San Jose

A tax on coffee exports paid for it in 1897 and the materials came by ship from Europe. The ceiling painting once appeared on the banknote.

1600 gold pieces made before the Spanish arrived are kept underground. Frogs and birds are the common shapes and few exceed a finger in length.

Open since 1880, the aisles run narrow enough that shoulders touch. Small kitchens inside serve whatever single dish was set for the day.

Objects worked from the green stone found in this region are gathered here. They are lit from behind so the pattern in the stone shows.

Families enriched by coffee raised timber mansions here in the early nineteen hundreds. Many now work as cafes or as places to stay.

A volcano whose crater holds a green acid lake, ninety minutes' drive uphill from the city. The national park closed indefinitely in late March 2025 as eruptions intensified; confirm it is open again before going.

Picking, pulping, drying and roasting are shown in that order. Only hand picking selects the ripe cherries, so people still do it.

It occupies a former barracks and bullet marks remain in the walls. This country abolished its army, and one room deals with that decision.

The craft of painting the wooden carts that once carried coffee survives. Wheel patterns differed by village, which told anyone where a cart came from.

At 3432 metres it is said that on a clear day both oceans can be seen. The road climbs to the summit and a car can reach the crater rim.

The cathedral stands just south of Central Park, its front marked by thick columns like a Greek temple. Inside, rows of bright stained glass line the nave. During Mass, the polite thing is to look around quietly from the back.

Until the 1950s this was the country's international airport; it became a park after. A lake, lawns and sports fields spread wide, with the National Stadium at the western end. Weekend mornings fill up with residents out running and kicking balls.

At the eastern end of La Sabana, the museum occupies the old airport terminal as it stood. It hangs paintings and sculpture by the country's artists. Upstairs, the Golden Hall walls carry a gilded relief of history from Indigenous times to recent decades.

A quiet residential district east of downtown that turned into the city's eating quarter. Craft beer bars, cafes and small restaurants run along Calle 33. The street only gets busy after seven in the evening, and many places stay shut by day.

Its iron panels were made in Belgium, shipped over and bolted together in the 1890s. It still serves as a primary school, so the inside is off limits. From a bench in Parque Espana opposite, the yellow-painted iron front fits into one view.

The castle-like former Central Penitentiary was converted and reopened in 1994 for children. Science and national history are taught through hands-on exhibits. A few cells from its prison years survive untouched, and adults tend to linger longest there.

Coffee valley some 90 minutes' drive southeast of San Jose. The adobe church on its village square, built around the 1750s, is the oldest in Costa Rica where Mass is still said. Lookouts above the valley see less mist in the morning than in the afternoon.

In the old capital Cartago, it keeps a small black stone Virgin, La Negrita. The night before her August 2 feast, huge crowds of pilgrims walk in from San Jose. Behind it, so many fill bottles from the holy water fountain that shops sell empty ones.

A University of Costa Rica garden near Cartago, known for its orchid collection. Paths link a bamboo grove, cacti and a Japanese-style garden. Most orchids bloom in the dry months, when little rain falls.

A private nature park on the eastern slope of Poas Volcano. Stairs and steel platforms lead down past five waterfalls in turn, with hummingbird and butterfly gardens too. Poas National Park often shuts during eruptive activity, so check before pairing the two.