allyboy

My wife and I are planning our first trip to Costa Rica in celebrating our 47th wedding anniversary! Based on my many hours researching right here on Fodors I have come up with the following itinerary. I would appreciate your comments and suggestions.

Day 1 NYC to San Jose
Day 2 Arenal ( Lost Iguana)
Day 3 Arenal
Day 4 Arenal
Day 5 Arrange for transportation to Monteverde ( need a place to stay)
Day 6 Monteverde
Day 7 Monteverde
Day 8 Arrange for transportation to Manuel Antonio ( need a place to stay)
Day 9 Manuel Antonio
Day 10 Arrange for transportation back to San Jose for flight home

*** We could stay 1 more day at Manuel Antonio

We would be celebrating our Anniversary at Lost Iguana!

Thanks!

Eliot_Greenspan

Depending upon your arrival time, you could be met at the airport and brought right to the Arenal area.

Best transportation from Arenal to Monteverde would be the Jeep-Boat-Jeep route. Very easy to set up.

From Monteverde to Manuel Antonio, you can either take a shared shuttle or private driver...

Wide range of hotel options, would need to know a budget to better advise.

sylvia3

Lost Iguana is a great choice. I'd add a day at MA, if just for beach time.

Cattail

I agree with Eliot that more information is needed. What are you looking for in an accommodation? What is your budget. Also agree with adding a day in MA, as long as it doesn't take away from Arenal or Monteverde. If so, you'll have a decision to make!

volcanogirl

We like the Lost Iguana too. On our last stay they said they're going to be doing a bunch of upgrades to the rooms, not sure when that is scheduled to happen. I love the jungly setting there. Fonda Vela is a good choice in Monteverde. They have some newer junior suites that are nice and have a bathtub and a small refrigerator; there's also a good restaurant on site. We picked it because it's one of the hotels closest to the reserve. We used Desafio's Jeep Boat Jeep to go between Arenal and Monteverde; it's pretty affordable and saves you time on the roads because you cut across the lake. Grano de Oro is a good city hotel in San Jose if you need one; their restaurant is excellent. Tulemar Bungalows is very popular in the Manuel Antonio area if you want to check there.

allyboy

As of today air fare from NYC to San Jose is approx. $ 468 round trip which means that I can either leave and arrive earlier or leave in the afternoon and arrive in san jose at 8:30 pm. Any suggestions?

I know that it is a 3 hour ride from the airport to Lost Iguana and would rather not make the trip in the evening so I will need a hotel closer to the airport.

We are a couple that will want to hike, explore the area, take photos ( wife is a photographer), see wildlife. We are considering both the nighttime hike and zip lining (just not sure where and if we should do this). My wife is a vegetarian and so we need to find restaurants and hotels that will accommodate her. We would like to go on a few guided tours and perhaps hire a driver to take us from one location to another. Regarding our budget: I would say in the $ 200 per night range for a hotel.

We like the idea of staying someplace where we can relax after a day out , enjoy a good meal, and a nice glass of wine.

Thanks Eliot, Cattail and Sylvia!

volcanogirl

I'd zipline at Sky Trek in the Arenal area - highest, longest lines in the country and beautiful views of the lake and the volcano. For night hiking, we liked Hidden Valley in Monteverde - saw some cool nocturnal animals like a fox, porcupine, etc. when we did it. If you want to get some good wildlife shots, I'd recommend doing the Cano Negro tour with Sunset Tours or Desafio.

MichelleY

In MA, look at the penthouse at Costa Verde2.

allyboy

Thank you so much volcano girl! I have been reading all of your postings and many of my choices have been a result of your experiences. Like you we are hesitant about the zip lining . We are 67, in fairly good physical shape (I do have some neck issues) and eager to have new experiences. How about my question regarding vegetarian choices for my wife? I also have checked out the Fonda Vela and it looks like a fit for us.

If we are leaving from Manuel Antonio how much time will we need to get from there to the San Jose airport ?

Thanks!

volcanogirl

You're welcome, ally! We saw some good birds at Fonda Vela; they have a little garden area and some trails, and we saw toucans there and an emerald toucanet. I liked the restaurant. It was chilly when we were there, and they had a fireplace going that was really nice. It took us about 3 hours to go from MA back to San Jose when we did it.

We didn't look specifically for veg. restaurants in our travels, but I would check Don Rufino and La Choza de Laurel in the Arenal area. Those are two places we like. I know Don Rufino has nice salads and pastas. If you want fancy, the restaurants at Nayara and at the Springs Resort and Spa have high end food with a lot of options. We liked Pizzeria de Johnny in Monteverde. I had a good salad there. In MA, we liked Ronny's Place/Mi Lugar, Cafe Agua Azul, Barba Roja, and Salsipuedes. Cafe Milagro has nice coffee drinks. Most places will offer salads, rice, beans, grilled plantains, and things like that.

volcanogirl

http://www.donrufino.com/e_index.php#B1 is a link to the Don Ruf. menu for you.

Cattail

ally, what type of transportation would you consider; shared shuttle, private driver, rental car, bus...? If you are taking a shared shuttle, you may need to book within the city. Otherwise, there are several excellent options near the airport with grounds and trails. The Orchideas Inn is one of the less expensive choices; friendly and relaxed, and we've seen lots of great birds there on the hilltop (I don't care for the caged bird though). Xandria (sp) near the airport was running a special last I looked, and it looks amazing.

I'm a vegetarian too, so I hear your concern. Well, semi-vegetarian; I do eat fish. There were a very few times I was limited to rice and beans in three thrips to CR, but mostly there have been other good choices. If your wife is vegan, on the other hand, that might be more of a problem.

volcanogirl

Yes, Xandari is a great choice if you can swing the cost.

allyboy

My son is expressing concern that his parents would even be considering a zip line! He is the mountain climber /adventurer in the family and lived in Costa Rica when he was in high school living with a local family and helping build a community center there. If we choose NOT to do a zip line should this impact us on how many days in both Arenal and Monteverde?

Also: This same son got married in Antigua Guatemala almost two years ago. It was a beautiful location,however, I succumbed to the stomach virus that one may receive there. Will I be dealing with the same issues in Costa Rica and if so I would appreciate any helpful hints dealing with this.

Thanks!

MichelleY

Do the zip line! Fun, fun, fun! As far as a virus, I always travel with cipro.

volcanogirl

We've done lots of trips to CR and have never gotten sick. I've gotten sick every time I went to Mexico though. For the most part, you can eat and drink just about everything in CR.

There's tons to do in the Arenal area so I wouldn't change the amount of time there. However, I wouldn't let you son talk you out of the zipline - when will you get the chance to do it again? It felt very safe to us. What about waterfall rappelling - would he for that? There's also the waterfall hike and the Hanging Bridges hike, a volcano hike, Cano Negro tour, Penas Blancas river float, the hot springs, and the Proyecto Asis animal rescue center.

allyboy

Another question...or two!

Can I do this entire trip without renting a car? If I stay in both Lost Iguana and Fonda Vela I understand that both hotels are not close to town. How does one go into town if you want some other dining options other than the hotel?

volcanogirl

We just take taxis if we want to go into town, but it does add up. A lot of people like to have a car in the Arenal area because it's spread out. We took taxis in Monteverde, cheaper there. The Lost Iguana has also let us ride their employee shuttle into town, but it's just based on their schedule and when they're going. If you do tours, you can have them drop you off in town for lunch or dinner or whatever and then take a taxi back to the hotel.

I meant "would he go for that?" up above - sorry for the typo!

Cattail

Yes, you can. We've traveled throughout CR three times without a car! As vc said, taxis do add up, so weigh the positives and negatives of renting vs. not renting.

In three trips, my husband was sick for about 12 hours one day, and we eat and rink everything. We think that it's because he drank some tap water. I'm not sure that Cipro will work if your sickness isn't bacterial, but we always bring some.

allyboy

Yes! Booked our flight and will be arriving on January 27th ( in evening). Need to book a hotel close to the airport. Just made our reservations for The Lost Iguana for the next 3 nights ( where we will celebrate our anniversary and my birthday. I am now in the process of booking our Monteverde stay and while I have checked out Fonda Vela I am also considering the Hotel Belmar. I would appreciate any comments/help with these choices so far and need some options for Manuel Antonio for 3 days!