merced, Granada, Nicaragua
    Iglesia de la Merced | Granada
  • Myinkaba Village Market near Bagan
    Myinkaba Village's Morning Market
  • Granada Municipal Cemetery
    Granada Cemetery
  • Phonsavan Morning Market Cooked Food
    Phonsavan's Morning Market


Travel Advice for Nicaragua

You can find the latest U.S. Department of State travel advisories and information for Nicaragua (such as entry visa requirements and vaccination requirements) here.

The British and Australian governments offer their own country-specific travel information. You can find the British Government's travel advice for Nicaragua here and the Australian Government's here.

Health & Vaccinations

The CDC makes country-specific recommendations for vaccinations and health for travelers. You can find their latest information for Nicaragua here.

David Coleman Photography

I take photos. I travel. I write. I do it for a living. Seven continents. Dozens of countries. Up mountains. Under water. And a bunch of places in between. You can find my main site at havecamerawilltravel.com. Or check out what’s in my go-to travel photography kit. Or get in touch here.


Location: Granada
Country: Nicaragua
Coordinates:
      Latitude: 11.926726
      Longitude: -85.954760

      # Granada Nicaragua
      # markets



About David Coleman

I take photos. I travel. I write. I do it for a living.

I’m based in Washington, DC.

You can find my photography gear reviews and tips at havecamerawilltravel.com/photographer.

David Coleman Photography

I take photos. I travel. I write. I do it for a living. Seven continents. Dozens of countries. Up mountains. Under water. And a bunch of places in between. You can find my main site at havecamerawilltravel.com. Or check out what’s in my go-to travel photography kit. Or get in touch here.

Licensing & Prints

Looking for travel stock photos or prints? I might be able to help. You can search my collection here:

If you already have a buyer account with Alamy and would prefer to use that, you can search my images directly here.

Get in Touch

Member

© 2009–2021 David Coleman · Have Camera Will Travel LLC · all rights reserved


Photos by David Coleman. Please contact me for licensing images.
All images are registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.


Privacy & Disclosure · Cookie Declaration · Disclaimer · Terms of Service · Copyright · Contact


XML Sitemap