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Tours
from San Jose: |
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1.
SAN JOSE CITY TOUR (half day) San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica, was founded in 1637 & is the largest city in the country with almost one million inhabitants. Morning tour visits the National Theater built in 1897, a reproduction of the Paris National Opera, and the National museum situated in the Bellavista Fort, once home to the abolished army and also houses important pre Colombian Indian artifacts. View the Central Park, Metropolitan Cathedral, Supreme Court & Congress buildings & continue to Monrovia to visit the handicraft stores. The afternoon is free for your own activities. |
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2.
ARENAL VOLCANO-TABACON THERMAL BATHS (Full day) Depart from your hotel to Arenal via scenic San Ramon & the plains of San Carlos where you can see the volcano through the clouds. Stop at Finca Los Cartagos for a typical lunch, a chance for a boat ride in the lake or horseback riding. Continue to Tabacon Thermal Baths Resort where you can enjoy the luscious gardens of pools of therapeutic water heated to a perfect temperature by the Arenal Volcano. The Arenal is Costa Rica’s most active volcano & erupts frequently, providing an unforgettable spectacle of sound & light, lava & ash. Proceed to Tabacon Resort for dinner. Return to your hotel. L, D |
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POAS VOLCANO-BUTTERFLY FARM-SARCHI OXCARTS (Full day) Drive to the Poas National Park through the city of Alajuela, home of Costa Rica’s national hero Juan Santamaria. The park contains an impressive contrast of wonders. It offers the opportunity to view an active crater with its eruptions of smoke & steam, and an inactive crater, containing a cold-water lake. The active crater is one of the largest in the world (one mile in diameter). Continue to the Butterfly Farm in La Guacima with 900 different species. See the different stages of the caterpillar’s life. Proceed to the town of Sarchi, which for the last century has been the center of production of the ancestral oxcart. Presently Sarchi is known as an artisan craft center. Return to your hotel. L |
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4.
IRAZU VOLCANO-OROSI VALLEY-LANKESTER GARDENS (Full day) Drive through Cartago, the first capital of Costa Rica (at 9,175 feet above sea level), to Irazu Volcano. A walk to the edge of the crater gives you enough time to enjoy its awesome presence. The four craters of the volcano resemble a lunar landscape. The tour continues to the lush Orosi Valley with its panoramic view of the Reventazon River & the Cachi Dam. Stop at the “Mirador of Orosi” to view the valley panorama & the Orosi church, the oldest (1743) functioning church in the country. Proceed to the famous Lankester Gardens, one of the largest collections of Orchids, Bromeliads, Ferns & Anthuriums of the region. It is also home to almost one hundred species of birds. It is considered a nature sanctuary. Return to your hotel. L |
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5.
TORTUGA ISLAND CRUISE (Full day) Early in the morning you will depart from your hotel to Puntarenas on the Pacific Coast to board the boat for a full day cruise to the islands of the Gulf of Nicoya. The boat drops anchor at the Island of Tortuga where you will stay for the next few hours. You can swim, snorkel or just relax. Lunch will be served under the palm trees. In the afternoon you sail back to Puntarenas & continue by car to your hotel in San Jose. L |
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6.
RAIN FOREST AERIAL TRAM (Full day) |
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7.
COFFEE TOUR -BUTTERFLY FARM (Full day)
Today the excursion begins with a visit to a coffee farm and to Café Britt packing plant just 20 minutes from San Jose at the entrance of Poas & Barba Volcanoes where you will experience how coffee is grown and processed. Continue to the Butterfly Farm in La Guacima with 900 different species to see the different stages of the caterpillar’s life. L |
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