Two Nights in Central Valley
 

Upon our arrival in Costa Rica, I am thinking of spending 2 nights in the Central Valley before heading up to Arenal for3 nts. and then Bodque del Cabo for 4 nts. I am looking for advice on a nice hotel for two adults that will provide comforts along with a central location to explore by car. What are some of the sights in that area that are worth exploring? Since we are doing Arenal and BDC as well, I am looking to experience a different part of Costa Rica here.

Hotel bougainvillea is mid-way between the airport and downtown san Jose. You can easily use this as a base camp to go in any direction. For something a little closer to the airport you could check out the Orquideas Inn. Pretty low key and not terribly fancy but a lot of fun. a little further north towards arenal by just a little is Vista del valle Plantation.

In that same area, if you want something really special, you could also look at xandari.

The Orosi valley is a fairly quick ride. It is south and a very pretty area to see. You could go to the Caribbean side to braullio carillo or Puerto viejo de sarapiqui. In Pv you can go white water rafting or just take a slow wildlife tour although you will be seeing plenty of wildlife down at bosque del cabo.

If you really want to white water raft, I would highly recommend the Pacuare river. You can make arrangements at your hotel when you get there.

There is a lovely church in Cartago that you could visit on the way to the Orosi valley as well as Irazu volcano.

You could head up to Poas volcano and then to the La Paz Waterfall gardens. the doka coffee plantation is near there also if you want to visit it. They also have a little store on the road. I am partial to the house blend. they also have a Peaberry that is popular but a little too mild for me.

Hi Jaisy,

We just got back from CR and ended our trip in San Jose at Grano De Oro. Very nice little hotel, victorian house, right in downtown SJ, I would think easy to get to and from. We were there 2 nights to do a river rafting trip on the Pacuare river. I would highly recommend this,unless you were wanting to drive around. My travel agent said there were lots of museums around SJ, there are coffee fincas to visit and a sky tram that takes you from SJ area to Carribean side (at least that was my understanding from him.) We opted to just do the river rafting.

Good luck and you will have a great time in CR. We loved Arenal and Osa!

On our recent trip we spent a night in Xandari near the beginning of our trip and then a night in Finca Rosa Blanca at the end. Both of these are fairly close to the airport. I would highly recommend Xandari. The villa was spacious and beautiful, the grounds fabulous and the food terrific as well. Also fo rsomething different you might want to consider Villablanca cloud forest hotel. Its about an hour from the airport in the Los Angeles Cloud forest. We spent one night there on our way to Arenal. A bit isolated but great view and wonderful ambiance.

jwall...how was Finca Rosa Blanca?

Hi,
Central locations around San Jose make touring the city and valley easier, especially if you take a coffee tour or one of the many one day tours. There are special restaurants at night, too.

Not necessarily in any order but I like:
Hotel Don Carlos
Hotel Le Bergerac
Hotel Grano de Oro

The views from the tall Holiday Inn are not bad at all.... ask for a view to the south.

My favorite thing to advise my guests is a all in one day tour. $79 makes Fun Adventures or Highlights Tour excellent choices.

Depending on your physical ability.
Fun Adventures takes you into Waterfall Gardens which has many steps and is a tiring walk down the mountainside past the lovely waterfalls.

Highlights, keeps you on solid ground in the jungle around the Sarapiqui River.

Both take you up to Poas. Both go down the Sarapiqui River searching for monkeys and iguanas and more. Both include two meals in a 12 hour trip from your hotel door and back.

You can see LOTS of Costa Rica doing this.

Many tours like Greyline can take you to Orosi Valley and Cartago for the day.

Britt Coffee Tour is very nice with a play and explaination of Costa Rica coffee growing.

If you want to "do it on your own" with a car or by city bus. ... Tuasa goes up to Poas volcano early a.m. and returns at 2:30 ....

At night, a special dinner up on the mountain at Ram Luna is awesome.

Should you stay in Alajuela, near the airport at : Xandari, Orquideas or perhaps La Rosa de America, a special restaurant called El Mirador is just a short way on the mountain near the court house. Inexpensive food, awesome view of the entire central valley. My favorite place to take guests.

There, that should fill two days!

HOP

baggyj re: your question on finca rosa blanca. It was quite nice but not my favourite. We liked Xandari much better. FRB had a great view, similar to Xandari but was noisier - barking dogs and some traffic noise seemed to float up the hill whereas Xandari was very peaceful. I was concerned Xandari might be too "artsy" and cater to the vegetarian/yoga type of individual but we loved it there. The food was excellant - we liked it better than FRB and there was much more selection and it was less expensive. One thing with FRB, the pictures on their web site and brochere are taken with a wide angle lens. The rooms are quite a bit smaller than they appear. Also the hotel seems older than Xandari. Still it was a great hotel to stay in so close to the airport and central valley so you can't really go wrong - I think its just that Xandari really reaised our expectations. Hope that helps.