Costa Rica: Travel Advices For One Week Stay Only

[pimaggot]

When I visit San Jose or Nicaragua I carry a chain with a padlock on the end and the other end attached to my wallet. It is a very good theft deterent. I only had to use it once while in Nicaragua - walk softly and carry a big stick!

[quebecostarica]

Agreed 100% with you! There are plenty of beautiful things IN COSTA RICA! Like I said before, San jose is NOT Costa Rica! Paris is NOT France! Tokyo is NOT Japan! San Jose is ugly, Costa Rica is beautiful!

[SOCIALISTA2000]

i would beg to differ with the other comments. there are plenty of things to do in costa rica.

[genettico]

how are you gonna compare madrid to san jose? San Jose is ugly in my opinion too but, you do have tons of things to see culturally wise. If you expect to see highrisers and/or architectural marvels it is not happening, but if you are travelling with the intention of learning and enjoy culture, San Jose is a great place>

If you are visiting to see ecotourist destinations, so then as said before, skip san jose! I believe you should see SJ just to understand ticos better!

[quebecostarica]

I have been working 10 years in San Jose. I have seen a lot! Again! If you have just one week of vacation, avoid San Jose! Like you said, there are many beautifull plalces in Costa Rica. Sorry! San Jose is not a beautiful place!

[ocean1252]

san jose downtown is the unsafety and ugly place but not sorrounding areas, there are the residential places, bars, countryside actually CR is a place for nature and rainforest if you try another thing will be wrong. San Jose does not offer nothing at all, but in summer there are some areas really cool near the Yellow house and residential area of Amon, it is so cool...

[quebecostarica]

Some exceptions confirm the rule! Agreed!

[rcastro456]

Of course San José is not safe or pretty, but the true traveler (not toursit) should attempt to understand, observe, absorb the places he/she travels to and look beyond ugly vs. pretty and just experience something new. My advice is to just dress with jeans and a t-shirt, take little or no money, and just walk around with no worries. There are beautiful areas around san jose, but to find them it's better to get in touch with a local.

[quebecostarica]

If you have only 1 week to see Costa Rica, which means you can take off the first day you arrive less the last one when you have to be in San Jose to take your airplane, what's left is 5 days net to see Costa Rica. Precious days you should invest to see the country rather than San Jose. Very nice comment by the way! If you have time, follow his advice.

[toyomore]

if you go to costa, skip san jose!

[gringuitica]

Lastly, after you're finished bashing San José, please make sure to disclose that your hotel/B&B (which, from the looks of your website is little more than an overpriced studio apartment) is located IN SAN JOSÉ. Not strictly within the city limits, but you know as well as I do that San Francisco de Dos Ríos is as smog-filled and loud as the rest of the city.

[quebecostarica]

If $50.00 a night, for 2 persons, breakfast included is overpriced, than you should shop around to see if it is overpriced! I dont think so! San Francisco De 2 Rios is not noisy and there is no smog! Gee! I live there and believe me, I will not live in a noisy place with smog on top of it! How can you make such statements!!

[gringuitica]

Additionally, there are plenty of hotels throughout the country (not just in the Ugly City, as you claim) that cost $20/night. You may not want to promote them, as the commission is too low, but they exist. I have stayed in darling cabinas, hostels, and guesthouses throughout the country, always paying between $5-$15/night per person (and yes, that's including a private bathroom).

[quebecostarica]

Everything you say make sense! There are many type of lodging everywhere that are affordable and nice...but the bigger picture is still the same: if you have 6 real(net) days to see Costa Rica, skip San Jose!

[zettebda]

Hi Gringuitica, could you please name some of those places with a little detail. I will be in Costa Rica in July and plan to spend less on accomodations so that I can do more exploring. Thanks for your reply

[gringuitica]

San José is not a "small town." The metro area has over 1.5 million people. Furthermore, there *are* things to see here. For those interested in a little bit of culture, we have museums that cover all sorts of topics ranging from pre-Columbian living to the history of modern Costa Rica. There are also some pretty fantastic restaurants, amazing views, and spectacular sunsets.

[quebecostarica]

San José is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica.Four districts of the 11 that comprise the canton of San José can be said to form the "downtown" central core of the city. These districts (Catedral, El Carmen, Hospital and Merced) cover a combined area of 9.47 km²,and have a population of only 60,201 .The Greater Metropolitan Area of San José however,has an estimated population of 1,611,616 (2), which is 37% of the country's total population.

As I said before, San Jose is a small town!

[latinxavier]

Sorry to tell you. I've been to many places and many cities and i can tell you San Jose is UGLY, dirty, unorganized and unsafe. The rest of Costa Rica is so very beautiful. You are seeing it with the eyes of your heart experiences. Peace and much luv.

[capsicum9111]

san jose is not safe!

[betogess]

i live here, it´s safe. If you go to poor places obviously! everywhere in the world is like that

[quebecostarica]

Depends! Depend! Coca Cola is certainly not safe, I am sure you agree with that! However do you consider that Plaza De La Cultura is safe too!? Tell that to a friend of mine that had been attacked around 19.30 on a Friday night! Safe!? Well! I prefer tell new comers that it is not safe! This way they will be very cautious! San Jose is risky business! The odds are not in your favor! Period!

[googlequiro]

If you have one week only to have a taste of Costa Rica, better to skip San Jose.You will not miss a lot!

[quebecostarica]

Capital of peace! Well! Tell that to people that are being mob on San Jose streets...every single day!To say that San Jose is the capital of peace is a very irresponsible thing to say! If you are a tourist coming here, be careful walking around San Jose and don't listen to this kind of advices. They live on another planet where everybody wears pink glasses! I repeat, San Jose is one thing, Costa Rica another one!

[mlachner]

hey you.... san jose is beatiful it is the capital of peace....dont hear to this guy he does not know shit....

[aleriga1981]

Visiting the coast directly is another way to plan the trip... You can also arrive to the Liberia airport directly and visit the west coast of the country... One way or the other you are welcome!

[quebecostarica]

Agreed! Skipping San Jose completely is another option. I am not saying it is better to arrive in Liberia rather than San Jose. It is just 2 different ways to do your own "look, listen and feel" of Costa Rica. I would say Liberia is for people that need more to relax, to recharge their batteries, and arriving to San Jose, for travelers that want to get a bigger bite of Costa Rica.

[ofmcap]

Vous êtes québécois, vous? J'ai passé presqu'un an à Cartago (août '05) et je n'ai jamais vu ou entendu un québécois là-bas. En ce qui concerne San José, les costa-ricains eux-mêmes disaient que c'était laid!!

[quebecostarica]

Bonjour du Costa Rica! Oui je suis un québécois qui a fuit l'hiver il y a presque 14 ans de cela! Si jamais vous revenez au Costa Rica, contactez-moi!

[Turubari]

For those interested on visiting Costa Rica don't forget to visit also Turu Ba Ri Nature & Adventure Park

[ticotravelersdotcom]

Why Dont to get the @#$%@ OUT of COsta Rica...

[quebecostarica]

As you can see, some people has a very limited vocabulary! Eh you! if don't agree with what I say, why don't you create your own videos!

[valdostalife]

Good advice. Thanks for you help. I'm going to visit Costa Rica during the end of December and can use all the advice about Costa Rica I can get.

[quebecostarica]

Please feel free to contact me anytime! After 14 years in Costa Rica, I can certainly give you some travel advices on how to avoid the main pitfalls. Believe me... there are many! This way, you should be able to enjoy fully your trip in this beautiful country of Costa Rica....minus the bad surprises!

[spicano]

I am sorry there is people like you, San jose is a beautiful city. Please do not listen to this ignorant man.

[quebecostarica]

That is weird! Not one, repeat not ONE of the visitors that came at my Bed and Breakfast in Costa Rica told me San Jose is beautiful! I wonder why?

[chafurrer]

Can you please tell me how your Hotel name ist? Thanks

[quebecostarica]

In fan fact it is a B.& B., or a Guest House, or a full studio to rent. Depending of the need of the client I adapt the prices and the formula. Example, you want to rent the studio for one month for 2 persons, it will be $500 a month. You want the B.&B formula, it is $29 per night for the first person, than $10.00 a night for any add. guest. You can see the pictures at rogerpilondotcom. On the right columm, click on the B. & B. link.

[nisaje]

I would have to agree San Jose is not clean or nice to visit. It's more or a street(not clean) market place. There is a lot of smoke from the cars and the air quality is horrible in San Jose. If you want to visit I recommend to visit the beaches and jungle if you like it. By the way I'm a Tica. Born in Costa Rica and now in Boston. I visit every year. I usually see family and then go straight to the all inclusive hotels. Not cheap but well worth the money.

[quebecostarica]

I agree with you 100%! San Jose is polluted, dangerous and ugly! Concrete everywhere! Te National Theater is the only thing that worth to be seen and the 3 museums. After that, get out of San Jose and visit the rest of Costa Rica! THAT is beautiful!

[ZIGANGELUZ]

Que se cree este mae en san jose hay mucho que conocer este mae esta loco= what this man think there is a lot of places to see etc...

[SiroHunter]

Claro mis compas chepe esta rajado mi mop! como va a decir esa estupidez!

[dabidgomes1983]

Dude, u have no idea what u r talking about. People go see San José, it is a beautiful city, filled with things to do, great nightlife! go see a National Orchestra show at our National Theater, check out our museums (The Golden Museum is marvelous!), go to a futbol (soccer) game at Ricardo Saprissa Stadium, go to inBio Park (u won´t believe ur eyes), too bad this guy hasn´t seen any of this, haha sucks to be him!

[latinxavier]

These may be things to do for the local. These things tourist can do at home... go the baseball game, the night club, the opera, concerts, etc. There's is not much to be seen in San Jose for the Tourist. Sorry.

[t0urniquet]

Oh SHUT UP! San José IS beautiful, if you know the right way to know it, actually you should talk about the GAM (Great Metropolitan Area) not only about the Small county, you didn´t mention the MANY museums, malls, Shopping and Tours about History in San José Downtown and it WILL take more than 2 weeks to know ALL of the wonders of COSTA RICA and I can ASSURE you, YOU WONT GET BORED! I´ve been living here ever since I was born 23 years ago and I still have not seen it all!

[quebecostarica]

You are confusing people! San Jose is one thing, the greater metropolitan area another one and the country itself,Costa Rica, something else! The capital San Jose is not Costa Rica, like Paris is not France! If you go and just visit Tokyo, could you say that you know Japan?? I don't thing so! And yes the greater San Jose offers more attractions, but this is something else!