We will probably be staying at the Hilton Papagayo & want to visit Rincon de la Vieja. Does anyone know how far it is from this hotel? We want to know if we should do a daytrip or move to a hotel near the park & if so, which one is the nicest?

I'm bookmarking because I'm curious too.

You can do it on a day trip ,it will be a long day !

From the Hilton to Liberia it is about 25 minutes to 30 minutes.
Then from Liberia to Rincon is another 45 to 55 minutes.

Add another 15 minutes extra for maybe excess traffic.

Distances are not a good measuring stick because the road travel is not like in North America.

I did this as a day trip and tour from about the same distance as you have.

Hi volcanogirl

Hola, Percy! I'm sitting here waiting for the big snowfall that they've been predicting all day. Do you know any good hotels near Rincon de la Vieja?

I did a side trip to Rincon de la Vieja and stayed at Hacienda Guachipelin and loved it! It was our first full day in Costa Rica and we started with the Adventure Pass. They offer many different tours - we opted for Rio Negro white water tubing, Canyon Canopy Tour (very different than most canopy tours), horseback riding to Los Chorreras Waterfalls and the Simbiosos Volcano Mud Springs & Spa. It's $80 and includes lunch. The next day we went to Rincon de la Veiga National Park where we hiked the La Pailas trail and also to Orpendula Waterfalls. I would highly recommend some of the other trails; to the crater (awesome blue lake) or La Cangreja waterfalls. We were limited to doing the longer hikes with our 9 year old. Also, there is a waterfall canyoning tour offered on the Adventure Pass that he was too young to do at this location (but was able to do it in Arenal!).

The Hacienda Guachipelin is a working ranch and what I'd consider moderate accommodations. The rooms were very clean and the food was good as well. There are other hotels in the area that offer similar activities and are a step up from this property. I've listed them below.

Enjoy!

http://www.guachipelin.com/index.php
http://www.buenavistalodgecr.com/index.php
http://www.borinquenresort.com/

Volcanogirl.... I stayed at the Fiesta Premier and then
too day trips.

I even took a day trip to Nicaragua (with a private guide). We started at 5 AM and came home about 10:30PM

I also did a Turtle -Egg laying tour as a day trip ( rather a night trip)!

Thanks, guys!

Thanks for all the good info...can you tell me how far Rincon was from the Guachipelin. It sounds like the ride from Borinquen (which seems really nice) is as long as from the Hilton Papagayo.

Buena Vista Lodge is close to Rincon de la Vieja. http://www.buenavistalodgecr.com/
We have stayed there twice and enjoyed our stay both times.

It's a day trip, but enjoying the sauna, mud and hot springs with dinner and an evening at Hotel Borinquen is such fun!

If you are staying at Hacienda Guachipelin you are a very slow bumpy 15 mintue ride.

We selected Borinquen a few years ago and were quite disappointed. We were not at all impressed with the front desk, the restaurant service and food. The rooms were very nice, but you are restricted to the hotel food unless willing to suffer that bumpy road into Liberia (not a short or pleasant drive). If I had it to do over I would choose either Buena Vista or Guachipelin. Both have gotten excellent reviews.