San José Costa Rica: art, history and fun with daily tours

DAY 1

San José

Welcome to Costa Rica!

As you leave the Juan Santamaria International Airport, our driver will be waiting to take you to the hotel. Take this opportunity to ask him or her what you may need to know, and if you want to communicate with our offices, the driver will take care of it.

Located in the Great Metropolitan Area, the Juan Santamaria International Airport is near the main cities of Costa Rica and the most populated part of the country.

San Jose, the capital city, is a contrasting city, between culture, eclectic architecture, and a bit of chaos. Small but vibrant. It is worth a walk along its boulevards and visit, among other highlights, the museums of pre-Columbian art (especially the Gold and Jade museums), the Plaza de la Cultura, Costa Rica’s urban center and the unfailing Central Market where you find exotic fruits, delicious and affordable food, and the permanent smiles of Costa Ricans.

Hilton Garden Inn San Jose La Sabana (or similar) - 8 nights

Breakfast

Transfer Airport - San José

DAY 2

San José City Tour

The tours begins by picking you up at your hotel. Our first destination is the Costa Rican Art Museum within La Sabana Metropolitan Park, where the VIP City Bus and staff will greet you with a welcome cocktail. Our adventure through the beautiful city of San Jose begins. Our cultural journey includes more than 25 landmarks, local music and a bilingual guide with valuable information.We’ll take brief city walks, like at the Cultural Plaza, Central Market for a little shopping, the National Park, the National Monument, and Central Avenue. We’ll enjoy a Costa Rican typical food after visiting the Gold Museum, and the lobby of our precious National Theater. Remember, the VIP City Bus includes transportation back to your hotels at the end of the tour.

Includes

• Double Decker Bus
• Panoramic Views allows you to experience the best views of downtown San Jose in comfort.
• Typical Staff
• Cultural Experience
• Welcome Local Cocktail
• Special Visit Gold Museum
• Guided Walking tours: Gold Room at Art Museum, Central Market (shopping), Lobby of National Theater, National Monument.
• Bilingual tour guide
• Live folklore music show abord / WIFI
• Authentic lunch or dinner
• Round trip Transportation from and to your hotel

San José City Tour

Entrance fees & Guide

Lunch

Round trip transportation

DAY 3

One day tour to Manuel Antonio National Park

Your one-day tour to Manuel Antonio from San José will start early in the morning when your transportation and guide pick you up at your hotel. Traveling on the route to the Central Pacific, you will see vast mountain landscapes, all sorts of tropical fruit plantations, and significant extensions of pastures.

Already on the coast, you will travel for a while parallel to the ocean, with breathtaking landscapes at that time of the morning and stop for a delicious typical breakfast at a restaurant in route. Your tour guide will be telling you about the highlights of the road as you travel south and all the way to the entrance of the Manuel Antonio National Park.

We recommend you to be alert the whole time. Even if your guide is prepared to see the abundant wildlife of the park, this is a tour to enjoy your senses abilities. Listen to the different bird sounds, the roars of the howler monkeys, the strange shout of the Capuchin white-faced monkeys, the crackle of toucans or the squeak of the flying scarlet macaws.

You may walk on some of the trails and then have a swim in a warm and calm turquoise bay. Be careful not to leave your things unattended as raccoons and monkeys are fantastic scavengers in the travelers’ bags.

As you are ready and hungry, you will walk to a nearby restaurant for a delicious lunch. Once satisfied your nature appetites, you will drive back to your hotel in San José.

*Note: this tour does no operates on Tuesdays.

Includes

• Roundtrip transportation
• Guide
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Entrance fee to the National Park

Manuel Antonio National Park Tour

Entrance fees & Guide

Breakfast & Lunch

Round trip transportation

DAY 4

San Luis Adventure Park Canopy

Your experience in Canopy San Luis starts when your transport picks you up at the hotel. This canopy is located in the Central Volcanic Range on the route to the Arenal Volcano from San Jose. It has splendid forests that keep various ecosystems, wide and comfotable trails for walking.

Canopy San Luis is designed for complete families with small children or seniors and anyone who wants to enjoy seeing the forest in all possible angles and who also wants to give themselves a moment of fun and adventure in a framework of safety and comfort.

They have cables up to 550 meters long (1800 feet) coming out of bases placed at heights ranging from 3 meters (9 feet) to 106 meters (347 feet) high. Some are practically leveled to the ground, but strategically placed on steep slopes that open for the zipline to pass. You don’t have to go up or down with cables into any platform.

Also, you will start with the shortest and lowest cables, so that you will have the time to get used to the environment, the guides, your equipment and the activity in general.

You will be able to enjoy from 18 platforms and 12 lines; plus you can also enjoy -three times if you like- the “Tarzan Swing” that is a 55-meter (180 feet) high jump over the beautiful Cataratitas River. As well you may also want to experience the intense Superman Cable. This is a free flight with a full-body harness that will allow you to fly at speeds that may exceed 50 km (31 mi) per hour and at heights of up to a 100 meters (328 feet) in an unforgettable activity that encompasses adrenaline and amazement at the beauty of the tropical forest seen from above.

Includes

• Transport
• Guide
• Equipment
• Canopy Tour (12 zip lines and 18 platforms)
• Lunch

San Luis Adventure Park Canopy Tour

Equipment & Guide

Lunch

Round trip transportation

DAY 5

Rafting in Pacuare River (Class III – lV)

You will depart San José, very early in the morning on a comfortable air-conditioned vehicle that will take you to the Operation Center, where you will enjoy a delicious breakfast surrounded by tropical gardens. The Pacuare River is renowned as one of the best watercourses for rafting worldwide. Surrounded by the powerful Talamanca mountain range, you will pass through some virgin rainforests only seen from the river.

At the edge of the river your professional river guides will give you a paddle, a helmet, and a life vest. You will also have a short but essential briefing where they will talk, first, about the safety procedures, as well as some of the paddling tips and comandos used while you go rafting for 19 miles (30 Km) in the Caribbean area and on III and IV class rapids.

You will be paddling into the core of the Costa Rican rainforests. With waterfalls right on the river and virgin forests on both sides, the Pacuare might be one of the most beautiful rafting rivers in the World. In these mild areas, you may also search for the abundant wildlife in the rainforests around. You may glimpse myriads of colorful birds, monkeys, sloths, and even on occasion, tayras, coatimundis, or, when lucky, a big cat or a tapir.

*Minimum age: 14 years old

Includes

• Roundtrip transportation
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Rafting equipment
• Rafting guides

Rafting in Pacuare River (Class III - lV)

Equipment & Guide

Breakfast & Lunch

Round trip transportation

DAY 6

Arenal Volcano & Ecotermales

In Sarchi, you may very well see an ox cart that holds the title as being the largest ox cart in the world. The cart is made of wood (cedar) and is decorated with stunning colors, such as a bright orange. The design is typical and intricate, indicative of traditional oxcarts. The ox cart is two stories high and took 70 days to complete. The oxcart is also deserves an honorable mention in the Guinness book of world records.

The journey will then continue, traversing diverse plantations with agricultural products, including pineapple farms, and mango groves, ornamental plants and cattle ranches until arriving to the small town of La Fortuna, and stopping to enjoy lunch at a cozy restaurant with a spectacular view of the Arenal volcano.

This tour offers the auspicious site of the imposing Arenal Volcano and the soothing thermal waters of Ecotermales Hot Springs. Not to mention the lush vegetation and unforgettable views that make this place one to remember.

Includes

• Roundtrip Transportation
• Entrance fees
• Lunch
• Dinner

Arenal Volcano & Ecotermales

Entrance fees

Lunch & Dinner

Round trip transportation

DAY 7

Doka, Poas & La Paz Waterfalls Combo Tour

Doka, Poás Volcano & La Paz Waterfall Garden starts when your transportation arrives at your hotel early in the morning. They will take you to the city of Alajuela, where you will see some emblematic monuments of Costa Rican culture and history. Then you will pass through prosperous areas with crops of various kinds, until you reach the Doka, a coffee hacienda that exports to North America, Europe, and Asia.

You will begin the experience with a typical breakfast in a restaurant on the farm, to go after to the coffee seedling nursery área where your guide will show you, in the plantation, the different stages of the shrub and its fruits. Depending on the time of year, you will be able to learn to differentiate when the grain is ready to be picked up.

Then you will go to the mill to see the different machines used in the process and, again, depending on the season, see them at work.Then, walk through the drying patios and end up in the roasting section and, finally, end this part of the tour at a souvenir shop where you can try and order the type of coffee you liked best.

After the coffee tour, you will leave with your guide and transport to Poás Volcano. You will travel through picturesque villages, green fields, flower, and strawberry plantations until you see a change in the landscape and the presence of the cloud forest around that will welcome you to the Poás Volcano National Park.

As you arrive at the park, you will receive a safety talk, and a safety helmet, essential in the area of the volcano. You will walk along a wide paved path until you reach the edge of the cráter and lookout point.

After the visit to Poás Volcano National Park, your vehicle will take you through beautiful high-altitude landscapes until you reach the popular La Paz Waterfalls Garden. Here you will enjoy a delicious and varied buffet lunch that includes traditional Costa Rican cuisine as well as pizzas and sausages.

This is a park immersed in the Central Conservation Area. It offers a monumental aviary with a multicolored variety of bird species and a large butterfly garden that lets you see the process of metamorphosis, but also fill you with wonder at the butterflies fluttering around you. There is also a hummingbird garden with at least 26 species, a ranarium, a serpentarium, a typical house with an ox cart and, a rescue center where you can see pumas and jaguars, among other mammals. And, finally, a trail in the middle of the forest that will take you to appreciate five waterfalls from various angles.

Includes

• Roundtrip transportation
• Guide
• Entrance fees
• Breakfast
• Lunch

Doka, Poas & La Paz Waterfalls Tour

Entrance fees & Guide

Breakfast & Lunch

Round trip transportation

DAY 8

Cruise to Tortuga Island

This excursion departs from San Jose very early in the morning to Puntarenas, where you will board a yacht to Isla Tortuga (Turtle Island), a beautiful island located in the Gulf of Nicoya.

At Tortuga Island you will experience a day full of beautiful skies, great ocean views and live music. On board the yacht savory tropical fruits and refreshing natural drinks will be served. Then, you will explore
the island, immersing yourself in the calm clear waters and lush landscape, where you can take a swim,
sunbathe, and/or take an optional tour like kayaking or canopy. Then a delicious lunch will be prepared by the crew.

Tortuga Island is composed of 120 hectares of gorgeous terrain, with 4 main hills; not to mention a 500 meter beach which is a recipient of the blue flag certification. On the way to Tortuga Island you will see the San Lucas Island which in the past was a security prison where no human rights existed and thus a dark age in Costa Rica´s history.

The journey to Tortuga Island will be on board a yacht equipped with 2 Cummins Marino 300 HP motors, radar, satellite navigation systems, VHF marine radio, clean bathrooms, and palatable drinking water.

A very experienced and international maritime license yacht captain and well trained crew will make sure you have a safe, enjoyable and unforgettable journey.

Includes

• Rountrip transportation in comfortable bus transportation with A/C
• Bilingual guides.
• Breakfast Box
• Fresh fruits
• Gourmet lunch at the beach
• Beach chair
• Snorkeling
• Live music during lunch
• Unlimited soft drinks and fruit juice

Cruise to Tortuga Island

Bilingual Guide, Snorkeling, Beach Chair.

Breakfast box, Fresh fruits, soft drinks, ceviche, fruits juice & Lunch

Round trip transportation

DAY 9

San José

On this day, the arranged transport to the Juan Santamaría Airport will pick you up after breakfast so you can start your way back home.

Perhaps tired, but certainly satisfied, by this immersion on Costa Rica’s pure nature.

Transfer San José - Airport