Nate and I honeymooned in Costa Rica back in 2006. It was our first real international travel experience, and it awakened a fierce passion for travel and adventure in both of us that has never left and has become one of the things that define us as a couple, and now, as a family. We revisited the country on a family trip together with Nate’s sister and our niece, then a teenager, a few years later in 2009. On those two trips, we did lots of the classic adventure pursuits that the country offers- we stayed in rustic accommodations situated on remote canals, went ziplining, and took nighttime hikes to view lava spilling from then-active Volcan Arenal and sea turtles laying eggs on the Caribbean coast.
We had talked about returning to Costa Rica for years with our children, and because of their age difference, the timing always felt difficult. Asher, at 14, is ready for something a bit more adventurous, but Delphine, on the cusp of turning 5, needs a trip that is a bit milder and with more opportunities for rest and relaxation built in. And, let’s be honest, in my mid-40s, I’m much less interested in adrenaline and testing my physical limitations and more intrigued by a beautiful setting with opportunities to make unforgettable memories with my family.
We wanted a mix of areas we had visited before and places that were new to us. We decided that we would drive from one stop to the next, having read that the roads were safe and fairly easy to navigate. Nate is also an enthusiastic and comfortable driver. For the most part, we were comfortable on the roads, except for one stretch that was actually harrowing– however, after the fact, we figured out we may have unwittingly strayed from our GPS directions. I’m going to break this trip into three separate posts, one section devoted to each area we visited.
San Jose to La Fortuna
We arrived in the capital city of San Jose in the evening, and spent two nights at the Hotel Grano de Orohttps://www.hotelgranodeoro.com/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=14010362081&gbraid=0AAAAABO0Tuj9DpvhcYyCE5r8Tf0ZDWdG2&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3LCY45ObkQMV3Ub_AR0f0Bi8EAAYAyAAEgIkTfD_BwE. It’s a beautiful, maze-like hotel. It was hard to tell whether it was set inside a single, sprawling Victorian mansion, or several interconnected homes. Walking to our room was a fun little adventure, navigating a warren of different rooms, passageways and interior courtyards, each decorated with different wallpapers, glowing lanterns or leafy fountains. Inside our room, there was even a beautiful little courtyard garden!
We had only a single full day in San Jose, so we made the most of it. We took a dramatized tour of the ornate Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica, which was really great- it was led by costumed actors, playing everyone from the architect of the theatre to a long-dead First Lady of Costa Rica who narrated the history of the theatre with a sardonic, deadpan humor that Asher and I really enjoyed. We saw contemporary local art at the Museo de Arte Costarricense, housed in San Jose’s original airport, and finished our evening at Café Mundo, an eclectic restaurant in artsy Barrio Amon with international dishes that we first enjoyed eating at almost 20 years ago on our honeymoon!
The following morning, we set out for La Fortuna, the town that spreads out in the shadow of Volcan Arenal. En route, we made a short stop in Zarceras, , a small, built-up town in the highlands which is best known for the whimsical topiary sculptures that fill the park in front of the town church. It was a quick stop to stretch our legs and see a busy Costa Rican town. We enjoyed the misty views over the surrounding hills as well as the pretty town church, with its bright primary-colored stained glass windows- they reminded me of hard candy.
We were taken by surprise as we approached La Fortuna- when we first visited in 2006, it was a tourist hub for sure, but the scale of things was SO much smaller. As we drove up the main road, we were amazed at the sprawl and the sheer amount of businesses catering to travelers. It was a boomtown! On our previous visits, the weather had been mostly cloudy, and the volcano was wholly obscured by mist at almost all times. Today, the sky was clear, and we were amazed at the size of the mountain as it loomed over the town in stark relief. It hasn’t been active in the last few years- when we were there in 2009, we were lucky enough to see lava rolling down the slopes at night (!) – but I’m not sure if it’s considered dormant or just…quiet.
We were staying at the Tabacon Hot Springs Resort, which is an amazingly, gorgeous property.
It gives White Lotus vibes for sure. Each evening we stayed we all took the one-minute shuttle over to the gorgeously manicured hot springs, which are part of the naturally flowing Tabacon River, and relaxed in the warm pools for hours. There are waterfall pools that you can sit behind or be pummeled by, natural silty mineral pools, adults only pools for relaxation, and more family-friendly pools full of kids (Delphine loved paddling around in one that was illuminated with a blue light under leafy palms, she even enjoyed a pizza dinner at the swim-up bar there). Asher and I dipped into most of the ascending natural-look pools, which are a series of impossibly picturesque cascades, black water ringed by dark natural stones and framed by leafy palms. It’s hard to tell where “nature” stops and “resort” begins.
Nature has a way of asserting herself though-I was reminded several times during our stay in La Fortuna that we were in the jungle. As we walked back to our room after dinner, we spotted some gigantic spiders hanging out on the undersides of the broad leaves that lined the path to our little bungalow, and at least once I saw some suspicious scuttling along the baseboard of our wall. Our last evening at the hot springs, there was a torrential thunder and rainstorm, and the pools were closed for a time because the river was too high to be safe for bathing. We waited it out under shelter, watching frogs hopping around in the puddles. When it was over and the pools reopened, Delphine and Asher beelined back to the blue-lit pool and were floating around merrily. The clouds were clearing, stars blinking back into view- and again- CRASH!!!- a huge, electric blue bolt of lightning starfished across the sky, accompanied by another deafening thunderclap.
Another favorite activity in La Fortuna was exploring the Mistico Hanging Bridges Park. This is one of the quintessential Costa Rican adventure tours, and one that we never did on our past visits here, but accessible even for kids as young as Delphine. Walking across suspension bridges swinging high above the forest canopy was a unique experience, unlike anything I’ve ever done before. We had a great tour guide, so we got to see loads of wildlife as well- an eyelash viper curled in a tree, jewel-like hummingbirds, a toucan, and a tarantula in her earthen hole (I stepped away and declined to visit with that particular animal).
I would also recommend the Bogarin Trail, another (tamer) wildlife viewing trail. We saw 5 or 6 sloths in the trees, and through a telescope, you could see them in amazing detail. We also saw poison dart frogs, plenty of birds, and large owl butterflies.
La Fortuna is full of amenities for travelers- plenty of restaurants, handicrafts shops, galleries and resorts to choose from. We really enjoyed our outdoor meal at Anch’io Ristorante and Pizzeria off the main road through town, which was great Italian food in a leafy, romantic garden setting, all lit up with strings of colored lights for dinner. We also had a fun lunch at Que Rico, a casual place with giant glass windows overlooking the slopes of the volcano. If you have a clear day, it offers a stunning view of the cone with your lunch!
Elsewhere Together 