8 day itinerary; liberia to SJ
 

We're starting in Liberia and ending in SJ. Initially I wanted to squeeze Corocovado in the mix somehow as their villas and private beaches looked so beautiful as did the park and trails - but the more I read the less that seems possible due to bad roads and long driving times.

So, since we're flying into Liberia should we stay a day or two around there before heading over to Arenal? Would love to find small cabanas on the beach somewhere...

Then maybe 2 nights at Lost Iquana in Arenal area...

Then what? I initially wanted to fly/drive down to Corovado but if we don't do that what else might be a nice way to round out the remaining 4 days? Is heading over to the Caribbean side too far as well?


Thanks!

30 minutes from the airport in Liberia is Playa Hermosa. Check out Villas del Suenos or Hotel El Velero. You'll find a little nightlife in nearby Playas del Coco (Coco Beach). A couple of nights there just to relax would be nice.

On to Arenal for a couple of nights at Lost Iguana sounds good. 3 nights here wouldn't be too much, especially if you do the full day Cano Negro tour.

You will then have 3 more nights? Depending on what you want most to do, there is a ton of adventure and beautiful vistas to be enjoyed right there near the SJO airport in the central valley area. You could base yourselves there and have some very enjoyable day trip experiences.

The other side of San Jose to Cartago, Volcan Irazu, Orosi Valley, Lankaster Gardens, Cachi Dam is a great way to spend one day.

Poas Volcano/La Paz Waterfall Gardens would be another excellent choice for a relaxed day. La Paz has beautiful falls as well as a great hummingbird gallery and butterfly garden. These could both be done in 4 hours or so (you'd need an early arrival at Poas to avoid cloud cover over the crater), leaving you the rest of the afternoon to maybe tour a coffee plantation (Doka Estates in the area has a good quality tour) or some other activity.

You could spend a day (or overnight,2 days) rafting the Pacuare.

You could go down toward San Isidro (south of San Jose on Highway 2) to San Gerardo de Dota and spend a couple of days in the cloud forest area at Hotel Savegre--trout fishing, hiking, horseback, falls, birdwatching (seeing the quetzal!)--wonderfully cool (even chilly at night!).

If you really want to do more beach time, you could drive down to Manuel Antonio for a couple of nights (although the drive from Manuel Antonio is 6 hours). If your flight doesn't leave until afternoon on your departure date, you could stay your last night there (3 hours back to the airport, barring any road problems). Otherwise, you'd need to be near the airport the night before.

There are any number of options for you, all of which are delightful. Yes, you could even drive over to the Caribbean side, but that too would be 5-6 hours from Arenal, then about 5 back to the airport. Too much for that amount of time, in my opinion.

Have fun planning! It's hard to go wrong. . . :)

One more thing I was going to say to you since you mentioned Corcovado and the Osa Peninsula. It's a great place to visit, but you would need to cut out your beachtime near Liberia in order to have enough time to go there. And then there wouldn't be much point in flying into Liberia.

Definitely it is too far too drive in the time that you have. If you just did Arenal for a couple of nights, then fly from SJO down to the Osa, staying 3-4 nights, then back for your last night near the airport, it would be do-able.

thanks for the feedback. We're going to fly from SJO to the Osa for 3 nights so we can spend some time there. I think we'll just stay a day in the Liberia area and drive over to Arenal - sounds like a pretty drive around the lake!

It is pretty. . .bumpy and a little rough, but all part of the adventure! Have a great trip!