San José
On the southern side of the Plaza de la Cultura resides the Teatro Nacional, San José’s most revered building. Constructed in 1897, it features a columned…
Must-see attractions in Costa Rica
Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio
Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio & Around
Featuring lush jungle, picture-perfect beaches and craggy headlands, this tiny park (1680 acres/680 hectares) absolutely brims with wildlife (and often…
Cahuita
At the northwestern end of Cahuita, Playa Negra is a long, black-sand beach flying the bandera azul ecológica, a flag that indicates that the beach is…
Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal
From 1968 until 2010, Volcán Arenal was an ever-active and awe-striking natural wonder, producing menacing ash columns, massive explosions and streams of…
Southern Costa Rica & Península de Osa
The world-class Wilson Botanical Garden is internationally known for its collection of more than 2000 native Costa Rican species. Species threatened with…
San José
This museum houses the world’s largest collection of American jade (pronounced ‘ha-day’ in Spanish), with an ample exhibition space of five floors…
Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio & Around
Geography fun fact: this isthmus, which is the centerpiece of the park, is called a tombolo and was formed by the accumulation of sand between the…
Museo de Oro Precolombino y Numismática
San José
This three-in-one museum houses an extensive collection of Costa Rica's most priceless pieces of pre-Columbian gold and other artifacts, including…
Southern Costa Rica & Península de Osa
Around 500km southwest of the Costa Rica mainland, Isla del Coco is a natural wonder that teems with wildlife, including the largest schools of hammerhead…
Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio & Around
A half-hour hike from the park entrance, the exposed Playa Espadilla Sur is to the north of Punta Catedral and gorgeous with pinch-me scenes of white sand…
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Monteverde & Around
The exquisitely misty 310-hectare Reserva Santa Elena offers a completely different cloud forest experience from Monteverde. Cutting through the veiled…
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Montezuma
A 40-minute river hike leads to a waterfall with a delicious swimming hole. Further along, a second set of falls offers a good 12m leap into deep water…
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Uvita
Around 2.5km inland and uphill (toward Cascada Verde hostel), this waterfall plunges into an inviting deep pool, perfect for a refreshing dip. Visitors…
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San José
Though josefinos mainly do their shopping at chain supermarkets, San José’s crowded indoor markets retain an old-world, authentic feel. This main market,…
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Catarata Manantial de Agua Viva
Central Pacific Coast
This 200m-high waterfall is claimed to be the highest in the country. From the entrance, it’s a steep 3km (45-minute) hike down into the valley (an hour…
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Southern Costa Rica & Península de Osa
This site, 4km north of Sierpe, offers the best opportunity to view the mysterious pre-Columbian spheres created by the Diquís civilization between 300…
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Southern Costa Rica & Península de Osa
Set on a verdant hillside between Pavones and Punta Banco, Tiskita Jungle Lodge consists of 100 hectares of virgin forest and a huge orchard, which…
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Southern Costa Rica & Península de Osa
While much of the Cordillera de Talamanca is difficult to access, Costa Rica’s highest peak, Cerro Chirripó (3820m), is the focus of popular two-day…
Northwestern Costa Rica
At the head of the Golfo de Nicoya, the 198 sq km Parque Nacional Palo Verde is a wetland sanctuary in Costa Rica’s driest province. The park’s shallow,…
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Northwestern Costa Rica
With the addition of Parque Nacional Guanacaste (345 sq km) in 1989, the Area de Conservación Guanacaste became part of a protected nature corridor…
Northwestern Costa Rica
If you're pressed for time and in search of a quick, easy waterfall visit, Llanos de Cortés will do nicely. From the entrance, which is now guarded, you…
San José
One of San José’s nicest green spaces, this shady spot lures retirees to read newspapers and young couples to smooch coyly on concrete benches. At its…
San José
Entered via a beautiful glassed-in atrium housing an exotic butterfly garden, this museum provides a quick survey of Costa Rican history. Exhibits of pre…
Caribbean Coast
This misty, green coastal park sits on a broad floodplain parted by a jigsaw of canals. Referred to as the ‘mini-Amazon,’ Parque Nacional Tortuguero is a…
Reserva Biológica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde
Monteverde & Around
This beautiful cloud forest reserve came into being in 1972, when the Quaker community (which had already set aside a third of its property for…
Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Curú
Península de Nicoya
Situated at the eastern end of the peninsula, this tiny 84-hectare wildlife refuge holds a great variety of landscapes, including dry tropical forest,…
Central Pacific Coast
Carara is the famed home of one of Costa Rica’s most charismatic bird species, the scarlet macaw. While catching a glimpse of this tropical wonder is a…
Monteverde & Santa Elena
This sweet-smelling garden in Santa Elena has shady trails winding past more than 500 types of orchids. On your guided tour, you’ll see such rarities as…
Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Ostional
Península de Nicoya
This 85 sq km coastal refuge extends from Punta India in the north to Playa Guiones in the south, and includes the beaches of Nosara and Ostional. It was…
Monteverde & Santa Elena
Head here for everything you ever wanted to know about butterflies. There are four gardens representing different habitats; they're home to more than 40…
Parque Zoológico Nacional Simón Bolívar
San José
It may seem ironic to visit a zoo in one of the most biologically rich countries in the world, but this is a popular spot with local families who pour in…
San José
East of Parque Central, the Renaissance-style Catedral Metropolitana was built in 1871 after the previous cathedral was destroyed in an earthquake. The…
San José
Reputedly Central America's largest insect museum, this place has an extensive collection assembled by the Facultad de Agronomía (agronomy faculty) at the…
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Parque Nacional Barra Honda Caverns
Península de Nicoya
This 23 sq km national park protects a system of 42 caverns. The only cave with regular public access is the 41m-deep La Terciopelo, which features…
San José
Northwest of Plaza España lies this pleasant, historical neighborhood, home to a cluster of 19th-century cafetalero (coffee grower) mansions. Recently…
San José
Housing more than 30 species of butterfly – including the luminescent blue morpho – in plant-filled enclosures, this small butterfly garden is a great…
Monteverde & Santa Elena
For those who prefer their reptiles under glass (or at least behind it), a guide will show you around and introduce you to more than 50 species of…
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Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas de Guanacaste
Península de Nicoya
Las Baulas national marine park encompasses the entire beach at Playa Grande, as well as the adjacent land and 220 sq km of ocean. This is one of the…
Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio & Around
With its turquoise waters, this lovely forest-backed beach fronts a deep bay, sheltered by the Punta Catedral on the west side and a promontory on the…
Mal País & Santa Teresa
About 8km north of the Playa El Carmen intersection (past Playa Hermosa), Playa Manzanillo is a combination of sand and rock that’s best surfed when the…
