feznlisa

Hi there,

I know most of the people on this forum are from the US - but we are an english couple in our 30's departing for our first trip to CR on 23 April for 17 days.

Any advice on our draft itinerary would be gratefully received.
Days 1/2 - 2 nights Ajaluela (either Orquideas or Xandari - we haven't decided yet)
- day trip from there to Poas

Day 3 - Travel to Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve (anyone been here?) & stay at the Hotel Villablanca in the Reserve.

Day 4 - Travel to Arenal - given recent posts we'll try and stay at Arenal Paraiso

Day 5 - spend day around Arenal - possibly visit tabacon springs - Paraiso for 2nd night.

Day 6/7 - Liberia with a visit out to one of the reserves in that area (any suggestions?)

Day 8 - Nicoya - haven't found anywhere to stay here yet.

Day 9 - we travel down to the Sunset Reef Resort on the edge of the Cabo Blanco for 7 nights. Any suggestions on other places to visit around here?

Day 16 - travel back to San Jose for 1 night before flying home mid afternoon on day 17.

So any comments, criticisms etc - are we trying to do too much & any info on driving times would be great.

We are still debating the transport issue - drive or interbus or a mixture of both - I've read reports that the driving around the Nicoya Peninsula really requires a 4wd - is that the case?

Thanks.

Iza

I have heard very good things about Los Angeles Cloud Forest and Villablanca. We have not visted it ourselves but drove past it on the way from Arenal to San Jose and it is located in a beautiful area.

From Liberia, the logical place to visit would be Rincon de la Vieja which is really interesting to see. You could also spend those couple of days (actually you'll have 3 nights because I don't think you need to spend time in Nicoya) in one of the coastal towns in Guanacaste.

From Sunset Reef definitely visit Cabo Blanco (closed Monday and Tuesday), and Montezuma which is a pleasant town, and try to see the waterfalls there. Other than that, you will have plenty of time to relax, surf and do nothing - it is a very quiet area.

shillmac

Most of the roads all over the Nicoya Peninsula are quite navigable in a regular car, actually! Especially in April! We usually get a four wheel drive anyway. In the Cabo Blanco area, you might be glad to have a 4 wheel drive although it isn't a matter of bad roads with potholes. . .more like unpaved and washboardy. But up in the more heavily touristed northern areas of the Nicoya Peninsula, a car would be just fine. The roads are certainly decent (quite good, really) in the Liberia and northern coastal areas.

costaricafinca

Dear feznlisa,
I am an Israeli and they let me in the forum ;-)
The first 5 days look very good and logical. Don't miss the hot springs, it is a real treat (doesn't have to be Tabacon, there are many new ones that are opening all the time). However, as Iza said, it is not very clear why you would choose to stay in either Liberia or Nicoya (is there a reason?). You can either go to the coast, for a few more days and drive south, or stay in hotels near the attractions you would like to see, like Rincon de La Vieja. Unfortunately, I have never been that south in the peninsula, but Cabo Blanco reserve sounds beautiful. With your itinerary, I would recommend renting a car, unless the thought of it makes you nervous and uncomfortable (it shouldn't). You are going to remote places, and you are moving around a lot, so it doesn't really make sense to depend so much on someone else. A 4x4 is recommended, especially in the south of the peninsula, but since it is only the beginning of the wet season, it shouldn't be too bad (no guarantees though....). In any case, someone will have to drive it, so it might as well be you.
Please feel free to write me directly for any more information.
Pura vida,
Neta Talmor

Iza

Here is my 2 cents as to 4x4 versus regular car in southern Nicoya: roads are unpaved beyond Tambor; while most of the time a 4 wheel drive is not necessary, high road clearance that you get in an SUV is. We drove in that area for about a week in August of last year - it was rather dry and not muddy. Even with the high clearance of our Nissan X Trail I managed to break off the muffler on a particularly rutted stretch of the road leading to Nosara.

The 4 wheel drive came in handy only once - we were driving from Montezuma to Cabo Blanco where the Ticos decided to repair a particularly bad stretch of the road by filling in a large area with loose gravel. We drove through it with no problem but a group of Ticos got stuck in a regular car right in the middle of it. They were very grateful when my husband who is a strongly built 6 footer ;-) stopped and helped them push the car out of the trap.