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Costa Rica Travel Guide
Curated by Our Guild Explorers · Updated August 2026
A country the size of West Virginia holding a quarter of the world’s tropical biodiversity — the perfect cone of Arenal and the hot springs beneath it, the dripping green of the Monteverde cloud forest, monkeys on the beach at Manuel Antonio, and the dry, reliably sunny resort coast of Guanacaste. Warm, welcoming, easy to reach from the United States and gentler on the nerves than its neighbours. This is the Guild’s chapter on Costa Rica.
Arenal Volcano, northern Costa Rica. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
Where to stay & when to go
Guild guides to the best places to stay in Costa Rica’s five headline destinations — and the best time to plan your trip.
Where to Stay in La Fortuna & Arenal ›
Which volcano-road resorts own their hot springs, which need a car, and which have too many stairs.
Where to Stay in Manuel Antonio ›
The hillside hotels with the famous views, and the level ones you can actually walk to the beach from.
Where to Stay in Tamarindo & Guanacaste ›
Beach hotels, adults-only resorts and Costa Rica’s only real all-inclusives — honestly compared.
Where to Stay in Monteverde ›
Cloud-forest lodges, which are level and which are steep, and why you will want a fleece.
Where to Stay in San José ›
The historic centre, leafy Escazú and Santa Ana, and the garden hotels near the airport.
Best Time to Visit Costa Rica ›
Month by month, region by region — and the truth about September and October.
Why visit Costa Rica
Few countries put so much wildlife, warm water and easy comfort within so short a flight of home.
Volcanoes & hot springs
Arenal’s cone rising over the rainforest, and a valley of thermal rivers beneath it where you can soak in naturally hot water under the stars — the single most reliably beloved experience in the country.
Wildlife you actually see
Sloths in the trees outside your room, scarlet macaws over the Osa, toucans at breakfast and monkeys on the beach at Manuel Antonio. This is not a country where you need luck; you need a good guide and a pair of binoculars.
Two very different coasts
The dry, sunny, resort-lined Pacific of Guanacaste on one side; the humid, Afro-Caribbean, reggae-and-coconut coast of Puerto Viejo and Tortuguero on the other. They even have different weather calendars.
Easy and welcoming
Direct flights from a dozen US cities, safe tap water in most of the country, excellent private hospitals, no army since 1948, and a national habit of good humour summed up in two words: pura vida.
The regions of Costa Rica
Five regions, five different holidays. Every Guild city guide below is written and live; the remaining towns link straight to hotels through our Trip.com partner.
Costa Rica’s signature volcano, a valley of natural hot springs, and the hanging bridges and waterfalls around them.
- La Fortuna & Arenal guide
- El Castillo soon
- Sarapiqui soon
The driest, sunniest coast, the easiest airport transfers, and the country’s only real cluster of all-inclusive resorts.
- Tamarindo guide
- Playa Flamingo soon
- Playa Hermosa soon
- Nosara soon
Rainforest running down to the sand — monkeys, sloths and the most-loved little national park in the country.
- Manuel Antonio & Quepos guide
- Jaco soon
- Uvita soon
Cloud forest on a windy ridge, hanging bridges in the mist, and the coffee country of the Central Valley.
- Monteverde & Santa Elena guide
- La Paz / Poas soon
- Turrialba soon
The capital and its museums, and a second coast on a different weather calendar altogether.
- San José guide
- Puerto Viejo de Talamanca soon
- Tortuguero soon
- Puerto Limon soon
How the country divides up
Arenal & the north
Most first trips begin with Arenal, and they should. The volcano is the picture everyone has in their head, and the valley beneath it is threaded with genuine geothermal rivers — you can soak in naturally hot water in a landscaped garden in the evening after a day on the hanging bridges. La Fortuna is the base; whether you stay in town or out on the volcano road decides whether the springs are included in your rate.
Guanacaste & the north Pacific
Guanacaste is the sunny, dry, easy corner: pale-sand beaches, calm bays on the Papagayo peninsula, and the shortest transfers in the country from Liberia airport. It is also the only part of Costa Rica with genuine all-inclusive resorts. Tamarindo is the lively hub; Flamingo, Conchal and Papagayo are the quiet alternatives.
The central Pacific & Monteverde
Manuel Antonio packs a national park, a rainforest and a proper beach into four miles of coast, with sloths and squirrel monkeys close enough to photograph without a lens. Inland and high above it, Monteverde is a different country again — cool, misty cloud forest at 4,600 feet, reached by a road that demands respect and rewarded by some of the finest birding in the Americas.
San José & the Caribbean
San José is where nearly every trip starts and ends: the gilded National Theatre, the Gold Museum and a night’s buffer against a missed connection. Across the mountains, the Caribbean coast — Puerto Viejo, Cahuita, Tortuguero — is a wholly different Costa Rica, Afro-Caribbean in food and music, and on its own weather calendar, which makes it the right answer in September and October.
Top things to do in Costa Rica
The experiences worth building a trip around.
Soak in the Arenal hot springs
Genuine geothermal water in landscaped gardens beneath the volcano. Tabacón is the real article; Paradise is the quiet, level, uncrowded alternative if stairs are a problem.
Walk the Monteverde cloud forest
Mist, moss and a hundred shades of green, with hanging bridges through the canopy and a real chance of a resplendent quetzal between February and May.
Manuel Antonio National Park
The most-loved small park in the country — sloths, squirrel monkeys and iguanas along easy trails that end at a genuinely beautiful beach. Check the closing day before you plan your morning around it.
A Guanacaste beach week
Pale sand, calm bays and reliable December-to-April sunshine, with the shortest airport transfers in Costa Rica and the country’s only true all-inclusive resorts.
Turtles on both coasts
Leatherbacks nesting at Playa Grande in the Pacific winter, and the great green-turtle arrivals at Tortuguero on the Caribbean between July and October.
Coffee, chocolate and a slow morning
A working finca tour in the Central Valley or the hills above Monteverde — a gentle, shaded, genuinely interesting half-day that suits every pace.
Best time to visit & getting there
When to go
December to April is the dry season on the Pacific side and the classic window — sunniest in Guanacaste, driest in Monteverde in February and March, and busiest and dearest throughout. Christmas, New Year and Easter week need booking months ahead.
May, June, November and early December are the value sweet spots: bright mornings, an afternoon downpour, green countryside and materially lower prices. September and October are the wettest and cheapest months on the Pacific — and, oddly, two of the best on the Caribbean.
See our month-by-month guide to the best time to visit Costa Rica for weather, crowds, prices and the honest word on storms.
Getting there & getting around
San José (SJO) is the main gateway and the right choice for Arenal, Monteverde, Manuel Antonio and the Caribbean. Liberia (LIR) in the north-west is far closer to the Guanacaste beaches and worth paying a little more for if that is where you are headed.
Distances look small and take longer than you expect. For most travellers we would suggest shared or private shuttles between hubs, with a domestic flight for the long hops to the Osa or the far south. If you hire a car, take a high-clearance vehicle, budget for the mandatory local liability insurance charged at the counter, and do not drive outside towns after dark.
The currency is the colón, though US dollars are widely accepted. Tap water is safe in the Central Valley and most tourist areas. Private hospitals in San José are excellent.
Costa Rica travel FAQ
When is the best time to visit Costa Rica?
The Pacific side — Guanacaste, Manuel Antonio, Arenal and the Central Valley — is driest and sunniest from December to April, which is also the busiest and most expensive stretch. May, June, November and the first half of December are the value sweet spots, with bright mornings and afternoon rain. The Caribbean coast runs on a different calendar entirely and is at its best in February–March and again in September–October, exactly when the Pacific is at its wettest.
Does Costa Rica get hurricanes?
Almost never directly. Costa Rica sits far enough south that in more than 170 years of records only one hurricane has made landfall — Otto, in November 2016, on the far northern border. The real risk is water rather than wind: September and October are the wettest months on the Pacific side, and a storm passing well offshore can still bring flooding, landslides and closed mountain roads within hours. Travel insurance and a spare day in the itinerary matter most in those two months.
What currency is used in Costa Rica?
The Costa Rican colón (CRC, symbol ₡). US dollars are accepted almost everywhere visitors go — hotels, tours and most restaurants — but change is usually given in colones at a rate that favours the house, so pay by card where you can and carry small US bills for tips and taxis. ATMs dispense both currencies. Decline any terminal that offers to charge you in your home currency.
Do I need a visa to visit Costa Rica?
US, Canadian, UK and EU citizens do not need a visa and are generally admitted for up to 180 days as tourists, though the exact stay granted is at the immigration officer’s discretion. You must be able to show proof of onward or return travel — this is enforced, usually by the airline at check-in. Hold at least three months of passport validity to satisfy airline rules, and confirm the current requirements with the official Costa Rican authority before you travel.
Should I hire a car in Costa Rica, or take shuttles?
For most travellers over fifty-five we would suggest shared or private shuttles between the main hubs, with a domestic flight for the long hops. Roads are narrow, often unlit and unshouldered, mountain routes have no guard rails, and theft from parked hire cars is the single most common problem visitors report. If you do drive, take a high-clearance vehicle rather than a compact, budget for the mandatory local liability insurance that is charged on top of the advertised rate, and never drive outside towns after dark.
How many days do you need in Costa Rica?
Ten to fourteen days is the comfortable length for a first trip: a night in San José at each end, two or three at Arenal, two at Monteverde, and four or five on a beach — either Guanacaste in the north-west or Manuel Antonio on the central Pacific. With a week, pick two regions and no more; the distances look small on a map and take far longer on the ground than anyone expects.
Ready to plan your Costa Rica trip?
Compare hotels, flights and tours across Costa Rica — booked through Trip.com.
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