PerkelFlirp

Okay all you CR experts! I need assistance planning a 13 day trip in January. Flying in and out of Liberia (only space avail on mileage tickets). I am a single Mom with 21 year old daughter and 9 year old son. Would rather spend money on tours than fancy hotels. What destinations do you recommend? Would like a few beach days but mostly nature - cloud forest, rain forest, volcano, etc. What are the must see places and activities? Really wanted to include Manuel Antonio as our beach destination - how long a drive is it back to Liberia? Perhaps take two days and stop along the way? Thanks so much!

Kinkazote

There have been quite a few questions such as yours lately. Perhaps you could get some assistance by reading them to get some basic ideas. Unfortunately, the most basic, sure-to-please places are the most popular and will be the most crowded at the time you are going. (You need to make hotel reservations now.) There is lots to do in the northern part of the country. Just for starters, try http://www.buenavistalodgecr.com/ They offer a lot of activities, and they are not high priced. You can get all the standard tourist ziplines and hot soaks plus more, and a good taste of the rainforest. (Cloud forests have more moisture, lower temperatures, more mud, and Quetzals.) We have stayed here and found it busy, but extremely well managed. The food was a pleasant complement to the fairly bland typico fare.

Look for a nice beach resort on the Pacific, and you have enough time to include Arenal.

PerkelFlirp

Thank you Kinkazote! I have read many of the posts. Most recommend the same itinerary for a week stay. But since I have almost 2 weeks was looking for additional options for the extra days.

volcanogirl

Arenal and Monteverde are popular for volcano and cloud forest time. Lots of activities in both. Check out Silencio del Campo and Fonda Vela to see if that's what you're looking for.

Yin

I won't recommend driving to Monteverde, the road is awful!!! Even for me being a costarican, that learn to drive here! and if you are coming from Guanacaste it's a really long drive...I must say Monteverde it's not that great. Sure is nice, bu there are so many options out there.
Arenal is so cool, and if you can stay there it's amazing at night. There's a nice hotel called Los Heroes, it's not that fancy but, very cozy. You can head from there to the hot springs (but not Tabacon, since it's way to expensive, just across there are others that you can use). I recommend to stay for 3 or 4 nights there. There is also the Hanging Bridges and a tour to Cano Negro, where you can see a lot of Wildlife.
In the Guanacaste area there is this great beach called Flamingo, I love it and go to it every chance i have. The beach is very clean and not that crowed. However for your 21 year old daughter, Tamarindo should be more attractive. that's where my friends go when they want to party, it has lots of night life and a cool partying atmosphere. Papagayo is a very nice place too, the beach is really nice but there is not much to do. If you stay in Flamingo, then you can drive to Conchal -which is amazing, but not to swin or stay, just to visit-, Brasilito, Pan de azucar and Potrero, all diferent beaches very close to Flamingo.
You can go to other volcano named Rincón de la Vieja, too. If you decide to come closer to San José, I recommend you to visit the Poas Volcano or the Irazú, both are amazing. And one of them (not sure wich, sorry, never was so good in geo) has the biggest crater on Earth. Guanacaste is like 4 hours driving to San José, and it should be like an hour more to the Poas and 2 hours to the Irazu. If you go to the Poas you are going literally through the Mountain, so it's a beautiful scenery.To the Irazú, you have to go through Cartago, and can make a stop in the Basilica de los Angeles, it's our main church.
There are some other cool places in Costa Rica, like Tapantí, wich is a National Park, as well as Braulio Carrillo, where you can do Canopy which must be amazing for your kids.
If you feel like you need anything else, let me know! Have a great trip to my beautiful country

PerkelFlirp

Yin:

Thanks so much for all the great suggestions! I am very much looking forward to visiting Costa Rica!

Allylam

I have to add one more place for you to consider. Its about halfway between Arenal and Liberia. It Rio Celeste. The color of the water is amazing.

http://www.ruralcostarica.com/rio-celeste.html

It's amazing! We stayed at Tenorio Lodge and loved it. Nice rooms, nice people and excellent food.

Yin

You're very welcome. I totally forgot about Rio Celeste, but it's amazing.
Hope fun have fun when you come to visit.