Five Days of Pura Vida: Costa Rica Road Trip
Self drive covering San José → Bajos del Toro → La Fortuna → Monteverde
4/28/20269 min read
We went in early April over Easter week, which is the last few weeks of the dry season — sunny, warm, trails in great condition. The flip side is that it's also the most expensive time to go. Accommodation fills up fast, tourist hotspots like La Fortuna are genuinely busy, and you feel the price difference across the board. It was worth it as the weather was nice. Also recommend reading https://mytanfeet.com/ and https://sallysees.com/, both amazing blogs.
A few practical things before we get into it:
You barely need cash — cards work almost everywhere, and tourist areas like La Fortuna quote everything in USD anyway. If you pay in colones, they'll often give you a poor rate; roughly 500 CRC to the dollar is the honest conversion. Keep a bit of cash in USD on hand for roadside spots and local sodas, but that's about it. Some accommodations might give a discount if you pay in cash.
Bajos del Toro is the exception — there's no bank or ATM in town, so sort that before you arrive. It's much less touristy than the rest of the route (cooler, quieter, fewer places to stay), but the waterfalls there are some of the best in the country. More on that soon.
We self-drove the whole route, and it was genuinely great — the freedom to detour to Bajos del Toro alone made it worth it. We rented from Adobe Car Rental, had a good experience overall and used this discount: Tanfeet.
Shuttles run between San José, La Fortuna and Monteverde, but Bajos del Toro is off the beaten path enough that you really need a car. Roads were good overall, with some rough patches between Bajos del Toro and San José, and again on the climb to Monteverde. San José traffic is the one thing to actually plan around — always add a buffer beyond whatever Google Maps tells you, and use Waze instead, it's much more accurate for Costa Rica.
We had a 4x4 and never engaged it once. In the dry season, you don't need it — save the upgrade fee unless you're visiting in the rainy season. We recommend a high-clearance vehicle if you are visiting Bajos del Toro and Montverde.
Road Trip Itinerary – Sections
Day 1: Bajos del Toro : Waterfalls All Day
Cataract del Toro
Blue Falls
Day 2: La Fortuna — Volcano, Sloths & Hot Springs
Arenal Volcano National Park
Volcano Lodge Hot Spring
Day 3: River Float in the Morning, Bridges at Dusk
The Pure Nature Safari Float
Mistico Hanging Bridges Twilight Tour
Day 4: Into the Cloud Forest — Monteverde
Cafe Macadamia
Zip Lining and Hanging Bridges tour in Selvatura Park
Night walk with RC Tours
Day 5: Santa Elena Cloud Forest & the Drive Home
Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve
Day 0: Arrival in San Jose
There's a direct flight from Toronto, which is a bonus — we landed around 10:30 PM, cleared immigration, and the hotel shuttle was already there. The hotel had breakfast included the next morning. Uber works in San José, too, if you need to get around without a car.
🏠 Hotel La Guaria Inn and Suites • Breakfast included • One way shuttle included
Day 1: Bajos del Toro : Waterfalls All Day
The drive from San José takes about three hours (via Zarcero), winding mountain roads, with almost no one around. We started with Catarata del Toro, bought the combo pass there, had lunch at the café and spent about an hour and a half. It drops into an extinct volcanic crater, and the waterfall is quite high — there are around 400 stairs down to the base, so your legs will know about it, but it's absolutely worth the effort. Below are photos from viewpoint before the stairs.
Catarata del Toro View from Bottom
Catarata del Toro View from Top
Then Blue Falls — and honestly, do this one first if you can. The weather could be a bit rainy in the late afternoon. We were already tired by the time we got there, and it was raining, but we still thought it was incredible, which tells you everything. There are seven waterfalls in total, and each one is worth it.
The colour of the water is turquoise (it depends on weather conditions and day as well), which genuinely looks gorgeous. You can swim in almost all of them except La Pintada. Las Gemelas has two falls so close together. La Turquesa (most adventurous we loved it involves a river crossing, but there's a guide to help, and you can borrow walking sticks near the washrooms at the trailhead. We finished just before 5 PM, which is closing time — so budget at least four hours and start as early as you can.
These two took the whole day. By the time we were done the light was fading, and we were running on empty. Calas Lodge is a bit outside the main town — I'd suggest heading into town for dinner while it's still light if you have anything left in the tank. We had just snacks.
If you have more time: Two nights here is worth it; there's more to explore. Just book ahead — accommodation options are limited.
Cataract vuelta decanon (7 km) so would take long but based on the reviews looks worth it (blog)
Parasio mantantiales (2.5 km but was temporarily closed due to construction) (blog)
Catarata Tesoro Escondido (4 km) (blog)
🏠 Calas Lodge
Poza Azul
Tipezequintle
Day 2: La Fortuna — Volcano, Sloths & Hot Springs
We drove in the morning, stopped at a local soda for breakfast on the way — one of those unplanned stops that was worth it.
View of Arenal Volcano from Las Calados
After we headed to the cacao, coffee, sugarcane and sloth tour, it felt a little touristy walking in, and then we completely forgot about that — we saw a two-toed and a three-toed sloth, a mama and her baby, a toucan, and an owl. The coffee and chocolate portions were genuinely fascinating. We saw the cacao fruit and ate it straight off, and saw the coffee beans understood the whole process, ate way too much chocolate, and came away with a whole new appreciation for how much effort goes into a single cup or bar.
Moments from the cacao, coffee, sugarcane and sloth tour
San Bosco Inn gave us complimentary hot spring access to their sister property, Volcano Lodge, for the evening — such a good perk. After a full day, it was exactly what we needed. Dinner there was great too, and then that was the day, fully done.
🏠 San Bosco Inn, La Fortuna • Breakfast included
Arrived at Arenal Volcano National Park (8000 CRC per person entrance) and did the Las Coladas trail, about 2km and mostly flat with a few stairs. It takes you along old lava flows with amazing volcano views. Then we took a car to a viewpoint. Ate some pineapples and coconut water outside the park from a roadside stand.
The Pure Nature Safari Float on the Rio Frio was one of our favourite tours of the trip — no other groups, completely peaceful, unlike busier spots like Rio Celeste. On the way, they stopped to show us Sloths hanging on a tree (so adorable!).
Day 3: River Float in the Morning, Bridges at Dusk
We saw so much — iguanas, herons, kingfishers, howler monkeys in the canopy, and basilisk lizards skimming across the water (the Jesus Christ lizard). Great guide throughout. After the float, they took us to a local family's farm — listed as a snack but very much a full meal. Tortillas made on site, bean dip, plantain chips, enyucados with honey sauce.
The Mistico Hanging Bridges twilight tour was the perfect close to the day. The forest completely shifts at dusk — we spotted a two-toed sloth up in the trees, nocturnal so it was just waking up, slowly scratching itself without a care in the world, snakes and some cool insects. Tall hanging bridges, a waterfall, and that feeling of the jungle coming alive around you as the light fades. Had dinner at Arenal Xilopalo and called it a day.
If you have more time:
We regretted not visiting El Choyin river, we did go to touch the water early morning at 8 AM, and it was great natural pools with just one person. Parking needs to be done on the road, and there are people who ask for money. Also, there is a hot spring that has changing rooms and access to a hot river, with parking.
🏠 Arenal Xilopalo • Amazing Breakfast included
Photos from Mistico Hanging Bridges Twilight Tour
Photos from Pure Nature Safari Float
Day 4: Into the Cloud Forest — Monteverde
We started the morning with an amazing breakfast at Arenal Xilopalo — incredible views, lovely staff, toucans showing up outside while we ate a traditional breakfast with fresh fruits and juice. I also picked up some local coffee and chocolates from here before we left.
Then we drove to Monteverde — beautiful drive. Stopped at Café Macadamia along the way for some snacks and some handmade souvenirs.
I always get local handmade souvenirs from the places I visit — skip the touristy souvenir shops in La Fortuna and go straight to CASEM – Cooperative of Artisans Santa Elena Monteverde instead. Beautiful handmade items by local women. I got coffee, a coffee stand with filter, soap made from local essential oils and a hand painted mug.
Photos from RC Tours Night Walk
Then ziplining at Selvatura Park. We also did a night walk with RC Tours (+506 8996 8205) — highly recommend. The guide was amazing and they actually send you photos afterwards so you can just focus on the experience rather than fumbling with your phone in the dark. Frogs, insects, tarantulas — no mammals this time but still brilliant.
Dinner at Tree House — food was 5/10 but the live music, dancing and eating in the canopy of a fig tree was a 10/10 experience. We were tired but it was worth it for the experience.
🏠La Guayaba • Amazing Breakfast included
Day 5: Santa Elena Cloud Forest & the Drive Home
We started the morning with an amazing breakfast at La Guayaba — this beautiful little B&B with fruit trees right outside, birds everywhere, and the owner is just wonderful. Traditional breakfast, the kind you want to sit at for a while. Hard to leave, honestly.
Then we headed to Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. The trees are like gardens — tall, draped top to bottom in air plants, moss on everything, the kind of green that doesn't look real. We did Caño Negro first — the longest trail at 4.8km through primary forest, about 3 hours, a little muddy in places but well marked with arrows the whole way. The forest feels genuinely wild in there, light filtering through in that slow, dreamy way. At one point, I nearly stepped on a tarantula on the trail - incredible and terrifying all at once.
After that, we did half of the Youth Challenge to get up to the observation tower — on clear days, you can apparently see up to four volcanoes from up there.
They offer guided tours, and people on them were spotting quetzals while we were there. We didn't do the guided tour and didn't see one — that's the one thing I'd do differently.
After the forest, we had coffee and snacks at Cafe Montverde Coffee Shop (also bought the honey roasted coffee) the long drive back to San José. Stopped once for food on the highway, then hit proper traffic closer to the city — the kind that gives you too much time to think about how you don't want to go home. Dropped the car off, checked back into Hotel La Guaria, ate nearby and called it our last night.
What a trip. Honestly — wow.
The trails at Santa Elena, if you're planning: Mundo Joven (0.48km, 15 mins) is flat and easy, great for all abilities. Youth Challenge (1.4km, 45 mins) has the observation tower with volcano views. Del Bajo (2.6km, 1.5 hrs) is a peaceful secondary forest with small bridges over streams. Encantado (3.4km, 2.5 hrs) is your best shot at spotting the Resplendent Quetzal. Caño Negro (4.8km, 3 hrs) is the most challenging — primary forest, a little muddy, but the most immersive of the lot.
🏠 Hotel La Guaria Inn and Suites, San José• Breakfast included • One way shuttle included
Photos from Caño Negro in Santa Elena
