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 hotel. There's a butterfly garden, around a dozen hummingbird species, plus a fishpond and a lake on the grounds. At the entrance you'll get a birders checklist.
Bosque Nuboso El Cocora
Central Valley & Highlands
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
23.86 MILES
This polished storybook garden complex just east of Volcán Poás offers the most easily digestible cultural experience in the Central Valley and is the…
23.69 MILES
From 1968 until 2010, Volcán Arenal was an ever-active and awe-striking natural wonder, producing menacing ash columns, massive explosions and streams of…
29.53 MILES
Two kilometers northeast of Venado (Spanish for ‘deer’) along a good dirt road, these caves are an adventurous excursion into an eight-chamber limestone…
21.69 MILES
The exquisitely misty 310-hectare Reserva Santa Elena offers a completely different cloud forest experience from Monteverde. Cutting through the veiled…
Catarata del Toro & the Blue Falls
17 MILES
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…
8.36 MILES
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…
Reserva Biológica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde
20.3 MILES
This beautiful cloud forest reserve came into being in 1972, when the Quaker community (which had already set aside a third of its property for…
20.68 MILES
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…
Nearby Central Valley & Highlands attractions
8 MILES
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…
2. José Figueres Ferrer Center for Culture & History
8.03 MILES
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…
8.05 MILES
The twin spires of the ash-gray Iglesia de San Ramón tower over this pretty square at the center of town.
8.36 MILES
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…
5. Parque Nacional Juan Castro Blanco
11.73 MILES
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…
6. Refugio Nacional de Fauna Silvestre Peñas Blancas
11.84 MILES
This 24 sq km refuge, not to be confused with the Nicaraguan border crossing of the same name, runs along the steep southern arm of the Cordillera de…
12.8 MILES
It’s an animal rescue center. It’s a volunteer project. It’s Spanish classes. This community-based organization is doing a lot of good, and you can…
8. Jardín Botánico Else Kientzler
13.34 MILES
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…