Elise

First, I want to thank all of you in this forum for helping me plan a wonderful "first" trip to Costa Rica. I am just back after 12 wonderful days in paradise and wanted to give a quick trip report.

We arrive in Alajuela and stayed at the Buena Vista. Wonderful little boutique hotel and very closed to the airport! Wilson, from the hotel, picked us up at the airport (free shuttle from airport to hotel) and provided incredible help to plan our next days. Breakfast was included, good but not elaborate. The view of the town and Central Valley from the hotel was breathtaking! It was rather chilly at night and I am glad I brought warmer clothes.

The next day, we rented a car (the smallest and cheapeast) to go to Poas and La Paz Waterfall on our way to Arenal. Incredible! We loved both. The driving was fun. We dropped the car in Arenal and this was the only time we rented a car. We definitely did not need one anytime after. Public transportation was sufficient.

We rented a room at Los Lagos, on the Arenal Volcan. Beautiful resort, huge and great, lots to do e.g frogs, butterlfy and crocodile farm, waterslides, 2 pools... Rooms are very clean, with a little "veranda" and the restaurant is good. Still some constuctions going on to finish some parts of the resort but we did not hear anything as we were far from it. The greatest part of it was the trails to the volcano and the view of it. We saw toucans as we walked up the Volcano and saw in the middle of the night 8 lava flows, explosions from the top, surrounded by the stars of a clear sky. The ground was shaking and the volcano was loud. Unforgettable!!! We also went to Tabacon Resort and tried the hot springs - Just wonderful!!! We walked from La Fortuna to the Waterfall (5km)- it was beautiful and we were all alone in this paradise! We had dinner at Luigi one night and at the hotel which was good.

We then left to Monteverde by the Jeep-Boat-Jeep tour. Did not cost us much and we enjoyed the ride much better than if we had to drive it. Scenery is breathtaking and in my opinion it would be difficult to enjoy if your attention is directed to driving through this "hell" of a road. Part II coming...

Joanel

how difficult was it to drive to paos and la paz? time? how much was car rental for day? where did you rent the car - near the hotel? thinking of taking some day trips and wonder if we would want our own car for a few days rather then a group tour.

Elise

It was quite easy to drive to Poas and LaPaz. No problem at all! The road is paved, although there are quite a few potholes and the road is narrow and full of curves - so you cannot drive very fast which is great because the views are beautiful. We did not get lost at all. Time from Alajuela to Poas : between 35-50 minutes(maybe a bit less). Time from Poas to La Paz: maybe 20 minutes (hard to remember specifically). Then from la Paz to La Fortuna: 2 to 2 1/2 hrs. We rented a car in Alajuela. Best place is at the Hampton Inn. All the car companies are there. We rented the smallest one : $33 for the day + $12 insurance. We had to pay a drop off charge in La fortuna $50. It ws cheaper for us to rent the car for a day and drop it off then to take a group tour and then pay for transportation to la Fortuna and give us much more freedom. Furthermore, we left early to Poas and arrived before the bus tour. The place was empty and it was great. On our way back to the parking lot, we saw the tourists bus arriving (around 9:00am) and were very glad we were the before to enjoy the silence and the beauty by ourselves. When we arrived in La Fortuna, we drove around to Tabacon, Arenal Lake and then we dropped the car. We could have kept the car for the 2 days in La Fortuna but decided to used taxis and walked. Cheaper and did not really need one. At our hotel, we had hiking trails to Arenal and we were closed to La Fortuna (1000 colones for a taxi). La Fortuna is small so we walked around and walked to the Falls (5 km).

danentin

This is great information as my wife and I are planning a similar itinerary from Alajuela to Arenal to Monteverde.

Our question is about renting the car in Alajuela. From what company did you rent the car and how did you get from your hotel to the car rental office? Also, did you book the car rental in advance? Thanks very much.

Elise

Sorry it took me so long to reply to your question. We booked with Alamo. All the car rental companies are one beside each other so you can compare prices and vehicles. We did not booked in advance. We got there and "shopped around"! The reason we booked with Alamo is that they were the only one that allowed us to rent the car for one day only and then to drop the car in Arenal and the drop off fee was the least expensive. It was still quite expensive for a small car but we are glad we did it.

We were lucky: Wilson the hotel manager was going to Alajuela and gave us a ride from our hotel to the Hampton Inn. Otherwise, we would have used a taxi (very cheap). Since all the car companies are all beside one another at the Hampton Inn, you can walk around and then come back to your hotel with your rented car. The Hampton Inn is very very close to the airport so depending at what time you arrive, you may want to rent the car right away.