Central Valley & Highlands
This polished storybook garden complex just east of Volcán Poás offers the most easily digestible cultural experience in the Central Valley and is the…
Must-see attractions in Central Valley & Highlands
Catarata del Toro & the Blue Falls
Central Valley & Highlands
Find a beautiful 90m-tall waterfall that cascades into a volcanic crater (free for overnight guests) and two trail options through virgin forest (one 4…
Central Valley & Highlands
In front of the Church of San Rafael, this park was a normal plaza until the 1960s, when a gardener named Evangelisto Blanco became inspired to shave the…
Central Valley & Highlands
About 10km west of Alajuela is this well-designed animal park with more than 115 species of bird on colorful, squawking display. The tranquil 14-hectare…
Parque Nacional Tapantí-Macizo Cerro de la Muerte
Central Valley & Highlands
This 580-sq-km national park preserves the verdant northern slopes of the Cordillera de Talamanca and is the wettest reserve in the country, getting…
Central Valley & Highlands
About 7km southeast of Grecia, north of Tacares and Flores, are two gorgeous waterfalls and a swimming hole surrounded by shaded areas and picnic tables…
Central Valley & Highlands
More than a decade ago, Leslie Howle and her husband, Jorge Murillo, started taking in sick and injured toucans. The couple eventually ended up with a…
Central Valley & Highlands
Here's your chance to get frighteningly close to this extremely active volcano, which last erupted in 2017. At an elevation of 2708m, the mighty Poás is…
Monumento Nacional Arqueológico Guayabo
Central Valley & Highlands
This is the largest and most important archaeological site in the country. Although Guayabo isn't nearly as breathtaking as Mayan and Aztec archaeological…
Central Valley & Highlands
Trains first pulled in at this atmospheric, now-abandoned station more than a century ago and continued until the 1990s, when the remaining freight…
Central Valley & Highlands
The village of Ujarrás was damaged by an 1833 flood and then abandoned. All that remains are the crumbling walls of Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Limpia…
Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles
Central Valley & Highlands
Cartago's most important site, and Costa Rica's most venerated religious shrine, this basilica exudes Byzantine grace, with fine stained-glass windows,…
Parque Nacional Juan Castro Blanco
Central Valley & Highlands
This little-visited national park is where five of Costa Rica's major rivers originate. The 143-sq-km reserve has a sizable but little maintained trail…
Central Valley & Highlands
The University of Costa Rica runs the exceptional 11-hectare Lankester Gardens, started as a private garden by British orchid enthusiast Charles Lankester…
Central Valley & Highlands
Occupying a privileged position on the corner of the plaza just north of the church, this low-lying Spanish structure dates back to the late 18th century…
Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación
Central Valley & Highlands
Catie's sprawling grounds, 2km east of Turrialba, encompass 10 sq km dedicated to tropical agricultural research and education. Agronomists from all over…
Central Valley & Highlands
This artisanal woodworking studio is run by Hermes and Miguel Quesada, sons of renowned Tico carver Macedonio Quesada. The brothers maintain the campesino…
Central Valley & Highlands
On the northern edge of San Ramón park, this informative museum run by the University of San Ramón accounts the cultural heritage of the area with a…
Central Valley & Highlands
Orosi is one of the few colonial-era towns to survive Costa Rica’s frequent earthquakes, which have thankfully also spared the photogenic village church…
Museo Histórico Cultural Juan Santamaría
Central Valley & Highlands
In a century-old structure that has served as both jail and armory, this museum chronicles Costa Rican history from early European settlement through the…
Central Valley & Highlands
This now-ruined church was built in 1575 as a shrine to St James the Apostle. It was destroyed by the 1841 earthquake, rebuilt a few years later and then…
Jardín Botánico Else Kientzler
Central Valley & Highlands
This well-tended botanical garden 400m north of Sarchí stadium has 2km of trails winding through more than 2000 types of clearly labeled plants, including…
José Figueres Ferrer Center for Culture & History
Central Valley & Highlands
This museum and cultural center celebrates all things José Figueres, the three-time Costa Rican president best known for abolishing the country's army in…
Central Valley & Highlands
Heading south from Paraíso toward Orosi you'll hit Mirador de Orosi, a big green space with a jaw-dropping scenic overlook complete with BBQ facilities,…
Central Valley & Highlands
This old-school covered market is conveniently located right around the corner from the bus and train stations that serve San José. It's fun just to…
Central Valley & Highlands
Around 70 steps (approx 10 to 15 minutes up) lead to a viewing platform overlooking the vast verdant hillsides, with a trickling waterfall in the distance…
Central Valley & Highlands
Housed in a restored 19th-century farmhouse 1.5km southeast of Barva, this tiny museum surrounded by well-labeled gardens is run by the Universidad…
Central Valley & Highlands
This short trail around a nice garden is a pretty, if a little pricey, place to stretch your legs on the way to the high cloud forest or Lands in Love…
Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción
Central Valley & Highlands
Built in 1797, this striking white church is still in use. The thick-walled, squat construction has withstood many earthquakes, but parts of the facade…
Central Valley & Highlands
At the heart of town you’ll find the incredibly quaint Catedral de la Mercedes, a red metal structure that was prefabricated in Belgium and shipped to…
Central Valley & Highlands
Two blocks south of Parque Central, this plaza features a statue of Juan Santamaría in action, flanked by cannons. Across the way, the Parque de los Niños…
Central Valley & Highlands
This tower, constructed in 1876 by order of the provincial governor, is the official symbol of Heredia. It was declared a national historic monument in…
Central Valley & Highlands
The campus of Universidad Nacional is a great place for doing a little guerrilla learning. Keep an eye out here for posters advertising cultural offerings…
Museo de Arte Religioso San José Orosi
Central Valley & Highlands
Adjacent to Orosi's church, this small museum housed in a former convent displays interesting examples of Spanish-colonial religious art and artefacts,…
Central Valley & Highlands
Heredia was founded in 1706, and in true Spanish-colonial style it has several interesting old landmarks arranged around Parque Central, including an…
Central Valley & Highlands
This iron monument welcomes visitors to Atenas while honoring the Costa Rican oxcart driver. It's 1km before Atenas on the north side of the road.
Central Valley & Highlands
The twin spires of the ash-gray Iglesia de San Ramón tower over this pretty square at the center of town.
Central Valley & Highlands
The shady Parque Central is a pleasant place to relax beneath the mango trees or people-watch in the evenings.
Parque Nacional Volcán Turrialba
Central Valley & Highlands
A 2km radius around the rarely visited Volcán Turrialba (3328m) became a national park in 1955, protecting mountain rainforest and cloud forest. It was…
Central Valley & Highlands
About 5km south of Grecia, a bend in the road leads to an 18th-century rock bridge connecting the hamlets of Puente de Piedra and Rincón de Salas. Locals…
