CR trip.

[DON BLEAK]

I am going to CR in Nov. Will be landing in San Jose relatively late at night. Would you suggest driving to San Isidro that night or staying in San Jose one night? If it is staying in San Jose a night….can you suggest a nice hotel? Is the road from San Jose to San Isidro a good one?
From San Isidro I want to see the Southern region….Dominical, Uvita, Ojochal etc. How far south would you suggest I could go? I have about 5 days for this.
Then I will fly to Liberia. Can you tell me the best way to line up tickets for my wife and I? Do they have regular flights from the South to Liberia?
I then stay in Quantacoste, but I would like to see Atenas. How far of a drive is that? Thank you for all your help, and I apologize if I misspelled any cities. Don

[JASON HOLLAND]

Hi Don,

I’m assuming you mean San Isidro de El General, which is in the Southern Zone. There are two routes. One is a high mountain road that’s a four to five hour drive there from San Jose and it’s a two lane windy road in good shape. But I wouldn’t recommend making it at night. The other is the coastal highway that’ll take about three to four hours. The road is in good condition. But again I wouldn’t make the drive at night after a flight. You best bet is to stay in San Jose for the night. There’s a Holiday Inn Express across the street from the airport that I’ve stayed at. There’s also a Courtyard Marriott and some others right around the airport. The city will be called Alajuela.

Try not to stay in downtown San Jose because then you’ll have to backtrack to get on the road to the beach and you have to deal with San Jose traffic.

With five days, I’d concentrate on checking out Dominical, Uvita and Ojochal. If possible stay in one of those towns, San Isidro is about a 45 minute drive from those coastal towns.

As far as getting to Liberia from the Southern Zone, you’ll first have to get back to San Jose to catch a flight to Liberia. This is a good regional airline: NatureAir.com

You might try just driving from the south to Liberia. It’ll be an eight hour+ drive but if you have a rental car, it might be worth it. Plus you can check out the country. Liberia is the capital of the Guanacaste province. It’s about an hour inland and not many expats live around Liberia. They’re on the beach in communities like Playas del Coco, Flamingo, and Tamarindo. I would suggest staying in one of those places to get a flavor for the region.

Atenas is about a five hour drive from Guanacaste, so not practical for a day trip. But you might try visiting Atenas on your way back to San Jose or out of San Jose when you first arrive. Atenas is about 30 minutes from the airport and is actually on the way to the Southern Zone if you take the coastal highway route.

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