
The best places to live and retire in Nicaragua would be the colonial towns, such as Leon or Granada. Leon is a good place to retire for intellectual people because you will find good universities there. The second oldest university in Central America is in Leon. The local living is marked by the university communities. There are many students there. The third biggest cathedral in Latin America is found in Leon, too, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Also in Leon, you are also just 20 minutes away from the Pacific Ocean.

Granada is a colonial town marked by the commercial aristocracy of Spaniards who created this beautiful colonial town, but with neo-classic aspects. There are lots of two-story buildings there. The restaurants in Granada offer a wide variety of meals such as Asian, Latin American and local Nicaraguan. There is also great nightlife in Granada because there are several bars there.
Granada is located on Lake Nicaragua, which is a must-see because it is the biggest lake in the American tropics, in size between Lake Titicaca and the Great Lakes of North America. This is also the reason why the shamans of North America call Lake Nicaragua "holy water."
It is also nice to live on the Pacific beach properties, where there are several developments that are all equipped with Internet connection and electricity. There are several places on the Pacific coast where it is really nice to live. All these places are within a reasonable distance to the city of Managua, so if you need something from a big warehouse, or if you want to go to the malls, which are all in Managua, you are just one to two hours away.
The best beaches of Nicaragua would be in San Juan del Sur and the northern and southern parts of San Juan del Sur. San Juan del Sur is the traditional beach town of the Nicaraguans and it was in the 19th century when all the traffic to the US passed through San Juan Del Sur. The historic transitions to go from Boston to San Francisco or Los Angeles and back, all came through Nicaragua. Mark Twain arrived in 1867 to go through Nicaragua.
Several buildings in San Juan del Sur are of Victorian style. There are also great real estate offers, if you are looking to buy a house or an apartment in San Juan Del Sur. You will find a rural area in Tola, which is now a nice coastal development with fancy hotels and a five-star spa and lodge resort. There are some real estate properties there where you can build your dream beach house with a swimming pool and a view of the Pacific Ocean.
You can also go to Grand Pacifica, which is only an hour and a half away from Managua, and where you have a good opportunity to buy a new house or apartment. There are also good offers from some beach properties in areas where Nicaraguans also have their houses going north to Leon and behind Leon in the Chinandega area. There is also Marina Puerto del Sol, which is a marina where you can come with your own sailboat, and there are also offerings to buy a property there.
Managua is another nice place to live and retire. There are nice town condominiums in the hills going up behind Managua, but there is a little bit more traffic. After the big earthquake in 1972, the city of Managua was constructed with only one story houses, and it has been that way for 30 years. This has spread the city wider, so you need a car to get around. There are also nice condominium houses there, which are surrounded by nature. (Ometepe island in Lake Nicaragua, pictured above.)