8-Day Costa Rica Itinerary: Road Trip Through the Mountains
The absolute best way to explore Costa Rica is by taking a road trip across the country. The luscious green mountains, stunning volcanoes, and plentiful waterfalls are something you will not want to miss!
In this guide to Costa Rica, I’ll cover everything you need to know to plan a perfect 8-day road trip throughout the countryside.
Let’s get started!
Costa Rica is a fantastic country to explore. A few key things to know before visiting are:
A visa is not required for visitors from most countries, including from the United States.
Upon arrival, there was an extremely long queue to get through customs and it took us over 2 hours to enter the country. Perhaps we visited during a poor time but be prepared in case you have to wait and pack some extra food and water. The border officer was asking everyone for the address at the first place they would be staying, so print off a copy of your accommodation’s address as the airport wifi was pretty poor. You might also be asked to show proof of your return flight, so come prepared with a copy of that as well.
Electricity uses the standard United States outlet plug, Type A or Type B.
Driving in Costa Rica:
An international driver’s license is not required to rent a car, and you should definitely rent an AWD/4WD car to get around.
When picking up your rental car take a video walking around the vehicle and note any existing damage. When we returned our rental vehicle, we found that the rental car agent did the most thorough inspection of our rental car of any country we have ever visited.
Drivers in Costa Rica use lane lines more as a suggestion than a rule, but you should follow all laws while driving so that you do not receive a ticket.
Drivers in San Jose can be quite aggressive and tend to only leave a few inches between their car and the car in front of them, and will merge into any lane where they find a few inches of space. Especially around the airport, traffic is quite slow and when we were returning to San Jose at the end of our trip, driving on HWY 1 directly in front of the airport took about one hour to go roughly 1 mile. However, outside the city, traffic wasn’t bad and people did not drive anywhere near as aggressively.
Many streets are not labeled, so don’t count on road signs for your navigation. Instead, plan to download offline maps either on Google Maps or Waze and plan your route before starting your drive.
Many roads in Costa Rica are unpaved with several having potholes. However, we found that an AWD or 4WD car was sufficient for navigating the roads.
Always lock your car doors and store belongings out of sight to reduce the chance of your car being broken into. At some parking lots there are guards who will watch your car, so plan to tip them a couple of dollars.
Pedestrians do not have the right of way, so do not expect cars to stop for you as you are crossing the street.
Plan to bring plenty of cash to Costa Rica as not everywhere accepts credit cards. US dollars are generally accepted everywhere, but some smaller shops might only accept Colóns. However, during our visit, we did not need to use Colóns.
Tipping is optional in Costa Rica, but if you’re able to tip, 10% is the general standard.
Trekker Tip: When reserving your rental car, ask for a complimentary cooler. This way you can have colder snacks and drinks during your road trip.
For your first day, hop aboard your flight and arrive in San Jose at SJO airport. I’m not sure if it was a particularly busy day at the airport but it took us over 2 hours to clear customs and enter the country. You’ll want to pack some snacks and water in case you have to wait a bit to get through customs as there is no food until you pass customs. The border officer was asking everyone for the address at the first place they would be staying, so print off a copy of your accommodation’s address as the airport wifi was pretty poor. You might also be asked to show proof of your return flight, so come prepared with a copy of that as well.
After clearing customs, pick up your rental car. During our visit, we rented through Adobe Car Rental. We hopped aboard the shuttle and took a short drive to the rental car center. After picking up your car, start your drive towards La Fortuna. Driving in the city of San Jose can be a bit hectic, but once you get out of the city traffic is pretty minimal. It’ll take about 2.5 hours to drive from San Jose to La Fortuna, so if possible try to make the drive during daylight as there are no street lights along the roads.
When you arrive in La Fortuna, check into your hotel or Airbnb. In town, you can stop by a grocery store and stock up on food and snacks for your trip.
Get an early start today to beat the crowds. The first place to visit is Arenal Hanging Bridges. You’ll want to pre-book your tickets so you can guarantee entry as tickets can sell out ahead of time. Tickets are $32 for adults, $21 for children 11-18 years old, $26 for seniors 65 and older, and free for children under the age of 10. Here you can spend a few hours walking the trails and taking in the sights from the suspended bridges. It was raining during our visit, but that added a nice midst over the canopy of the trees. Along the walk through the forest, we also saw quite a few animals including a large variety of birds and even a few coati.
A short drive from the hanging bridges, there are a few different sodas and restaurants you can stop at for a bite to eat. After lunch take a drive to Mirador el Silencio for another hike. Entrance fees are $10 per person and those under the age of 7 are free. Here there are a couple of different trails you can take from here, but I recommend taking the longer trail that goes past the lake. Along the hike, you’ll walk through a lava field over lava from the 1968 eruption of the volcano. You’ll also pass by viewpoints for some of the best views of Arenal Volcano. As you walk by the lake keep a lookout for wildlife as lots of birds like to hang out here.
If you have some extra time this afternoon, head into town and explore La Fortuna Waterfall. The falls are open from 7 am - 5 pm daily but the last entry is at 4 pm. It costs $18 for adults and $5 for children to enter the falls. But plan ahead as you have to walk down 400 steps to reach the base of the falls and the only way to return is by walking those same stairs back up. The falls are extremely busy so plan to arrive at the beginning or end of the day to avoid the worst of the crowds.
For your second full day in Costa Rica, if you’re up for an adventure take a trip rafting. We booked our rafting trip through Viator with Arenal Rafting Company. Plan on wearing a swimsuit with clothes over it that way in case you fall in and have to get pulled back into the boat you won’t end up scratching your skin.
After arriving you’ll hop on a shuttle van and drive to the Balsa River. Along the way, the shuttle made a short stop if you wanted to buy snacks or souvenirs. During the rest of the drive, you will be given safety instructions and information about how to steer your raft. You will then be paired with a rafting guide who will help you navigate the river.
Once you arrive at the river put on your life jacket and helmet and hop in your raft. Then you’ll embark on your fun adventure paddling down the Balsa River. At one point when the rapids were calm, we were able to see wildlife along the banks of the river including a couple of sloths hanging out in the trees. About 2/3rds of the way down the river, you’ll stop for fresh fruit along the river bank and get a chance for a brief rest. Then you’ll hop back in your raft and continue down the rest of the river.
After your rafting experience, hop aboard the shuttle again and be driven back to your starting point. You will then be served a delicious casado lunch consisting of rice, black beans, plantains, salad, a tortilla, and a choice of chicken, beef, pork, fish, or vegetarian. While you’re enjoying lunch they will show pictures they took of you during your rafting experience. If you’re interested in purchasing the photos you can pay for them in cash and they will email the photos to you within 24 hours.
You can rest up after your rafting journey, but if you’re not too tired of the water, you can relax in some of La Fortuna’s natural hot springs. Tabacon is the most popular hot springs in the area, but across the street from the hotel, there is a path that leads you to free hot springs in the river.
Trekker Tip: Planning your rafting trip on the third day of your trip allows you to flip-flop days 3 and 4 if for some reason rafting gets canceled due to weather and allows you to still have an opportunity to go rafting the next day.
Today, break away from the touristy destinations of Costa Rica and take a drive to a beautiful but relatively unknown site. It’ll be about an hour-and-a-half drive to the Blue Falls of Costa Rica, but it is definitely worth it! It costs $17 per person to visit and is only open from 7 am - 5 pm Monday through Saturday. When we arrived around 8 am, we were the only people visiting. It takes about 15 minutes from the trailhead to get where the trail divides and breaks off to the seven different waterfalls you can visit. Each waterfall has a guide around for your safety and they were all also willing to take photos for us.
Here, we were able to swim in the bright blue water and enjoy the falls all to ourselves. We only ended up passing a couple of other people the entire time during our visit. After you spend your day exploring each of the falls, you’re likely to have worked up an appetite. There is a small cafe on site where you can grab a burger or some other snacks before driving back to La Fortuna. This will be your last night in La Fortuna so check out a local restaurant tonight or go souvenir shopping before you leave.
You can get a bit of a later start this morning as you pack up your things and prepare to drive to Monteverde. But if you want to fit in one more thing, I’d suggest stopping by Bogarin Trail and taking a walk through the forest to see sloths. This is probably the best place in La Fortuna to see the sloths in their natural habitat. You can take a guided tour, but we decided to walk around on our own. During our walk, we saw several sloths high up in the treetops and also numerous birds including a few toucans. After finishing our walk, we set off towards Monteverde.
It’s only a short distance on a map between La Fortuna and Monteverde, but there is no direct route between the two and you’ll have to drive around Arenal Volcano and Arenal Lake to get to Monteverde. Because of this, plan on spending about 3 hours to get between the two towns. There isn’t much in between these areas so make sure to fill up on gas before departing.
Along your drive, you’ll pass signs for Cafe & Macadamia which is the best restaurant to stop at for lunch along the way. There are attendants in the parking lot who will look after your vehicle so you don’t have to worry about leaving your luggage in your car. Just plan on giving them a few dollars and they’ll watch over the parking lot. Here, you’ll find a wide variety of food, snacks, and souvenirs, but the main draw is the incredible views overlooking the lake. Grab a table and enjoy the views as you enjoy your lunch. I’d also recommend the macadamia cookies for dessert before continuing your drive to Monteverde.
When you arrive in Monteverde check into your hotel or Airbnb, unpack, and rest for a few before taking a night tour. We booked a tour with Wildlife Refuge Monteverde through Get Your Guide On. We chose the tour at sunset and our guide led us to a great spot to watch the sunset and take pictures. After enjoying the view our guide took us on a walk through the forest and found lots of animals for us to look at. He definitely found animals that we would have never found otherwise such as a tarantula and a tiny snake. If bringing a camera, plan to bring a good zoom lens to capture all the incredible animals.
Today you’ll get to experience the reason a lot of people decide to visit Costa Rica, to enjoy some of the best ziplining in the world! We booked our zipline tour through 100% Adventura which is just outside of Monteverde. We decided to book a morning tour so that we would have less chance of weather impacting our zipline tour which turned out to be a good idea as the weather started to turn later in the day.
After checking in we got fitted for a harness, put on our helmets, and listened to the safety briefing which included how to operate the hand break for the zipline. We then were off on the first set of ziplines. At each zipline, there were guides checking our gear and making sure everything was safe which made me feel less nervous about getting on the ziplines. After the first set of shorter ziplines, there is an option to turn around for anyone uncomfortable continuing onto the longer lines. But if you choose to continue, which I definitely suggest you should, you’ll be able to enjoy some long ziplines over the treetops. Towards the end of the experience, you will also have the option to enjoy the zipline in a Superman pose and feel like you’re free flying over the canopy. After this, the last optional thing is the opportunity to fall ~70 feet on a Tarzan Swing.
When you finish the ziplines you’ll return to the main area where you started and have an option to purchase photos of your experience. The photos were only $20 for the four of us which is the least expensive price we’ve seen for a tour so we purchased the photos and they were then emailed to us within 24 hours.
After finishing the zipline you can take some time to relax, walk around town, or catch another view of the sunset in the evening.
For your last full day exploring Costa Rica, you can enjoy one more hike before returning to San Jose. Take a short drive from Monteverde to the Santa Elena Cloud Forest. This area is not as touristy as the nearby Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve, which allowed for a peaceful hike through the forest without encountering many other people. We spent a couple of hours walking around the forest and listening to the sounds of the birds chirping overhead.
After enjoying the forest, we then started our drive back towards San Jose. It will take about 3 hours to return to San Jose, but if you hit traffic in San Jose it could take longer. Especially, HWY 1 near the airport can get extremely jammed with traffic that can take a long time to get through. We chose to stay near the airport so that we would have an easier time getting out before our flight the next day.
Your final day has now arrived and it’s time to return back home. Be sure to leave plenty of time to get from your hotel to drop off the rental car and arrive at the airport. Even though it’s a short distance, it took us roughly an hour to travel just a couple of miles and return the car because of traffic in San Jose. However, when we arrived at the airport it did not take very long to check our bags and get through security. When the time has come, board your boat and return back home with lots of memories and photos from your trip!
What to Pack
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Good to protect your knees and help you stay balanced on hikes.
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Good hiking socks to keep your feet comfortable when scrambling over rocks or climbing up inclines.
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Bring waterproof hiking boots that are comfortable and you have a chance to break in before you set out on your hikes.
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Keep your hands free while having space for your sunscreen, water, extra layers, quick dry towel, and more.
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Is a must as some areas are exposed and do not offer much shade.
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Stay hydrated while you’re hiking.
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A hat that you can wear as the sun can be quite hot.