dopplerd

How's this for an 8 day/9 night trip in Mid January?

Days 1-2: Arenal --(Montana Del Fuego)
Days 3-6: Tamarindo (Hotel Jardin El Eden)
Day 7-9: Central Valley (Peace Lodge)

Can anyone tell me how long it would take to drive from Tamarindo to Peace Lodge?

Thanks.

shillmac

Your itinerary sounds fantastic and I think you'll enjoy all 3 destinations. It will take you close to 6 hours to get to Peace Lodge from Tam. You'll want a short break or two. We generally get to SJO in about 5 hours from Tamarindo--so another hour on up to Peace Lodge.

dopplerd

Thanks Shillmac.
We may also purchase one-way flights from Tamarindo to San Jose in order to avoid another long car trip (we probably will have had enough trecherous roads by then). I'm guessing that it's possible to rent a car at the San Jose airport and drop it off at the Tamarindo one? Then I suppose we could arrange for a hotel transfer to/from Peace Lodge? Final thoughts on that?

shillmac

Yes, you could do that. It would be a bit expensive (at least for me), but it might save you some time! I think it will cost you an extra $50 to drop off the car in Tam. About $60 each for airfare back to SJO, and probably another $50 for a taxi to the hotel. Not sure about that.

dopplerd

Good to know -- thanks again. And welcome back from your trip!

shillmac

Thanks, it was fun! I hope you have a good time as well. You really do have a nice and leisurely itinerary planned. You should be able to see a lot of the coffee harvest in progress!