Things to do in Monteverde & Santa Elena
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Sabine’s Smiling Horses
Run by Sabine, who speaks English, French, Spanish and German, Smiling Horses offers a variety of treks, from US$15 per-hour day trips to specialty tours, including a Full Moon Ride. Several multiday treks are also on offer, and Sabine may also take experienced riders on the Castillo Trail, weather permitting. This outfitter has been highly recommended by readers year after year.
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Trio
From the same people who brought us Chimera and Sofia comes this amazing new fusion restaurant. We were in heaven after savoring the camarones mojitos – grilled shrimp drenched in a garlic, cumin, onion, rum and orange-juice sauce, served on a bed of potatoes, veggies and avocados. Follow up the flavor explosions with to-die-for desserts like the mango split sorbet. The contemporary, stilted building is oddly located in a dark corner behind the SuperCompro supermarket. It may not have the ambience of its sister restaurants, but this is hands-down our favorite dining experience in Monteverde.
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Monteverde Cheese Factory
Until the recent upswing in ecotourism, Monteverde’s number-one employer was this cheese factory, also called La Lechería (The Dairy). Started in 1953 by Monteverde’s original Quaker settlers, the factory produces everything from a creamy Gouda to a very nice sharp, white cheddar, sold all over the country, as well as other dairy products such as yogurt and, most importantly, ice cream. If you’ve got a hankering for something sweet, our favorite treat is the coffee milk shake. Reservations are required for the two-hour tour of the factory.
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Chimera
Latin-infused tapas are complemented by an excellent wine list featuring robust reds like Chilean Syrah-cabernets and crisp whites like pinot grigio. Dine alfresco at the trellis patio or the big-windowed dining room with beautiful jungle views. Charming staff will lay out a spread of cocktails (like kiwi caipirinhas, with lime, sugar and rum) and tapas like sea bass with passion-fruit cream and spicy mayo, or fried yucca with chipotle garlic aioli, all on white tablecloths.
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Sabor Español
She’s from Barcelona. He’s from Ibiza. And together, Heri and Montse have created one of the most authentic and lovely Spanish restaurants in Costa Rica. The couple specialize in paella, fresh fish, meats and chicken. We loved the stuffed avocado appetizer, followed by shrimp flambéed in whiskey. Wash it down with some of the best sangria this side of the Atlantic. The ambience is super tranquillo and well worth the trip 2km north of downtown.
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Desafío Adventure Company
Desafío treats its horses well and has been recommended for the trek to Monteverde. Along with horseback-riding trips, the company organizes adventure tours rappelling down waterfalls, and community-based tours visiting a local women’s recycling collective and animal rescue shelter. Look for the building shaped like a castle turret.
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Maravilla
Just about the cheapest and most authentic restaurant in Santa Elena, this charming soda serves typical Costa Rican specialties including excellent casados. The menu also features American favorites such as fajitas, pancakes, French toast and 12 kinds of milk shakes. This place gets very crowded during lunch hour, so plan accordingly.
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La Pizzería de Johnny
Woodfired, thin-crust pizzas will warm you right up after a long hike through the cloud forests (or up the hill from Santa Elena). The warm atmosphere and lovely dining area makes it feel as though you are having a nice dinner out without paying the price.
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Amigos Bar
A popular bar that usually has a good mix of locals and tourists is Amigos Bar, a great place to drink and shoot pool.
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Catarata San Luis
A popular (but strenuous) hike is to visit the Catarata San Luis, a gorgeous ribbon of water streaming from the cloud forests into a series of swimming holes just screaming for a picnic. The distance from the parking area to the falls is only a few kilometers, but it’s steeply graded downhill, and the rocky, mud-filled terrain can get very slick. Readers report that their entire families have been OK on the trail, but it’s important to go slow and turn back if it becomes too difficult. However, your efforts will be worth it as the waterfall is simply breathtaking.
Drivers will need a 4WD to ford the little river and climb the muddy road out. You can park (US$6 per car…
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Stella’s Bakery
Order your choice of sandwich on delicious homemade breads with a con-venient order form (one side is in English), and don’t skimp on the veggies, many of which are locally grown (and organic). You can also get soups, salads, quiches and lots of tempting sweet pastries.
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Desafío Adventure Company
Does local treks for groups and individuals around town, day trips to San Luis Waterfalland several multiday rides. This established outfitter will arrange rides to La Fortuna, usually on the Lake Trail. The company also arranges white-water rafting trips on the Ríos Toro, Sarapiquí and others, and can help with transport and hotel reservations. Located next door to Morpho’s Restaurant.
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Reserva Biológica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde
This beautiful reserve came into being in 1972, when the Quaker community, spurred on by the threat of encroaching squatters, joined forces with environmental and wildlife organizations to purchase and protect an extra 328 hectares (811 acres) of land. This fragile enviroment relies almost entirely on public donations to survive. Today, the reserve totals 10,500 hectares (25,946 acres).
Visitors should note that some of the walking trails are very muddy, and even during the dry season (late December to early May) the cloud forest is wet. Many trails have been stabilized with concrete blocks or wooden boards and are easy to walk on, though unpaved trails deeper in the rese…
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El Jardín de las Mariposas
One of the most interesting activities is visiting the butterfly garden. Admission entitles you to a naturalist-led tour (in Spanish or English) that begins with an enlightening discussion of butterfly life cycles and the butterfly’s importance in nature. A variety of eggs, caterpillars, pupae and adults are examined. Visitors are taken into the greenhouses, where the butterflies are raised, and on into the screened garden, where hundreds of butterflies of many species are seen. The tour lasts about an hour, after which you are free to stay as long as you wish. There’s also a theater that presents an informational video in English, Spanish, French, Dutch or German. It’s b…
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Reserva Santa Elena
Though Monteverde Reserve gets all the attention, this exquisitely misty entry, at a comparably small 310 hectares (766 acres), has plenty to recommend it. While the Monteverde Reserve attracts almost 200,000 visitors annually, Santa Elena sees fewer than 20,000. It's also a bit cheaper and much less developed, plus your entry fee is helping support another unique project.
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Selvatura
One of the bigger games in town, Selvatura has 3km of cables, 18 platforms and one Tarzan swing through primary forest. The office is across the street from the church in Santa Elena.
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Café Monteverde
Run by Cooperative Santa Elena, this highly recommended tour takes visitors to coffee fincas that use entirely organic methods to grow the perfect bean. You can help pick some beans, after which you’ll be brought to the beneficio (coffee mill), where you can watch as the beans are washed and dried, roasted and then packed. Of course, you’ll also get to taste the final product with a snack. The cafeitself offers free samples of six roasts, or buy some beans to take home.
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Matáe Caña
Housed in Santa Elena’s original tavern, Matáe Caña is a chic new lounge that fills the void long been present in Monteverde. Opened in late 2009 by the folks behind Pensión Santa Elena, Matáe Caña features the same passion and attention to detail. A waterfall graces one entire wall of the bar. There are numerous padded nooks and crannies where you can sip a drink with your date. During warm weather, guests can lounge on beds in the outdoor patio. The women’s bathroom even has its own lounge with couch and huge mirrors. The bar has a good selection of rums and specialty drinks; don’t miss the Howler Monkey Shot. The lounge also hosts occasional live salsa bands.…
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Hummingbird Gallery
This gallery just outside Monteverde reserve has beautiful photos, watercolors, art by the indigenous Chorotega and Boruca people and, best of all, feeders that constantly attract several species of hummingbird. Great photo ops include potential hot shots of the violet sabrewing (Costa Rica’s largest hummer) and the coppery-headed emerald, one of only three mainland birds endemic to Costa Rica. An identification board shows the nine species that are seen here. If you’d like a closer look, slides and photographs of the jungle’s most precious feathered gems (and other lumi-nous critters) by renowned British wildlife photographers Michael and Patricia Fogden are on display.…
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Bat Jungle
Learn about echolocation, bat-wing aerodynamics and other amazing facts about the (incredibly cute) flying mammal, the bat. The stellar Bat Jungle, a labor of love realized by biologist Richard Laval, has terrific exhibits including a free-flying bat habitat, beautiful sculptures and a lot of bilingual educational displays. The Bat Jungle makes up part of the new Paseo de Stella visitors center, a modern hacienda-style building that also houses a cafe specializing in Argentine chocolate, a museum of Monteverde history and an art gallery. The wide terrace of the building is a wonderful spot to stop for coffee and a handmade truffle.
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Santuario Ecológico
Offering hikes of varying lengths, Santuario Ecológico has four loop trails (the longest takes about 2½ hours at a slow pace) through private property comprising premontane and secondary forest, coffee and banana plantations, and past a couple of waterfalls and lookout points. Coati, agouti and sloth are seen on most days, and monkey, porcupine and other animals are also common. Bird-watching is also good. Guided tours are available throughout the day, but you’ll see even more animals on the guided night tours.
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La Guarida del Sapo
This cathedral of music built by the Hotel El Sapo Dorado resembles an old church – right down to the stained-glass windows with Costa Rican nature scenes. But about the only praying you may do here is to the porcelain god. Fridays are the most lively nights when the place is transformed into a discotheque. There’s live music on most Mondays and Saturdays. The international restaurantserves everything from filet mignon to escargot. A small cover charge applies for special events.
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Jardín de Orquídeas
This sweet-smelling garden has shady trails winding past more than 400 types of orchid organized into taxonomic groups. Guided tours in Spanish and English are included with admission, on which you’ll see such rarities as Plztystele jungermannioides, the world’s smallest orchid, and several others marked for conservation by the Monteverde Orchid Investigation Project. And if you have orchids at home, you might also learn some tips and tricks for organic care.
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Ranario
Monteverde’s cloud forest provides a heavenly habitat for amphibians, which, if you’re lucky, you’ll see in the park. But at the Ranario about 30 species of Costa Rica’s colorful array of frogs and toads reside in transparent enclosures lining the winding indoor-jungle paths. Sharp-eyed guides lead informative tours in English or Spanish, pointing out frogs, eggs and tadpoles with flashlights. You’ll get to see the brilliantly fake-looking red-eyed tree frog, the glass frog and a variety of poison-dart frogs. If you’re lucky, your guide may also imitate frog calls, or give you the lowdown on local folklore (tips are always appreciated). Many resident amphibians are more a…
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Reserva Sendero Tranquilo
An 81-hectare private reserve, Reserva Sendero Tranquilo is located between the Reserva Biológica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde and the Río Guacimal. Trails here are narrow to allow for minimal environmental impact, and the group size is capped at six people, which means you won’t have to worry about chattering tourists scaring away all the animals. The trails pass through four distinct types of forest, including a previously destroyed area that’s starting to bud again.
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