Early Stage Itinerary Planning Help
 

My husband and I are in the early stages of planning a trip to CR in mid-December. We will be in CR for ~10 days. He is really keen on staying at the Four Seasons since we wanted to use part of the trip for outdoor adventure and part for beach relaxation. I am completely sold on the Peace Lodge and the grounds too after reading reviews on Fodors. Is possible to do both in 10 days without having to spend 7 hrs in a car? They seem too far apart but I'm hoping that I am missing something. A stopover in Arenal btw both places would be our third ideal location to visit...Also, would it make more sense to fly into Liberia or SJ (Liberia seems closer to the Four Seasons and SJ closer to the Peace Lodge)...Any advice appreciated.

The Peace Lodge is very close to San Jose - only about an hour away. Have you checked to see if they even have availability though? We booked months in advance when we went, and we got the last room. December is very busy, so I'd check on availability and then build your plan around that. I think you could definitely do all 3 in 10 days. I'd spend two days at the Peace Lodge and then split the remainder between your other two stops.

Yes, Four Seasons is close to LIR and Peace Lodge is close to SJO. The drive between your locations will be a bit long, but you can plan a number of stops along the way. We are hiring a driver to take us from Peace Lodge to Tamarindo in early December. I had a couple of stops in mind and our driver also e-mailed me with some additional ideas, plus we want to stop somewhere interesting and treat him to a nice lunch. We enjoy our travel days and almost always get some great photos and gifts along the way. The roads you will be traveling won't be too bad. Sometimes passing slow trucks through the narrow sections can be a pain, but hey you'll be in CR.

If you can't get a room at Peace Lodge, you can always spend some time in Arenal. Rooms seem to be fairly easy to find there although the popular spots fill up quicker. You'll want to leave out of SJO.

Thanks for the feedback. Peace Lodge does seem to have suprisingly availability for the days we're looking at so I've requested a 48 hour hold on a room.

Linda, are you flying in and out of SJO (as in driving from the Peace Lodge to Tamarindo then driving back to SJO)? We haven't gotten to to the driver stages yet which I'm sure I'll be able to find a lot about on this forum, but if you wouldn't mind sharing yours as well that would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

Sorry, my 11:40 am post is already outdated...we saw how quickly things were booking b/c of the proximity and the busy nature of our dates.

We're going to fly into Liberia, go to the Four Seasons for beach time (booked) then drive to Peace Lodge for 2 nights (on hold). Since we'll still have a few more days, we're thinking MA for 3 nights.

Which just leaves me with one question - to fly out of SJO on a 1:30 pm flight, can we leave MA early in the morning and drive straight to SJO or do most people end up having to spend one night in SJ to catch their flight next day? Based on my research, it's at least a 4 hour drive...

With no problems, the drive takes about 3 hours, through Orotina. 4 would be at the most--unless traffic comes to a stop for some reason (it happens). If you would leave MA by 6:00 a.m., you'd be okay probably 80% of the time. If you are okay with that, go for it. Otherwise, I'd get back the night before and have no worries.

Since you've already had beach time, I'd consider a stop at Arenal in between the Four Seasons and Peace Lodge. Your dates on hold at PL might not accomodate that, however. Logistically, that would be a better plan. Arenal could definitely be on the way to Peace Lodge. You'd have NO problem getting from Peace Lodge to the airport on your departure day.

Thanks shillmac. We were originally thinking about the itinerary you suggested, but Peace Lodge wasn't available at that time and then the Four Seasons has a 10 day min stay as it gets closer to xmas. So, we decided on this itinerary and booked everything so hopefully there are no big snafus:
*Dec 13th arrive Liberia and take the shuttle to Four Seasons for 5 nights (might be a lot for some but we really want a lot of down time and they had a 5th night free package)
*Dec 18th drive to Peace Lodge for 2 night stay (standard room which sounds very nice from Fodors posters)
*Dec 20th drive to MA for 3 night stay
*Dec 23rd early drive to SJO for departing flight (we were able to find a 3:30 pm-ish flight so a little more driving flexibility)

Can't wait! Thanks to all of you for your other insightful posts too - I think I read all of them :)

I'm glad you got the Peace Lodge - it's one of our favorite spots!

That later flight is perfect--good for you! Have a great trip. We are heading that way December 24, have no idea where we'll be staying, but somewhere in the Turrialba area. . .