CR Itinerary
 

Hi
Whew! I think we have finally nailed down our itinerary, thanks to the help of all the CR experts on this board. I would really appreciate any final comments or advice-- anything at all that we have overlooked. Since we are going during peak time, we were more concerned with getting our reservations made than the little details.... now we can start working on those! Does the time allotment for each stopover look adequate? We are thinking of staying an extra night at Finca and minus 1 night at Villas Nicolas. Not sure about that yet. Finca sounds so heavenly..... ;-)

Dec 29- Hotel Buena Vista, Alajeula
Dec 30- drive to Santa Elena/Monteverde- stop in Sarchi for gifts. Stay in San Luis Ecolodge.
Dec 31-Jan 2- San Luis/ Monteverde
Jan 3-4-- Arenal/Tabacon (or other hot spring). Stay at Montana de Fuego.
Jan 5- drive south to Hotel Finca que Ama.
Jan 6-Carara in AM; drive to MA in PM
Jan 6-8- MA/Quepos. Stay in Villas Nicolas.
Jan 9- drive to Alajuela, Hotel Buena Vista
Jan 10-depart CR

La Finca is such a good place to relax. If you decide to cut a day somewhere else and add it here, I think you would be very happy with your decision. Especially if you are feeling the need to rest a little bit mid-vacation!

And you asked about your itinerary? It sounds like a sure winner! The only thing I would do differently is wait until returning to Alajuela at the end of the trip to go to Sarchi so you won't have to lug your purchases around all the time! You should have plenty of time to do that.

If you leave Alajuela early on the 30th, you should arrive Monteverde around noon. Thus you will have a half day and 2 full ones. If you are thinking of cutting a day somewhere, I'd do it here rather than Manuel Antonio. Of course, that depends on the individual and what type of areas are preferred. Just my thought!

I think your itinerary sounds great. Buena Vista is a nice little hotel, very quiet with great view from the back and a small pool. I would make sure you have time to get to MA from Carara before dark, but I'm not sure how long this takes. I think you're going to have a great time.

Thanks so much for the helpful suggestions and reassurance about our choices. I found out about Finca que Ama on this board and it sounds delightful. We are really excited about the trip!!

You're almost there! Have a great time!

Have a comment for "other hot spring"...you might also like Baldi Termae. $15 per person; not as chic as Tabacon (think : country club with golf carts) but we went to both in September and really were glad we experienced both.
In America, we have this whole Nike/Reebok, Honda/Toyota, Coke/Pepsi dichotomy of marketing going on. So, I wanted to try both. Also went to the $8 hot spring by Tabacon --- but maybe should have gone their first and then "built up" our experiences. It was anticlimactic, in a word.

Anyway, they both have lockers, towels, bathrooms, restaurants, swim bars, etc.