hotel north of San Jose

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Nathan_lp
Nathan_lp

Can someone recommend a hotel in a small town not very far north of San Jose CR where I might spend the night on my way from the San Jose airport to Nicaragua. I will be heavily loaded so I don’t want to stray too far from the bus stops.

I plan to fly into San Jose Costa Rica on 11 Dec, I will likely be done with the airport by about 3pm.

My plan is to spend 4 months in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. I’m flying into CR because of price and flexibility of flight dates. However I have to go to Nicaragua first. I am carrying a load of books for friends up there and do not want to carry those books any longer than necessary.

I am not a fan of big cities and would like to leave San Jose on the day that I arrive. I would like to head north and find an inexpensive hotel in a small town on the bus route to Nicaragua, I would rather not backtrack if it can be avoided. I would want to be in my hotel before dark so I wouldn’t be able to go very far. Then the next morning get a bus to the border. My destination in Nicaragua is Matagalpa but I know my way around Granada so I would be fine with spending a night there or in San Juan del Sur if Granada is too far to reach in a day, I don’t like arriving after dark.

Any advice on making the trip easier would be welcome, I know little about Costa Rica or about the border crossing. I suspect that being on the right bus could make it easy but don’t know and don’t know what the right bus would be.

Thanks,
Nathan

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hermosajoe
hermosajoe

Could try Alajuela, a small town 10 minutes from the airport. Nice walking safe town, even at night. Easy cheap taxi ride.

Do the bus the next day.

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soniaberode
soniaberode

But if you take Tica Bus at 3 am or 6 am you might want to stay close to the bus station in San Jose. Tica Bus gets you to Managua. Then take a taxi to Mercado Mayoreo and a bus to Matagalpa.

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Nathan_lp
Nathan_lp

Thank you both for your replies.
I looked up Tica Bus, it seems that they have a hotel in the bus station in San Jose. Then there is indeed a 6am bus to Managua. I found comments on the Internet that it takes about 10 hours to get to Managua, so I would arrive with daylight and there is a nice hotel very close to the bus station. Folks also say they try to be helpful with the border crossing, that would be good since my Spanish is not very good.
I haven't received a response from Tica Bus using the messaging on their website so I will get a good Spanish speaker to call them to make sure of things and make a reservation, if that can be done.
I also looked up Mercado Mayoreo, they have a photo of the bus schedule posted, it shows one or two busses to Matagalpa every hour, depending on the time of day.
I'm glad I asked my question here.
Thanks again.
Nathan

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