Costa Rica

Costa Rica, in a few days

San José, Arenal, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio, by four-wheel drive: the map, what is worth booking, everything that costs nothing, and where to sleep at three budgets.

Day by day

1

San José

Day 1

The capital sits in the central valley, and is where trips to the volcanoes and the forests start. Give it a morning for the gold and jade museums.

🎟️ Worth booking

• City tour and the marketsHalf day · from €25
  Half a day between the National Theatre, the museums and the covered market, which is where the city actually eats.

✦ Free to visit

• The National Theatre
• The central market
• Barrio Escalante
• The museums

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Costa Rica Backpackers ↗ (€22 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Grano de Oro ↗ (€135 a night) · Luxury: Costa Rica Marriott Hotel Hacienda Belén ↗ (€180 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in San José on GetYourGuide

2

Arenal and La Fortuna

Days 2-4 · 🚗 Car 3h

A volcano with an almost geometric cone, and hot springs fed by what is under it. Its last active phase ended in 2010.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Hot springs and the volcanoHalf day · from €45
  Thermal pools heated by the volcano, best at dusk, when the forest around them starts to make noise.
• Zip line through the canopyHalf day · from €60
  A run of cables strung above the treetops. Costa Rica invented the format in the 1990s, for biologists before tourists.

✦ Free to visit

• Arenal volcano
• The Fortuna waterfall, seen from the top
• Lake Arenal
• The hanging bridges

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Arenal Backpackers ↗ (€30 a night) · Mid-range: Arenal Observatory Lodge ↗ (€180 a night) · Luxury: Nayara Gardens ↗ (€550 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Arenal and La Fortuna on GetYourGuide

3

Monteverde

Days 5-6 · 🚗 Car 3h30

Cloud forest with a density of species found in few other places, crossed by hanging bridges and zip lines. The cloud is there most days by noon.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Cloud forest on the hanging bridgesHalf day · from €35
  Walkways at canopy height, which is where the birds and the epiphytes are. Go at opening time for the quiet.
• Night walk to see the wildlifeEvening · from €30
  Two hours after dark with a guide and a torch: frogs, snakes, kinkajous, and the eyes that look back at you.

✦ Free to visit

• Old-growth forest
• Hummingbirds
• Trails in the mist
• The coffee farms

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Cabinas Vista al Golfo ↗ (€40 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Belmar ↗ (€185 a night) · Luxury: El Establo Mountain Hotel ↗ (€200 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Monteverde on GetYourGuide

4

Manuel Antonio

Days 7-10 · 🚗 Car 4h

Where the rainforest runs down to the beach: sloths, monkeys and turquoise coves, in the smallest national park in the country.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Manuel Antonio National Park, guidedHalf day · from €40
  A guide carries a scope and finds what you would walk past: sloths, toucans, and the squirrel monkeys found only here.
• Kayaking in the mangrovesHalf day · from €45
  Quiet water between the roots, at the hour when crabs, herons and caimans come out.

✦ Free to visit

• The beaches inside the park
• Monkeys and sloths
• Sunsets over the Pacific
• The coastal trails

🛏️ Where to sleep · Mid-range: Hotel Playa Espadilla ↗ (€95 a night) · Luxury: Arenas del Mar ↗ (€480 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Manuel Antonio on GetYourGuide

Worth sorting before you go

A four-wheel drive · The tracks up to Monteverde and down to the coast are rough and often unsealed. Read what the insurance actually covers before you sign for the car.

📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly

🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta

🚗 Car hire
Compare the agencies before you land.
Compare · Booking

💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut

🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer

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Flavours & local habits

🍽️ Worth tasting

• Gallo pinto: rice and beans, cooked together. Breakfast, every day.
• Casado: a plate of rice, beans, meat, salad and fried plantain.
• Ceviche: fish cured in lime, eaten cold at the beach.
• Tropical fruit in quantity: mango, papaya, and pejibaye, the palm fruit eaten with mayonnaise.
• Café de altura: high-grown coffee, among the best in the world and cheapest at the farm gate.

⚠️ Best avoided

• Take a four-wheel drive for the unsealed roads, and check the insurance excess.
• Leave nothing visible in a parked car, above all at trailheads and beaches.
• Rip currents are the main danger on Pacific beaches. Swim where others swim.
• Do not feed the monkeys or the coatis. It makes them sick and then aggressive.

Words that help

English ↔ Spanish

✈️ Flight delayed by 3 hours or more, or cancelled? You may be owed up to €600. Check your flight on AirHelp.

The practical page

Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/costa-rica

Packing checklist

Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos: Pexels and Wikimedia Commons (Mariordo ((Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz), CC BY-SA 4.0) · Details are indicative, check before you leave.