I am traveling with 3 of my closest friends to Costa Rica this November. We are fortunate enough to be able to stay for a whole month. It will be all of our first time to CR. We have rented a 4x4 the entire time. our current plan is to do the first week in san jose and arenal, the 2nd week on the pacific coast and the last 2 weeks on the carribean. we are on a budget and could use any advice. especially with lodging, anything that i've found online is very pricy. much thanks

LUCKY !!!!! Wow , that sounds great ! Listen , it can be done on a budget , but for starters lets clear up what budget is to you ? Is it a backpacker $ 20.00 per night ? 50.00 ? Camping ? LonleyPlanet( Thorntree ) is a great site as well . And maqbeach.com has tons of hotels listed from luxe to budget .

Sorry , maqbeach is only for M.A./ Quepos area !!

Hello, in La Fortuna and Monteverde you will find budget accommodations from 8$/pp, in Montezuma, Samara too, Tamarindo is a bit more expensive. Normally you find a place without reservation. I recommend to start with Arenal and make a stop in San Jose when you change from Pacific side to Carribean. When you like the city stay longer, if not skip.
Saludos and have a great time
costaklaus - <b>www.costaricaweb.<font color=red>de</font></b>

if you are really on a tight budget consider skipping the rental car for some of the trip- private drivers and cabs are far cheaper

get a new LP guide which has a good selection of lower end digs

another note: we are all pretty adventuresome and dont mind roughing it part of the time. we dont need t.v.s, phones, a/c.....thanks for the input this far

Hi mostef43,

You are going to love it! My husband and I got married in Manuel Antonio in January of this year. It was our first time in CR. Our favorite spots were Santa Theresa (beaches) and Monteverde/Santa Elena (cloud forest). Highly recommended. The beaches in Santa Theresa are to die for. We're returning in Feb 2006. We rented a car the first time but this time we're relying on public transportation I think. There is easy access to buses, Sansa, taxi's etc. Having a vehicle is nice though. You definitely need something with a 4X4 in Santa Elena and Monteverde (Cloud forests). The roads are pretty bad to this location but the views are amazing.

The best advice I can give you is to not lock yourself into a specific schedule. If you pack lightly you can pretty much buy anything you need and are used to having in the U.S. It can definitely be done on a budget but can get pricey if you do lots of tours. The people of Costa Rica are sweet, wonderful human beings and cater to the tourists since for most of them, this in their only source of income. Make sure you tip well.

You can definitely find cheaper and nice hotels if you spend some time looking. We decided to spend the money on lodging and we saved money on food because we ate at cheaper places. CR's fast food is the &quot;Sodas&quot; which are small taco stands with typical food. You can eat on 5 bucks or less. Lots of fruit stands.

I would also recommend buying Fodor's books on lodging and places to go. We made it an issue to stay in hotels owned and operated by the CR locals. Unfortunately, lots of hotels and restaurants are owned by Europeans and Americans and really exploit the local communities.

Let me know if you'd like specifics on hotel names, etc. and I'd be happy to give you some details.

Good luck!

so far we have planned on going to arenal, tobacon, cruise down the pacific coast, 1 week in nosara(beach house rental), then head down to manuel antonio, then cut over to peurto viejo and cocles beach. i would love some specific hotel names, it would be a lot of help. much thanks again

Price range would help ?

I am envious! Can't get to CR for an entire month for at least 2 more years.

Out of 4 trips to CR, my favs based on many different things are - Monteverde, southern Nicoya Penisula - stayed in Montezuma, the Central Valley, the Pacuare Rafting trip, Tortuguero and my MOST favorite was Bosque del Cabo in the Osa Pen.

It is hard to believe that we have barely scratched the surface.

Since you mention budget - I totally agree with Faithie, a dollar figure for lodging per day, would help tremendously in making suggestions.

I'm interested in specifics from some of the respondents. We are a family of four planning on going in March 06. We've paid nearly $400 a night in Maui, but have stayed for less than $90 for all of us in Europe at B&amp;Bs. We'd like places where the kids can swim but not necessary every single night. TV not a necessity after all that's why we take our kids to ecotourism places. My husband and I did Bahamas last year without the kids(Exuma) which was quite remote. Is costa rica like that. I like the recommendations to stay only in CR owned/operated inns. I'll take any specifics. Thanks--Ru

we have a couple of nice places lined up but in between we would like to stay under $10/per person per night, if not cheaper. ive heard of places being $20/night total, do these places exist? what about hostels? camping? we are not bringing any camp gear though. i've also heard of (?)furnished tents(?) tents that come with blankets????
thanks again for the input

Places do exist for 20.00 and under , but could be a little sketchy !! Maybe not so clean ( but maybe as well ) ..... Hostels exist ....

If you are adventurous and interested in meeting the locals, I'd recommend that you try things like Globalfreeloaders (www.globalfreeloaders.com) and Hospitality Club (www.hospitalityclub.org) and I think there's another few organizations like that. It allows you to stay with locals for free in exchange for agreeing to host people at your residence. But there's no obligation. My boyfriend and I used Globalfreeloaders in Europe and Australia and never had people stay with us until just recently because we didn't have the space. It is a nice option, though it may not work if you have several peopple (many people can only host one or two people at a time) but something to keep in mind!

My friend and I are leaving for a 2-week trip to CR on Saturday and are staying for free with one or two people from Hospitality Club, all of whom have been very friendly. If anyone has advice on the transport from San Jose to Osa (Corcovado) via bus, and the transport/logistics of the bus/boat from San Jose to Tortuguero, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Melissa

The other website, like Globalfreeloaders, is Couch Surfers (www.couchsurfers.com). Good luck!

We stated at several places and also photogrphed extensive virtual tours for our travel guide.

Tabacon Resort Virtual Tour:
http://www.destination360.com/centra...con-resort.php

a beautiful resort situated below an active volcano. The Hot Springs are teh best I've ever been to. This is an expensive resort.

Monteverde Virtual Tour - El Sol
http://www.destination360.com/centra...rde-hotels.php

El Sol is a quaint personal stay with home cooked meals. Wonderful owners, and private cabins. This is a real treat and its not very expensive.


San Jose Hotel Virtual Tour - The Alta Hotel.

http://www.destination360.com/centra...a-hotels-3.php

This is a beautiful Historic Hotel in San Jose. They have nice acoomodations and a wonderful restaurant.

Your itinerary sounds pretty good. I had the luxury of &quot;studying&quot; abroad there for 3 months. If I could add one thing I would say you should definitely visit La Fortuna waterfall in Arenal. Most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life. It is a little bit of a hike to get there and costs around $ 7 to get in.

You will find hostels for under $10 a night, but that will be a bed in a shared dorm. Some places have double rooms for around $20. Usually shared bath, but these are great places to meet other travellers. I know www.costaricabackpackers.com - a good example of this kind of accommodation. I think they have links to some similar priced places throughout the country.
There are also some very cheap Tico places throughout the country, but these are really just if you want somewhere to lay your head at night...not always that nice or clean. I'm thinking Hotel Gran Imperial in Coca Cola area of San Jose and cabinas Ramirez (or something like that) in M.Antonio. I stayed in these places a good few years ago when I was a student and on a tight budget! Cheap but not so cheerful!

sorry - i should have said the Gran Imperial and Cabinas Ramirez are for private rooms. less than $10 for a double 6 years ago but I don't know now