I am going to San Jose from Thrs. 2/23/06 to Mon. 2/27/06 (I have 4 Full days).
My husband has business here. I'm going along for the ride.
I'm interested in doing a bit of day tripping myself. (There's only so much sun & pool I can do!) Anything I MUST see in San Jose?
I want to see some of the wonderful things described in some of the posts I've read here! I don't want to travel too far. We are staying at the Real InterContinental. Any advice?

Author: Percy
Date: 01/03/2005, 09:50 pm


Having a private guide to help you tour San Jose is a great idea.

You should see:

1.The Gold Museum.
I thought I might not like the Gold Museum but I spent an hour and forty minutes here and could have spent another 20 minutes.

2. National Theater
( This is almost right behind the Gold Museum.)

3. The Culture Plaza:
( you can walk around here or sit and people watch for a while).

4. The Central Market (Mercado Central)
( Another place to people watch)

5. Jade Museum:
If I am not mistaken this is in an Insurance building and on the 11th floor...look out the window from here, nice view isn't it.!!

6. There is a Zoo here also with Scarlet Macaws.. the Zoo is near the Jade Museum.
Price of Admission is $6.00( probably higher now).

7. I also went to the National Museum.

Then you can ask your driver to take you to see Hotel de Oro,since you are near by.
I wanted to see this place as there were posting done about this place.

8. You want to see some nice historic building !! ..then ask your driver to take you to the neighborhoods of Amon and Otoya.

9. Have you read about these mystery spheres that were found in the Southern part of Costa Rica a very long time ago.

If you want to see one , then ask the driver to take you to the La Merced Church...it is almost right along Central Avenue..so it is not out of the way.
They still wonder how these spheres were made with almost 100 % accruacy of being perfectly round. !?!

Of course you will want to take a picture beside the sphere with the nice white church steeple in the background!!

10. See the Music Temple:

This is straight north from the Gold Museum.
Across the street is a double layered water fountain with cherubs circled around it.!
Again, you can take a picture by the water fountain with the Music Temple in the background .

I will stop at 10 but if you are going to tour San Jose,...

Then do what I did. Make a list and have it with you, because you will never remember all the places.

All you need is a good guide like I had.

Percy

Sorry I did not make an introduction.

The above comments was a reply Imade to another posting on Janaury 3rd 2005.

It outlines some lovely places to see in San Jose if you do not want to venture out of the city .

Percy

I know a great guide in SJ. He made all of the historical sites very interesting for us, and he also does a day trip to a rainforest and hot springs that's only about an hour and a half away from SJ. He can give you lots of other ideas too. His name is Gustavo Leon, 011-506-836-3679, and he has a wonderful personality. Email is [email protected].

Sandy

There are actually lots of tours already predesigned that may interest you. Or hire a driver and take the parts that you are interested in. Most recommended drivers are willing to take you where ever you desire and cost probably $100-$125 for the day.

Although we have not taken the predesigned tours, we have visited most of these areas either on our own or with a driver.

Certainly the Highlights Tour would be a great choice. Except that it is a long day, but very worth it. You will hike the Poas Volcano, visit the La Paz Waterfall Gardens with its magnificent hummingbirds and butterflies, the a float on the Sarapiqui plus a meal. Full Day.

Half Day city tour of San Jose, usually available for a morning.

Possibly do the very informative tour of the Doka Coffee Plantation and taste some delicious coffees. Doka is about half hour out of SJ, so this would be about a half day.

For a bit more theatrical tour there are the Cafe Britt tours.

There are tours of Sarchi and Grecia, seeing the oxcarts, some shopping, some lovely parks and interesting churchs. Probably half day.

Then south is Cartago with the most impressive church of all in CR - Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles - and it is beautiful, plus a stop at the ruins. And a stop at Lankester Gardens would be a nice probable half day. And you could add on the trip down through the Orosi Valley for some very nice scenery and lunch,. Total of all this is about an 8 hour day.

Very convenient is Zoo Ave for a couple of hours to see all the birds of Costa Rica up close.

Here are a couple of web pages that describe some of these tours, hopefully they will give you a bit more info.

The first is from the Orchideas Inn site, they use Wady Tours, who we found to have very informative drivers.

http://www.orquideasinn.com/attractions.html

This one is a website I found many years ago that offered good descriptions.

http://centralamerica.com/cr/tours/day.htm

Now - do you need to stay a few more days.!!??!

Have fun!

Great advice already! Percy and Donna have said it all--I just want to affirm their responses! So many people fly in and then head straight for Arenal or Monteverde or the beach. These areas in and around San Jose are often overlooked and they can provide you with a real cultural feel for the country.

I second the Highlights Tour--took it by myself and loved it. Long day, but very fascinating if seeing those things for the first time.

Cartago to Lankaster Gardens and Orosi Valley--gorgeous!

Doka Tour--yes! You could visit Sarchi/Grecia in the a.m. and take the 1:30 Doka tour.

San Jose itself--Percy (hi Percy) has given you the best of the city. It's worth at least a half day. My favorites were the Gold Museum and the National Theatre, and yes. .visiting the Plaza de la Cultura outside the newly renovated Hotel El Gran Costa Rica. The Mercado Central is very interesting--beware of your things. In fact, best not to carry a purse or backpack. Zip pockets in your pant legs, or an inside pocket advisable.

I think those parts of San Jose could be done in a half day.

Have a great time!

WOW!! Thank you for all the great advice! I'm going to try my best to do the most(IN A FEW DAYS) I can!