I will have 3 - 4 days to explore Arenal and Monteverde in April. I will either be leaving from San Jose or Jaco.

Arenal
Postings for Arenal indicate that the Hanging Bridges, the volcano, hot springs and Cano Negro are the must-see sights. Will 2 days be sufficient? Please tell me the difference between choosing La Fortuna versus Arenal Springs to stay? Any suggestions on accomodations? I looked at the Lost Iguana and am not interested in spending quite that much.

Monteverde
I have seen little on Monteverde. What are the sights to see? again any suggeston on accomodations?
How many nights do you suggest? One or two?

Any suggestion on rental car versus hired driver? or preferred routes? I will be departing to home from San Jose. Thanks!!!

We spent 4 days in Arenal, and it was about the right amount of time for us. The Cano Negro tour takes most of an entire day when you include the travel time, but you could come back and do the hot springs in the evening, then do the Hanging Bridges the following day. I'd say it is doable, but you may end up feeling a bit rushed.

We stayed at the Lost Iguana and hired our private driver through them when we booked the hotel. When you book your hotel, you could check with them and see if they provide a similar service.

There are many hotels in the area that are decently priced with good views of the volcano...Arenal Paraiso, Silencio del Campo, Arenal Lodge. I'd spend at least 3 nights there myself, but then that would leave you only 1 night at Monteverde which isn't worth it for the long & rough ride to get there.

Volcanogirl...I've already booked my 3 night stay at Lost Iguana. Tell me more about a "private" driver. Cost of and can you book one after you've checked into the Lodge?? I want to do the Canon Negro and the Hot Spring both in a day.

STL, we used the private driver to go from SJO to Arenal; cost was $120. For Cano Negro, I'd recommend just using Sunset Tours.

thanks to all so far...
tully ...
Can you expand more on the travel and sights in Monteverde?? We will be restricted to the 3 - 4 nights after spending the reminder of our time on the Western Coast...
Is there another inland location that you or anyone would recommend instead of Monteverde?

I personally love Monteverde. It's been said that it's a great place if you're into bird-watching (which is true), but I'm not into birds at all and still loved it. It's in a cloud forest (a rain forest at a high altitude) and it has a very different look and feel from other areas you'll be in... often kind of misty, foggy, eerie in a very cool way!

We did 2 night hikes, and a guided hike of the Monteverde Cloud Forest (you NEED to hire a guide to fully appreciate everything you're seeing). We did see a quetzal here. It's a particularly fascinating park... I found it way more interesting than the Manuel Antonio park, even though that was cool too. Friends of ours hiked in the nearby Santa Elena Cloud Forest and said there were even fewer people there.

We also did a zip line tour (there are a few to choose from), and went to Selvatura for the hanging bridges, which are fantastic. They have these in Arenal as well, but I haven't been to those yet to compare. Anyway, the bridges at Selvatura were great. While up there, a cloud actually floated right through us! Being on these bridges was like being in a movie set. I will say that when we went, Selvatura had just opened, so there weren't the crowds that MIGHT be there today. There are also hummingbird and butterfly gardens (hummingbirds outside of Monteverde park too).

Here's a link:
http://www.monteverdeinfo.com/

If you don't feel that you'll have enough time to explore Monteverde, you could spend one night at the Peace Lodge and the remainder at Arenal. The Peace Lodge is a great spot - there's an amazing waterfall hike with 5 beautiful waterfalls and a hummingbird garden where you can handfeed the hummingbirds, also a nocturnal frog tour that's really cool. It has a cloud forest feel too - misty swirling fog and cooler temperatures, also Poas Volcano is nearby.

Hi there,

We stayed in the Arenal Observatory Lodge last April and had a wonderful experience. The vast majority of accommodations are on the other side of the volcano in La Fortuna and until two weeks before our trip the main lava flow had been opting for that side of the volcano. However, it turned just in time for our visit and we happened to have a volcano-facing room (probably best asking for one as there were not that many) at the Lodge so we could lie in bed and watch it all night. The hotel also had a nice veranda, garden and trails. It is a fair drive into town along a dirt track, but there is a good restaurant on site so there's no need to travel into La Fortuna in the evening, unless the lava has changed its mind again of course!

Enjoy,
Eljay

Heyyy...where is a good place to stay in Monteverde for 2 nights?? How far from Arenal to Monteverde?

Also, can you get your Sunset Tour tickets at the Lost Iguana????

Thank you, CarolM.

Planning my trip, I was able to get a feel for Arenal pretty quickly, but Monteverde has been more elusive.

Keith

Keith...please explain about Monteverde being elusive!

I have had a hard time getting a feel for Monteverde and what parts of it are likely to interest me.

I travel (and plan travel) often, and this is unusual.

Keith

Probably because it's wayyyy up there in the clouds. I'm still trying to find out where to stay in Monteverde. There's 35 hotels/lodges and I was hoping someone would pounce on this!

Leigh

Volcanogirl's Peace Lodge suggestion is a good one, an excellent alternative to not having enough time to invest it in Monteverde.

Save Monteverde for a time when you can stay a little longer and enjoy it more. We were there for 2 nights (one full day), and it wasn't enough. Arenal is a 3 nighter for sure.

Heck, as others have said, you couldn't go wrong just heading to Arenal and enjoying your entire time allowance there. I don't think you'd be sorry. Arenal Observatory Lodge would be a great choice for viewing the fireworks. It's a very nice property and offers some excellent trails and waterfalls of its own.

Keith, it's probably just me (don't recall ever hearing anyone else say so), but Monteverde had an atmosphere that just seemed, well, DIFFERENT, to us. That's about as close as I can define it. After having traveled all over CR, it was just different. Monteverde "came to be" in an unusual way and I'm sure that paved the way for a bit of an unusual atmosphere. Maybe I'm just jealous of the Quakers for having found that spot and having been able to enjoy it all these 50 plus years!

We've since discovered that we enjoy the cloud forests of the San Gerardo de Dota area far more. Less people, just as beautiful, more quetzales (!), VERY easy to spot them. We can get away down there for a couple of days and really feel away from the maddening crowds. No ziplines, no restaurant choices, no gift shops. Just horses to ride, excellent primordial (other-worldly, much like MV) oak forests to hike, waterfalls, apple trees (!), trout ponds. We especially like Savegre Hotel owned and operated by the Chacon family.