Travel to Costa Rica and enjoy your costa rica Vacation. This Central American nation barely embracing 51,000 square
kilometers and with a population in the neighborhood of three-and-a-half million inhabitants, is caught between Nicaragua
and Panama, in northern Central America. In recent years, the country has become the wishful-thinking development model for
a fledgling, demanding and promising tourist options: ecological tourism.
Costa Rica is the destination of choice for the ever-growing number of tourists who look for a reencounter with nature, in
search of a haven to shelter themselves, at least for the time being, from daily-life anguishes. Costa Rica has to offer a
tourist option that's now all the rage worldwide: ecological tourism.
Among its many attractions, the Arenal Volcano, the country's most active fire mountain with flows of incandescent lava, is
indeed a natural spectacle to remember. At the base of the volcano, you'll find the Arenal Lake and a small hamlet called
Nuevo Arenal (New Arenal). If you're looking forward to meeting Caribbean destinations, then go on straight to Limón City
(Lemon City).
This small geographical and perfectly preserved spot shows off countless and enviable natural wealth. Among them: 13,000
plant species, over 12,000 daytime butterfly species and little over 4,000 nighttime butterfly species, 162 amphibious
species, 220 reptile species and more than 1,600 fresh-water fish species, plus approximately 850 bird species.
All of these species are comprised in a system of preservation areas embracing 17 national parks, 8 wildlife havens and a
similar number of natural biological reserves of forest areas.
Costa Rica features some of the world's most actives volcanoes like the Poás, usually boasting a tall white-smoke column.
Besides, this country ranks as one of the world's only six locations where the "coming of the turtles" takes place, an
interesting phenomenon linked to their spawning season.
There are countless hotel resorts and restaurants, let alone numerous sightseeing places and locations. Visitors can call on
museums, national parks and last but not least, beaches for taking a swim and basking in the sun. They can also hike, take
horseback rides, practice mountain biking and even take a grand tour around the unexplored jungle; these are some of the
luring offers Costa Rica has in store just for you. All you need to do to make your dreams come true is to get carried away
by the magic of nature in a country ready to offer you whatever you're looking for.
In the middle of a diversity of incredible scenery, the province of Alajuela pops up as one of Costa Rica's largest and most diverse territories, located in the heart of the Central American country and stretching out from the mountains all the way down to the northern plains. It's the country's second-largest province and home to the Juan Santamaria International Airport.
The main city, named after the province, is a cultural and natural asset that offers an assortment of products and services. In general, there are lots and lots of restaurants, bars, lodging facilities, shopping malls, museums, arts galleries like the Jose Fernandez one, churches like the Cathedral -with a distinctive dome and superb decoration- as well as a variety of national parks, zoos and refuges.
The province is divided in fifteen districts, with many of them standing out for the heritage and idiosyncrasy. You can visit the cities of Grecia, Atenas, San Ramon and Sarchi. The latter nestles one of the most amazing handicraft towns of all Costa Rica and is the starting points of the polychromatic road, a symbol of national folklore.
Alajuela delights visitors with splendid visits to the Central, Tiliran and Guanacaste mountain ranges, coupled with the exuberant and fertile plains of San Carlos. Don't let Poas and Arenal, two of the best-known volcanoes, go unnoticed. In the Arenal Volcano, you may even lay back in hot springs of thermal waters. For nature lovers, Alajuela is the right place to embark on exciting tours and excursions into a patch of tropical humid jungle.
Heredia, located in the central northern part of the country, in the heart of the Central Mountain Range, is packed with colonial traditions reflected in its popular festivities and religious celebrations. It's one of Costa Rica's smallest provinces, made up of ten cantons and with a main city named after the province.
The burg is home to the National Sports Palace and a number of major colleges, including the National University. It's been traditionally known as the City of Flowers, marked by a distinctive natural beauty that highlights its moniker and by a kind population.
There're plenty of cultural, historic and sightseeing spots, especially churches like the Parish of the Immaculate Conception, the well-known Fort Fradique Gutierrez, the Coffee Museum, the Heredia Ballroom and the House of Culture. At the same time, don't miss out on the opportunity of swinging by such cantons as Santo Domingo, San Isidro, Barva, Sarapiqui and others.
The province blends excellent weather conditions and a multitude of natural attractions this region has to offer. Pick the Braulio Carrillo National Park, the Barba Volcano, the Cerro Dantas Wildlife Refuge, the Monte de la Cruz, the cable cart system that flies over the rainy forest, the Rara Avis Biological Reserve, the Angel's Waterfall, only to name but a few examples of what the Central Valley Mountain Range is actually all about.
Heredia puts superb lodging facilities at your beck and call, as well as restaurants, bars, disco clubs, recreational centers, stores, shopping malls and other choices that will let you breathe the fresh air of the mountains and the warmth of a city that crowns this special place of Heredia.
Guanacaste in Costa Rica's largest and least populated province. It's nestled on the northwestern portion of the country, in the westernmost tip, abutting the Pacific and blessed with great topography. Liberia, the province's main city, still preserves most of the colonial architecture that once put it on the map as the White City. The burg is also home to the nation's second-largest international airport (Tomas Guardia).
In Guanacaste, tourism is one of its premier economic activities and for good reasons. The territory is blessed with lovely beaches, landscapes and sunnier weather than in the rest of the country. In the same breath, Guanacaste is packed with a variety of options for adventure seekers, sun tanners and water sport buffs. In addition, there are many hotels, restaurants, means of transportation and stores, let alone museums, art galleries, golf courses and recreational centers.
The towns are equally great attractions in this neck of the woods, some of them, like Guaitil, featuring the best local handicrafts money can buy. Santa Cruz, declared the National Folkloric City where gaudy parties, regional parties and other festivities, like the Punto Guanacasteco, are the name of the game. The Santa Rosa, Guanacaste and Rincon de la Vieja national parks, the Bahia Junquillal Wildlife Reserve, among other places, make up the country's conservation system. Santa Rosa, for its part, is important from a historic standpoint because it treasures ruins that date back from the colonial era and the independence wars.
Guanacaste is the right place for those who'd like to share nature, sea scenes and the bustling lifestyle of the Costa Rica's most exciting cities.
Limon, also known as Puerto Limon, is the capital of the province bearing the same name located in a bay hedged with swampy lands along the Caribbean coast, on the northern shore of the country. The total surface is 9,188 square kilometers (18 percent of the national territory). It borders with Nicaragua to the north; the provinces of Cartago, San Jose and Puntarenas to the south; the Caribbean Sea and Panama to the east, and Heredia to the west. The province is divided in half a dozen cantons: Limon, Pocci, Siquirres, Talamanca, Martina andGuacimo.
The total population is in the neighborhood of 65,000 inhabitants, most of them of African-Caribbean origin. Puerto Limon was founded in 1871, on the premises of an Indian village owned by the Cariari, visited by Christopher Columbus in 1502 when he anchored near Uvita, a small island stretching less than mile away from the seaport, to repair his vessels. In 1880, the port opened itself to the banana trade and had railroads installed in 1890.
Regardless of being a Caribbean-bathed seaport that sucks in most of the country's maritime trade (exports of banana, coffee, cacao and coconuts), Limon is the hub of the entire Atlantic coast region in Costa Rica. There's an oil refinery, different factories (textiles, footwear and syrups), and even a few good beaches in the vicinity, like Bonita and Portete.
The city can be used as a starting point to reach the national parks of Tortuguero and Cahuita, the Hitoy-Cerere National Reserve, Barra del Colorado and the Old Port area. Its most distinctive feature is no doubt the peculiar architecture of this town, featuring wrought-iron balconies, arched porches, metal pillars and tin roofs. In recent years, Puerto Limon has panned out to be a major travel destination for the practice of water sports and nautical activities.
Blessed with apparently endless beaches, the province of Puntarenas covers two thirds of Costa Rica's Pacific coast all the way to the Panamanian border. It's the country's six-largest province, divided in 11 cantons. The capital, named after the province, is the biggest Costa Rican city on the Pacific shore and is linked to the rest of the nation through a mesh of major roads, local airports and ferry services that sail across the Gulf of Nicoya.
Puntarenas is the meeting ground of cruise liners and is outfitted with superior tourist infrastructure, marked by an assortment of hotel facilities, disco clubs, casinos, tour operators and all conveniences required by those willing to travel to this region.
This province lays bare a tremendous geographical variety through landscapes. The place is covered by forests, swamps and biological reserves, like the coveted Manuel Antonio National Park -one of the prettiest in the country- and the deep and greenish jungle of the Corcovado National Park with its unexplored tropical woods. The Monteverde Biological Reserve -one of the world's richest- and the Carara Biological Reserve are simply awesome.
From this paradise bathed by the waters of the Pacific Ocean, travelers may access to the islands of Pajaros, Guayabo, Negritos and Coco, a combined choice for those who prefer sea and nature. At the same time, the location has a good assortment of art galleries (Extasis and Alquimia), museums, churches and some districts or cantons worth stealing a long glimpse at. Its line of celebrated beaches is another premium option for tourists who like taking a swim in the sea and practicing nautical sports.
District of Costa Rica, the nations capital and the province of San Jose are situated in the central northern area, at 1,160 meters above sea level and hemmed in by the Central Volcanic Mountain Range, at the base of Talamanca. The original core of the city was just a village known as Villa Nueva de la Boca del Monte del Valle de Abra, and its population antecedents hark back to the late 16th century when the first colonizers settled down.
The burgs top economic activities are administrative, financial, commercial and cultural. However, due to the earthquakes San Jose has endured, the city does not have a colonial architectural heritage similar to those found in other Central American cities. Nevertheless, San Jose features many museums, libraries, buildings, monuments and other works worth taking a long look at.
A walk around this district could begin on a major monument, a token of the city itself: the National Theater, built in 1890, that has turned out to be the cultural hub of the entire country. From here, you can walk to the Central Marketplace (a.k.a. the Bourbon Marketplace), which is another favorite spot for the residents of San Jose, full of scents and items that pack a wallop among visitors. As usual, the best that you can do is take a spin and go unearthing interesting places around, like the National Park and its National Monument, or the southwestern area with the statue of Juan Santamaria, Costa Rica's national hero.
Not far from there, you'll find the headquarters of the National Assembly, the National Library and a curious Liquor Factory founded in 1856. Other must-sees are the Spain Park -smaller than the National Park. Not far from there, you'll come across the well-known Jade Museum that cherishes a collection of jade pieces made in the Americas; the Yellow House which houses the HQ of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Spanish Courthouse that harbors the city's finest school. The modern-style cathedral is near Central Park, a place where you can rest and admire beautiful scenery, and the Garden of Butterflies.
The city is dotted by a multitude of museums, like the National Museum, the Museum of Pre-Hispanic Gold, the Museum of Costa Rican Arts and the Museum of National Sciences, among many other options that will be waiting just for you in one of the loveliest cities of the Western Hemisphere. As far as leisure and fun is concerned, the city offers an array of movie theaters, theaters, restaurants, cafés, stores, disco clubs and an out-of-the-way hotel infrastructure in a backdrop of breathtaking natural landscapes.
Country
Costa Rica
