HI Hope you see this....

Your trip sounds heavenly....

If i were to take my 8 year old son to costa rica....for 6 days....what are the places I should not miss? he loved animals. birds, beaches ...zip lining......is la fortuna close to san jose and monteverde? I am so confused....hope to hear from you soon.

Just saw a couple of new questions here, so I hope you both haven't given up on me answering them - I just found them!

Homeaway - We thought it was a very easy drive from Samara to San Jose in one day. It is about a 4.5 hour drive, but we took our portable DVD player with us, set up a movie for the kids, and stopped to eat lunch to break up the drive. I think there was a nap thrown in there for our tired out kids, and before we knew it we were there! Our kids were both younger than you're two, so I'm sure you'll be fine.

Anks - La Fortuna is what I would call very close (3 hours) to San Jose. The trip from La Fortuna to Monteverde (which we did on our 1st trip to Costa Rica is also very doable, it is just traveled at slower speeds because of the road conditions to get there (although they may have made grand improvements from 10 years ago when we did the drive). With an 8 year old in mind, I would say our above listed itinerary is ideal including all the "not to miss" places. I tailored this trip specifically with our children in mind, animals, adventures, zip-lining and all.