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La Fortuna, Monteverde, Santa Teresa/Malpais/Montezuma (10 days)

La Fortuna, Monteverde, Santa Teresa/Malpais/Montezuma (10 days)

Old Apr 7th, 2013, 01:09 PM
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La Fortuna, Monteverde, Santa Teresa/Malpais/Montezuma (10 days)

A friend and I are leaving for Costa Rica in a month on a 10 day trip, traveling from San Jose to La Fortuna to Monteverde to Santa Teresa/Malpais/Montezuma and then back to San Jose. What I'm hoping you guys can do is recommend stops along the way between the villages, stuff to do not listed in travel books or the village websites, great places to eat and bars to hang out at, and just general advice.

San Jose: staying at Kap's place, only spending one day in San Jose because I hear that's all one needs, gonna walk around Otoya and Amon neighborhoods, Mercado Central, maybe gold or jade museum. Heard Jazz Cafe san Pedro, Steinworth, Pub Rock are good bars to check out. Food or cool stuff recommendations?

La Fortuna: Will be here 1.5 days. Renting a car and will drive here (anything along the way worth seeing?). Will raft and rappel and hike to arenal volcano and hot springs. Staying at Backpackers hostel. Heard there was a neat treehouse diner? as well as Soda la Parada was good and that Vagabundo was a fun bar.

Monteverde: Will be here 2 full days. Ziplining and hanging bridges (selvatura) and more hiking and horseback riding (sabines) and coffee tour planned (is this the best coffee plantation tour?) Staying at Monteverde Backpackers Hostel. A friend said Chimera? was good. Food or bars/clubs?

Santa Teresa/Malpais/Montezuma: These are all close, we're spending two nights in Santa Teresa (hostel 7) and one in Montezuma (luz en el cielo). Anything worth seeing on the trip from Monteverde to Santa Teresa? Don't really have much planned for these days, kind of hoping to relax on some nice beaches, do some yoga, maybe an easy surf class, see the montezuma waterfalls. Might skip malpais or maybe a day trip there. Food or bar or other stuff to do would be appreciated!

Super excited to live the pura vida and check out this beautiful country!
MaggieW is offline  
Old Apr 7th, 2013, 01:55 PM
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Soda la Parada is a good place for cheap local casados, La Choza de Laurel also has good food. Doesn't sounds like you're looking for fancy, but if you want a splurge, Don Rufino is good. In Monteverde, we liked Pizzeria de Johnny. I've never heard of a treehouse diner in La Fortuna.

We liked Rios Tropicales for rafting and La Roca for waterfall rappelling. Eco Termales is a nice local hot springs. If there's any way you can spend more time in La Fortuna, I would do it. 1.5 days isn't really enough there.
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Old Apr 8th, 2013, 04:36 PM
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Thanks for the help. Looking forward to the hot springs! Not too excited to eat pizza in Costa Rica though.
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Old Apr 8th, 2013, 06:46 PM
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I had an awesome fresh salad there. They have more than pizza, although the pizza is very good, organic produce, wood-fired. Italian dishes, etc. The restaurant itself is charming with lots of lush greenery and a brook out back.

Pizza is pretty popular in CR; even Soda la Parada serves it. We got one one night and watched the lava flow down the volcano while we ate it. Not bad for ten bucks.

Eco Termales serves a pretty chicken dinner if you're there in the evening.
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