Top choice
Larger-than-life chef Eyal turns out transcendent meals from the freshest local ingredients (some from the gardens outside). Favorites include mushrooms smothered in cream sauce, tuna poke and (occasionally) local lamb and duck. Enormous, juicy burgers. It’s big food that goes down well. Reservations recommended.
If you want to sleep where you eat, book one of the sweet boutique rooms upstairs or adjacent to Gingerbread, each showcasing fabulous murals and other artwork by local creatives.
11.19 MILES
From 1968 until 2010, Volcán Arenal was an ever-active and awe-striking natural wonder, producing menacing ash columns, massive explosions and streams of…
8.44 MILES
If you're travelling between Monteverde and Arenal, there's no good excuse for skipping this stop. Viento Fresco is a series of five cascades, including…
9.13 MILES
Two kilometers northeast of Venado (Spanish for ‘deer’) along a good dirt road, these caves are an adventurous excursion into an eight-chamber limestone…
14.74 MILES
The exquisitely misty 310-hectare Reserva Santa Elena offers a completely different cloud forest experience from Monteverde. Cutting through the veiled…
Reserva Biológica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde
17.07 MILES
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…
25.39 MILES
It’s an animal rescue center. It’s a volunteer project. It’s Spanish classes. This community-based organization is doing a lot of good, and you can…
17.44 MILES
This wild-animal shelter was started in the 1960s by the late Lilly Hagnauer, a Swiss environmentalist. It’s one of the largest shelters of its kind in…
13.56 MILES
A fabulous mountain for hiking if you've got your own wheels and a keen sense of adventure. It's best to scale this at sunrise or sunset, and to avoid it…
8.44 MILES
If you're travelling between Monteverde and Arenal, there's no good excuse for skipping this stop. Viento Fresco is a series of five cascades, including…
9.13 MILES
Two kilometers northeast of Venado (Spanish for ‘deer’) along a good dirt road, these caves are an adventurous excursion into an eight-chamber limestone…
10.87 MILES
Set on 22 hectares, this private reserve about 11km west of La Fortuna is a mix of primary and secondary forest, filled with life, from vibrant blue…
4. Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal
11.19 MILES
From 1968 until 2010, Volcán Arenal was an ever-active and awe-striking natural wonder, producing menacing ash columns, massive explosions and streams of…
11.73 MILES
This snake house offers a hands-on animal experience, as in, handling and milking a venomous snake. It's home to a red-tailed boa (one of the largest…
6. El Castillo-Arenal Butterfly Conservatory
11.85 MILES
More than just a butterfly conservatory (although it has one of the largest butterfly exhibitions in Costa Rica). Altogether there are six domed habitats …
13.41 MILES
Located 6km west of La Fortuna, this is a well-manicured nature experience that includes frogs, turtles, snakes and crocs, all in their appointed places…
13.56 MILES
A fabulous mountain for hiking if you've got your own wheels and a keen sense of adventure. It's best to scale this at sunrise or sunset, and to avoid it…