Herbch

Trying to figure out where to stay and for how long.

Will not be driving, so will need to arrange a driver between places.

Will spend a few days outside san jose - maybe stay at Hotel bougainvillea or hotel buena vista and take several of their tours. eg. lankaster gardens, poas volcano, sarchi, etc.

would like to see la paz waterfall gardens.

then go to La bosque de paz for ? nights and then to Las selva biological station for ? nights and the back to airport for trip home.

curious how much time to allow at each place. also if any of the things we would see on a group tour from bougainvillea are close to where we will eventually go, should we just see them on the way or stay there a night -(especially the waterfall garden)?

we get VERY different prices on tours and transportation costs depending who we write to.

any help would be appreciated.

Herbch

also how are the roads between all these locations and the typical temperature?

shillmac

How long will you have? I like your itinerary as it includes some of my (and many others') favorite places!

You are correct in that you can see and do a LOT from Hotel Bougainvillea (never could spell that word!). You should be able to do Poas and La Paz in one day. Poas is an early a.m. (by 8:30 or 9:00) activity for good viewing of the crater, then it's a short drive over to La Paz where you can enjoy the entire grounds in a couple of hours. Sarchi also a good idea, and Lankaster Gardens--thumbs up!

I think you would also enjoy the little town of Zarcero with its topiary gardens in front of the church. Beautiful little place. Grecia is a fun little town as well. You could do these the same day you go to Sarchi.

You'll be touring an area fairly close in proximity to Hotel Boug. . .your choices of La Selva (Selva Verde Lodge?) for a couple of nights and Bosque de Paz for a couple of nights are, in my opinion, just perfect!

While at La Selva, you can check out Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui (the river float, 1.5 hour, is kind of interesting, relaxing) and also La Selva Biological Station. Hire a guide and you'll see and learn much! Amazing stuff. . .

Haven't been to Bosque de Paz, but have read a lot about it, and it sounds like a fascinating place.

The minimum would be 3 nights, 2 nights, and 2 nights. If you can manage 4 nights at Hotel Boug, that would be even better. It would be nice to have a full day for Poas/La Paz/relaxing; another full day for the little towns; and another day for Lankaster Gardens which, because it is on the other side of San Jose, needs a separate day (and you should also do the Orosi Valley and possibly Volcan Irazu while in that area--good day trip). It would also be great if you could spend 3 nights at Selva Verde, then maybe 2 or 3 nights at BdP.

It's great that you are interested in staying the entire time in this area of the country. IMHO, it is the some of the best that Costa Rica has to offer--gorgeous vistas! Enjoy!

All of the driving between these locations is decent (although I don't know about getting to Bosque de Paz). People talk about the roads being horrible; it's all relative--we've never thought they were that bad. But then we've always lived in rural areas.

The temps will be lovely in this part of the country--at nights it can get down around 60. Daytime temps usually in the low 80's. Bosque de Paz will be cooler. Sarapiqui (La Selva) area will be hotter and more humid.

Herbch

thanks for reply. really not keen on driving. so how to arrange drivers between these places?

also La Paz and Poas - are they nearer to la bosque and would it pay to hire driver for the day and see them on the way? Safe to leave stuff in car if do this?

Or stay over at peace lodge? but then lots of packing and unpacking.

hesitating on la selve because of heat and humidity. but have plenty of time to decide.

shillmac

I wouldn't second guess this itinerary too much. It's a winner! Hopefully someone who has hired private drivers will respond to your questions. We like driving ourselves, but I know there are some great drivers out there who are also excellent guides.

I do think you could go to Volcan Poas in the early a.m., on to La Paz, then continue on to Bosque de Paz in the early-mid afternoon. But not having been to Bosque de Paz, I'm not completely sure. And yes, you can leave your things in the car at Poas and La Paz. Both are closely watched areas. And if you hire a driver, that's a little extra security.

You might do a search on "drivers" on this board--it's been discussed a lot, with names and phone numbers.

Dyer

Herbch - We used Leo Rodriguez in May. He drove us 4 1/2 hrs. to our destination. We didn't hire him for the drive back to San Jose until we got to know him and experience his driving. My 18 and 21 yr. old and my 51 yr. old husband agreed to use him on the trip back as he was so pleasant, knowledeable and safe. There have been many positive posts about him on this site along with the fodors.com and frommers.com sites. His e-mail address is [email protected] To call him from the USA: 011-506-378-0001