Planning Your Time

You could spend an entire week here without getting bored, but if you have only a week or two in Costa Rica, we recommend a maximum of two days before heading to rain forests and beaches in other parts of the country. Spending a day after you arrive, then another day or two before you fly out gives you a taste of the region, breaks up the travel time, and makes your last day interesting, rather than spent in transit back to San José. The drive between just about any two points in the Central Valley is two hours or usually less, so it's ideal for short trips. Tour operators in and around San José offer daylong excursions that mix and match the valley's sights—perhaps a volcano visit in the morning and a coffee tour in the afternoon.