camstravel

We are traveling to Costa Rica for the first time. My five year old will be with us. He is a great traveler but I want to balance seeing a lot with not wearing everyone out.

I would really appreciate any input on this itinerary and how I should break up the days. We plan to rent a vehicle.

6/27 ARR San Jose - Check out the city and rest.
6/28 Drive to Arenal/ Explore
6/29 Explore Arenal

6/30 Drive to Monteverde/ Explore Monteverde
7/1 Explore Monteverde

7/2 Drive to Manuel Antonio
7/3 Explore Manuel Antonio

7/4 Drive back to San Jose
7/5 Fly home

I am guessing each drive is about half a day so we have a day and a half in each place.
Is there a better plan?

volcanogirl

I would drop Monteverde from your schedule since you're doing a fairly short trip. I think you need to allow yourself more time in each location.

qwovadis

skip Panama above do your route add more time

www.servicecarrental.com good local use them a lot

colibri

I, too, would skip Monteverde - it deserves more than 1 1/2 days as do Arenal and MA. I would just stick to two locations for such a short trip. Driving from Arenal to MA is around 5 hours or so, I think so that's a big chunk of a day and would only leave you one day for beaches and park.

camstravel

Thanks for your response. We could leave as early as June 22nd which would give us another four or five days. I need to watch our budget while we are there but I would rather do that than rush through or not see much. If we do that does anyone have any recommendations?

volcanogirl

To me, Arenal and Manuel Antonio deserve at least three nights each; we usually do four in Arenal. We did three nights in Monteverde, but could have done it in two if we packed everything in. I like to be able to relax a little and not spend so much time on the road.

shillmac

We are used to spending some time in CR with our granddaughter each summer. This year she is 5. We are very careful to keep the road time to a minimum. Transfer times between places are long and very hard for little ones. If you have a DVD and movies it might help, but the best answer is to gear it down toward what she/he can tolerate and just know that you enjoy along the way. Sometimes less is way more.

I don't know if you actually plan to go into San Jose or not (sounds like it, but there is really no need). If you do, however, and have any time to spend there at all, the Children's Museum is pretty neat.

Have a great trip!

camstravel

Volcanogirl - Thanks for the information. I am leading towards adding more time to the trip so if I follow your lead which means I could add three more nights to the following.

1 night San Jose
3 nights Arenal
2 nights Monteverde
3 nights MA
1 night near SJ to leave next morning

Would you add one to Arenal and one Monteverde? Is there anywhere else near this route we would want to stop?

Shillmac - Thanks for the advice. My son is a good traveler but I am sure we will all have fun with less time in the car. We do have a DVD player. I had not thought about bringing it but I am sure it would help.

hipvirgochick

camstravel -- I think your new itinerary sounds more reasonable. I would agree with the others to cut Monteverde on your first go'round. I wouldn't add or take away nights in any areas as you have it now.

Shooie

I wouldn't go in to San Jose city, whigh is the opposite direction from Arenal. With a 5 year old, I would go somewhere with nice grounds and a nice pool. We like Vista del Valle. Their restaurant has good food with a view, which we love, and is an outdoor restaurant, which is always a plus for our grandkids.

volcanogirl

I think the new itinerary looks good. We did three nights in Monteverde, but my husband said he wished we only spent two there - lol, so yours looks about right.

camstravel

Thanks so much everyone. This was very helpful.