3 Best Sights in Arenal, Monteverde, and the Northern Lowlands, Costa Rica

Two-hour tours departing at 10 am and 3 pm guide you from the bean to the cup at this coffee plantation and old-fashioned trapiche (sugarcane mill) where you can sample liquor, java, and other locally made products. The hands-on tour includes a ride on an oxcart and some sweet treats made from homegrown coffee beans, sugarcane, and cacao.

Bite your tongue before requesting Costa Rica's ubiquitous Café Britt up here. Export-quality Café Monteverde is the local, sustainably grown product, and the tour lets you see the process up close from start to finish from the area's Turín plantation, 3 km (2 miles) north of Santa Elena, where the plants are grown in the shade; transported to the beneficio, the processing mill where the beans are washed and dried; and finally to the roaster. Reservations are required, and pickup from area hotels is available. They also operate the Monteverde Coffee Center (coffee shop) in town next to CASEM and the Café Monteverde in Santa Elena.

Small groups are the hallmark of these tours that last about two hours and let you see the coffee process from start to finish at the plantation of Don Juan Cruz, one of the original settlers in the area. You can also learn about chocolate and sugarcane. Transportation can be arranged from all Monteverde-area lodgings. To get a taste without the tour, you can visit their café and gift store next to the post office in Santa Elena.