Just back from Costa Rica 6 days
 

My husband and I just returned from an awesome Costa Rican vacation. We flew into San Jose and went to arenal and monteverde. We were part of a gate 1 tour and we were skeptical of using a tour group, would it full of retirees (we are in our 30s)? No, it was a great mix of ages.

Would it be too crowded for a personalized experience? Not at all 20 people. That's it

We did an upgrade on the hotels and they were spectacular. Could see arenal volcano from our bed. Hotel had its own hot springs!

In monteverde we had a spectacular view of the mountains and the pacific.

I highly recommend. Let me know if you've got questions.

Can you give a list of the hotels you stayed at, please?

Did you spend a lot of time in transport, in the van or bus?
Do you feel you got enough "down" time?
Before you left each place, do you feel you got your fill of it and were ready to go on to the next place?
Were they able to accommodate special diets (vegetarian, etc.)?
I've been trying to organize a trip to Costa Rica for years, and always get discouraged, then we go somewhere else - it seems like a logistical nightmare to do on my own. Just recently been looking at tours, and they seem very fast-paced.

Bumble, it's actually really easy to plan a trip on your own. Most people on the boards do it. We're happy to help if you want.

Have the roads improved and did you rent a car? Love CR but difficult and bumpy travel 10 years ago. Did you do Oso Peninsula/eco hotels...what have you heard?

Thank you volcanogirl.
We've decided to go back to Europe for our next trip in 6 months, but we're intrigued by Costa Rica (and Guatemala).

I've been thinking about CR for years, so will probably make it down there sooner or later... Like I said, arranging transport between place to place just seems daunting - I hate driving in foreign countries and would prefer shuttles/public transit. Every time I've checked I get conflicting reports about how reliable a shuttle service is, etc. Also, every place in CR sounds interesting and I don't know where to start for the first trip!

In CR it's pretty easy. We've hired private drivers through our hotels just about every time that we've gone, and it's worked out great. They'll pick you up at the airport and drive you right to your hotel. If you want something more affordable, there's a very popular shuttle called Interbus that's really reliable. In town, you can use taxis. If you ever want help, just check back here. There are tons of interesting places, but you can narrow it down based on what you want to see and do, climate, if you want beach or volcano, wildlife, etc. We love it.

What hotel had its own hot springs?

A lot of them - Silencio del Campo, The Springs Resort and Spa, Los Lagos and Tabacon come to mind. There are several others too. If you do a search, they should come up.

Arenal and Monteverde - two magical places. The next time you visit, make sure to add Manuel Antonio to the list!