Complete Cultural Experience of Costa Rica Tour

Upon your arrival, you will be greeted at the airport and escorted to your charming accommodation in the heart of old San Jose. After checking into your hotel, you will have the afternoon to explore some of the city’s iconic neighborhoods. Mercado Central is a perfect cultural introduction. While in the area, your guide will lead you to Catedral Metropolitana, which is a grand church that showcases the congruence of Orthodox, Baroque, and Neoclassical styles. From here, you will explore Barrio Amon, which is the area of mansions where your hotel is located. For dinner, you will be transferred to a hilltop restaurant that serves fusion food and has live music.

This morning will be at your leisure, and with eight days in Costa Rica, you do not need to rush into your vacation. Today, you will take your time to rest after your flight and to enjoy the soothing quality of your hotel. A historical San Jose tour will reflect the country’s changing civilizations, and each culture has left something behind in the capital for you to discover. First, you will be led on a journey through La Sabana Metropolitan Park for a glimpse of the modern city and its people. Teatro Nacional is nearby, and many Costa Ricans regard it as the country’s most beautiful building. After admiring its neoclassical opulence, you will spend time in Museo del Oro Precolombino. This evening, you can choose a local restaurant or decide to dine in old-world colonial style.

En route to La Fortuna, you will stop at a coffee plantation in Naranjo, which is a small village that evokes traditional, Costa Rican village life. A plantation tour will guide you through coffee growing, harvesting, roasting, and drinking to discover how the locals prefer to enjoy their local product. Your guide will then help you explain how the coffee export business works. Later, some of the area’s hot springs will allow you to rest in therapeutic waters while continuing to enjoy the volcanic spectacle. Lounging in the natural hot springs is all that is planned for this afternoon, but you can choose to add a local activity as well.

Indigenous tribes continue to practice their culture in various corners of Costa Rica. These Indian tribes are very different from each other, and today’s experience with the Maleku people will be a sharp contrast to meeting Boruca people later on in your vacation. The people provide a warm welcome to visitors, and ecotourism is being used to boost the local economy. After your welcoming, you will spend a morning meeting different community members. The interaction will be designed to be comfortable and unobtrusive, so you can think less about taking photos and more about understanding the Maleku way of life. Your visit will culminate with a dance performance and communal lunch, and the food will be quite different from what you will have tried in San Jose.

By flying to Manuel Antonio National Park, you will save a day of travel time and arrive on the coast for a full afternoon of natural history. Your accommodation will be a charming jungle lodge with sweeping views toward the beach. It will be tranquil up here, but you can still walk to the beach in less than ten minutes. After discussing your preferences, a local guide will plan an afternoon of hiking in the rainforest. There are short and slow hikes across flat terrain with the focus being on birdlife and capuchin monkeys. Usually, the monkeys are the most memorable feature of a rainforest hike, but sometimes, you can see large troops as they scamper around the trails.

Today will be tailored in a similar way to yesterday afternoon. Your guide will outline different trails, and you can spend many hours in the rainforest, admiring all the flora and fauna. Perhaps, the most spectacular sight will be of a sloth hanging from the tree as it watches you with its peculiar eyes from an upturned position. Searching for all the rare wildlife is an experience that will be complemented by the national park’s four beaches. While the rainforest offers brilliant biodiversity, the beaches reflect quintessential images of a Central American beach vacation. Your guide can direct you to different snorkeling spots, all of which are accessible directly from the shore.

This morning, you will explore the history of pirates and plantations with visits to various important spots along the coastline. You will witness ruined farmhouses and rustic remains while hearing the phantasmal tales of pirates. Over two to three hours, you can get a good sense of how this area looked 100 to 300 years ago, which will provide you with an excellent backdrop to a culture that has not changed. Through all the invasions and fighting, the indigenous Boruca people somehow managed to stay alive. While spending the afternoon at a Boruca tribal village, you will discover how these people managed to survive along with the culture that they have carried with them into today.

Late check out will be arranged, so you can enjoy some time on the beach before you leave Costa Rica. After lunch, you will be transferred back to San Jose for your international flight.