San Jose

San Jose

While crossing through mountainous land we drove to our last destination, Costa Rica’s capital city San Jose.

There are a few routes to take while driving from Arenal Volcano area to San Jose. We decided to take so called route three that takes about 90 miles, mostly driving up and down the hills on the zigzag roads, passing through small towns and villages. The mountain we crossed was about 4000 feet high with absolutely wonderful views. 

"Things to mention: According to our tour guide, the mountain we were crossing is about 4000 feet high, the GPS actually indicated that we were 5545 feet high while driving on the very top. Also, the estimated given time to drive to San Jose on route three is about 3 hours, it took us 5. While driving in afternoon, be prepared for an extraordinary road traffic! "

While at the top of it we were able to stop and shop at the small street stores, where I bought delicious local goods.

After a bit longer drive than we expected we finally arrived to San Jose in the late evening. The city was crowded with walking Ticos and huge traffic on almost each of the streets that made driving conditions quite difficult.

Because of our late arrival we were not able to see much of the city. We went for an evening walk, which I would not recommend to anyone. The city can be pretty dangerous. Next day in the morning before leaving to the airport we walked through Plaza de la Cultura, Public Square that is the cultural and social center of the city. In downtown of San Jose there are a lot of museums to go to, small urban parks, opened air plazas and city’s main cathedral.

San Jose offers a few attractions that are worth to check:

Metropolitan Cathedral that was built in 1871 features stained glass works and assorted sculptures.   

National Center of Art and Culture – the art museum.

National Museum housed in a former army barracks that was a scene of fighting during the civil war of 1948. There are still visible bullet holes around them.

Gold Museum located by Plaza de la Cultura.

Costa Rica is a beautiful country, which everyone should go and visit at least once. I spent there 12 days, visiting national parks, exploring beaches and cute little towns that I would like to come back to in the future. The nature, greenery and wildlife are astonishing there. After driving through the country for several days I must admit that Costa Rica has a lot to offer. I have beautiful memories and unforgettable experience of the live that Ticos lead.