Proposed Itinerary
 

My wife and I are planning a trip to CR for our 10th anniversary. We only have a limited time to get away due to work/family commitments.

We fly in on 5/26 at 2pm on Delta from ATL. I plan to get a car and drive to Arenal Observatory Lodge for 3 nights. While there, we would like to go on SkyTrek/Tram, horseback riding, and do the hot springs. The last day (5/29), I would like to go whitewater rafting. Any suggestions on where we should go (only done it once before so Cat III should be good) and where we should stay our last night? Also, does this itinerary make sense for such a short trip?

Thanks in advance,

Paul

Hi Paul,

You won't have enough time to get to Arenal before dark the day you arrive, even if your plane's on time and immigration/customs lines are short, and you get your car fairly quickly. I'd stay close by. Here's what I'd do:

Drive to San Ramon and stay at Villa Blanca in the cloud forest. It's an hour and a half from the airport --cozy rooms w/ fireplaces. Very close by in San Lorenzo, you can do canopy tours, canyoning, hiking, horseback riding etc all in one day--it's all right there. You will also only be an hour and a half from Arenal, so you can make a day trip to Arenal and do the things you want to do there, including the hot springs. You'll be close enough to the airport for your last day that you won't have to go anywhere else. You can make your rafting plans from there too. You'll have a much more relaxing trip and I think you'll like Villa Blanca. There's a spa there too and it's next to the Los Angeles cloud forest. If you really want to move on the last night, I recommend my new favorite hotel near San Jose, Corteza Amarilla.

Sandy

Thanks for the quick reply Sandy!

Are there good restaurants near the Villa Blanca? Should we even bother with a rental car?

Paul

I wouldn't get a rental car. Taxis are plentiful near Fortuna, although you may have to arrange them to pick you up at the Observatory Lodge. The road up to the lodge is in HORRIBLE condition and you don't want to be driving it, least of all at dark.

If you stay in San Jose, I can recommend a good B&B in San Pablo, about 20 minutes out of town, toward Arenal. Casa Holanda, www.casaholanda.com. American ex-pat owner, very well-versed in the Tico culture, and a very gracious host.

Another option for you...we loved staying at the Lost Iguana resort in Arenal. I recommend a car if you stay there. (You can't walk to other restaurants, a car is handy.)

The road up to Arenal isn't that bad actually. The road to Monteverde is the really bad one. Once you reach Arenal, there is still a bumpy road up to the Observatory Lodge, if you choose to stay there. I wouldn't stay there...just visit it once. If you stay there, everytime you want to go someplace you will have to take the bumpy road up and down.

Every room at the Lost Iguana has a volcano view. That's assuming the volcano can be seen at all...sometimes it is clouded over. The luxury suites are the best rooms.

My family enjoyed Sky Tram/Sky Trek zip-lines, which you can book at the Lost Iguana front desk.

If you do decide you really want to stay at the observatory lodge, be aware that their rooms vary widely! While up there for dinner, we saw into some rooms which had no view, and were in a fairly public area. I hear there are other rooms which have great volcano views, we didn't happen to see those.

You can visit the Tabacon hot springs for the day or for the evening if you choose. We chose to visit the smaller Ecotermales hot springs and enjoyed a family-style dinner there.

Enjoy! Oh, by the way, the luxury suites are Lost Iguana are great for an anniversary. You have a private jacuzzi...if you are on the first floor (like we were) the private jacuzzi is on your patio surrounded by tropical vegetation...if you are upstairs, the jacuzzi is either on your balcony or in your room, we didn't have an upstairs room so I'm not sure which.

We were fortunate and saw lava flow right from our patio all 3 nights we were there.

One more thing. I agree with the above person who advised against trying to drive up to Arenal in the late afternoon/evening. While the road isn't too bad, it does have challenges such as no railings on those steep mountain curves. Wouldn't want to be taking a chance of doing that when it's getting dark!

Here's what I would recommend. When you arrive at the airport get a taxi to your first hotel. One I recommend is the Hotel Bougainvillea, which has an amazing garden and a nice pool with a sauna. They also have a free shuttle to downtown San Jose. Where the free shuttle drops you off, you would still need a taxi to get to the main part of downtown.

Anyway, you can spend the night at the Hotel Bougainvillea, which has very nice comfty rooms for around $80, enjoy the great garden, swim, use the sauna, have dinner. The next morning, have your rental car agency pick you up for free and take you into Alajuela to rent your car. From the rental car office in Alajuela, you can then drive up to Arenal.

I recommend Tricolor, which has an office in Alajuela, and they kept all their promises. Everything went well. www.tricolorcarrental.com

Whatever you decide, do NOT attempt to rent the car first and drive to Hotel Bougainvillea. It is quite a confusing drive, although it's only about 20 minutes from the airport, you don't want to get lost. Better to get a taxi.

There are other hotels which lie between the airport and ARenal which would make a good first night stop. I can recommend Hotel Bougainvillea from personal experience. These other hotels I am only recommending based on what I have heard on-line...there is Orchideas, or Peace Lodge, for example.

Good luck. Happy anniversary.

Hi Paul,

Villa Blanca has it's own restaurant, and San Ramon is a regular town w/ bars and restaurants, so I'm sure you'll find other things. In San Lorenzo where all the action tours are, there's a little restaurant w/ very good local food. Get a mango batida to drink!
Sandy

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Our flight actually is scheduled to arrive at 12:45PM. Does that make it more doable to get a car (got a great rate through Avis/Costco) and drive to Arenal that day?

We left at 2PM and it was getting dark by the time we got to Fortuna, with another 45 minutes of driving in the dark on the horrible road to the north and west of Arenal toward the Observatory Lodge. You can take your chances; I'd recommend just staying near San Jose the first night and unwinding before attempting the drive. That's just me.

We fly Delta through Atlanta and typically we opt to stay overnight, due to the long travel day. However with this short of a trip, I would probably head on out to Arenal, but we have driven in CR many times and understand the lack of signage and need for great caution. Approx 3-4 hours. Take only carryon luggage, which will save you time in the airport and should be very doable with this short of a trip. Keep in mind that it is going to get dark by 5:30-6 PM. Have a back up plan in the event of airport delays.

Are you heading home on the 30th? 8AM or the 2PM flight?

You can raft in Arenal or head back to SJ area and raft the Pacuare on your last day.

Hotels in SJ area that I can personally recommend:
Orchideas Inn - 15 mins from SJO http://www.orquideasinn.com/index.html

Vista del Valle Plantation Inn - 25 mins from SJO http://www.vistadelvalle.com/

Hotel Britannia - downtown SJ http://www.hotelbritanniacostarica.com/

Peace Lodge - 1 hour 15 mins from SJO http://www.waterfallgardens.com/lapaz-peacelodge.htm

Personally I could recommend any of these hotels for an entire stay. Your trip is quite short, and by staying at any of the above and doing daytrips you could have a wonderful trip.

We're heading back on the 2PM flight. I was thinking we should just base ourselves at one place for the 4 nights and make day trips. Villa Blanca looks like a good spot if we don't go all the way to Arenal from the airport. How far is Pacuale from Villa Blance? Thanks!

Villa Blanca sounds lovely, and we'd like to stay there sometime. However, with your arrival time, I'd head right on up to Arenal as you really do have a very short trip planned! The drive is 2.5 - 3 hours. It isn't completely dark until 6:00. Even if we left the airport area by 3:30, we'd feel pretty comfortable heading up that way. It is a fairly direct route. But again, staying the night at Villa Blanca would be a nice positive as well. Give you a chance to take it slow that first afternoon. Definitely you could do either. . . DO have a great time! :)