Two weeks ago, my husband, Robbie, and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. To commemorated this joyous occasion, we took our first international trip, since the start of the pandemic, to Costa Rica.
I’ve actually had Costa Rica on my list for quite some time and when we were looking for a place we could go that doesn’t have a US travel ban, Costa Rica popped up and we jumped on the opportunity to visit this beautiful place. I wanted to share some of my experiences with you all so I’m writing this Costa Rica Travel Guide to give you some tips if you were planning on going. I also made a vlog for my Youtube Channel so you should definitely check that out as well.
Getting There
As I mentioned before, Costa Rica was one of the countries that allowed American’s to Travel there but it was not without limitation. They required us to have a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of travel, we needed to have travel insurance and they required you to fill our a questionnaire before flying. There were also limitations on which states could travel. We found all of this information here, on the “Visit Costa Rica” website.
Where to Stay
We decided to stay in the San Jose area in an AirBnb. San Jose is the capital and is where the major airport is located. Though we really loved our airbnb (full tour is in the Vlog) , I wouldn’t stay in San Jose the next time. Don’t get me wrong, San Jose is a fantastic city with tons to do but it was a little too “city” for me. There were Mcdonalds and Starbucks everywhere and I really did get that Costa Rican vibe. Next time, we’ll probably say somewhere close to “La Fortuna” an area about 3 hours west of San Jose where you can find all of the fun activities Costa Rica is known for.
Where to Eat
As with most places we travel to, finding really great places to eat is one of our favorite activities. The food in Costa Rica is very similar to many other Latin American countries (think Puerto Rican and the Dominican Republic). They do have a their own traditional meals called Casado which is comprised of white rice, beans (usually black), fried plantain, some kind of meat (usually your choice), a little salad and a potato salad.
Sodas
Soda is the name they use for their small local restaurants. At a Soda you can get an authentic Costa Rican meal with a delicious cerveza.
La Esquina de Buenos Aires
For our Anniversary dinner we wanted to try somewhere a little more fancy and stumbled upon this restaurant in San Jose, La Esquina de Buenos Aires. They actually had a more Argentinian menu (in case you couldn’t tell by the name) but still included the ever popular Casado.
The Breakfast Club
We Started our anniversary with a great brunch at the Breakfast Club. They had great typical brunch items and exceptional fresh tropical juices. I highly recommend if you are looking for a breakfast spot in Costa Rica.
Where to Shop
As an anniversary treat, the hubs put as side his distain for shopping and brought me to what he thought would be a great shopping experience. He was unfortunately madly mistaken, as the mall (San Pedro Mall) he brought me too seemed as though it was still in 1992. Luckily for us on our way back to our airbnb we saw an amazing mall that even had a Zara Home in it. That mall was Multiplaza Escazu and there I was able to find a few cute pieces and lust after everything in Zara Home.
The best shopping we did was at the side of the road with street venders. They are everywhere and at them we found cool art, leather goods and fruit (including the super popular Mamon)
What to Do/ See
I’m going to try to keep this as brief as I can because there is just so much to do in Costa Rica that I could be writing for days.
Hike, ATV and Zipline in La Fortuna
La Fortuna is an area on the west side of Costa Rica. In the area there are tons of rain forests and the Arenal Volcano. In la Fortuna you can go zip lining though the jungle, hiking up the volcano and ATVing around country sides. If you can, I would suggest making reservations for any activity to make sure they are open and can accommodate you.
Visit a Coffee farm
We went to Cafe Monteverde in Monteverde (another great area to check out) and learned a ton about the Coffee growing, harvesting and roasting process. The best part? They let you drink tons of different variety of coffee.
Check out a hot spring
This is one activity we didn’t get a chance to do but I would highly recommend it. We went to find hot springs on two separate occasions and it just didn’t happen. You can find a bunch of them in La Fortuna. Next time we’re in Costa Rica, a hot spring will probably be my first stop.
Hike to a waterfall
Well you don’t necessarily have to hike to see a waterfall ( check out my YouTube video to understand why) but some of the best ones are found just beyond a 25 minute hike. We took the trek to see through Bajos de Toro to see the Blue Fall and it was well worth the exercise.
Honorable Mentions
Here are a few tips if you are planning a trip to Costa Rica.
- A lot of people don’t speak English so its best to have a Spanish to English translator on you phone if you don’t speak Spanish.
- Rent a car ! You won’t really be able to get around without one.
- Go to attractions early. Things closed fairly early and it gets dark at about 5:30pm.
I hope you all enjoyed my Costa Rica Travel Guide. If there are any questions or would like to add some tips from your own trip to Costa Rica, please leave it in the comments.
