Costa Rica suggested itineraries - I

Difficult to suggest an itinerary in Costa Rica. This country that seems so small on the map is so rich that you have to choose ... and then give up. Do not opt ​​for a particular visit to the charge that would give you the impression of any fly, but do not take advantage of this great country. Carefully consider your interests and choose three or four sampling points up to make the most of each one.

For example, here's an itinerary that allows you to enjoy the diversity of the country: Atlantic, Pacific, volcanoes, jungles, mangroves, dry tropical forests, rainforests and altitude ...
San Jose

•     Plaza de la Cultura
•     The Teatro Nacional
•     The mercado central
•     The Museo del Oro Precolombino
•     The Museo del Jade
•     The Museo de los Ninos

San Jose is just the unavoidable at the beginning or end of stay, since it is necessarily where we arrived and there that one off again! And it is the capital of Costa Rica, in the center of the country, in the heart of the Central Valley. At an altitude of 1,150 meters, enjoying a spring climate all year, the city is the center of social, economic and cultural development. It has nearly 350,000 residents and more than a million people made up his city, its many neighborhoods and cities that are named: Los Yoses, San Pedro, Curridabat, Barrio Dent, Sabanilla, Hatillo, Sabana, Rohrmoser, Escazu, Santa Anna, Alajuela, Heredia ... There are several museums, many universities, art galleries, theaters, cinemas, nightclubs, restaurants and shopping centers.

In San Jose, we visit the Museo del Oro Precolombino, the Museo del Jade and the Museo de los Ninos ... but we think that the museums of Costa Rica are certainly not the first interest of the country.

San Jose is also not a pretty city. Modern buildings are soulless and its architecture is very original. The streets and avenues intersect at right angles, forming a checkerboard of square blocks. In the center of the city cross the Avenida 1 (horizontal) and Calle 1 (vertical). Going north, the odd-numbered avenues: 3, then 5, then 7, etc. ... In the south the even numbers. Going east, the odd-numbered streets; westward, even-numbered ones. So not too complicated to find an address ... except that there are no numbers on the buildings!

Finally, what is nice in San Jose is its people and the meetings you will: the motley crowd of pedestrian streets, noisy traffic jams that have nothing to envy our European capitals, the dozens of small stalls on the sidewalks that sell the necessary and the superfluous: cigarettes, soap, chocolate bar, green coconut with a straw ...

You will spot the hyperbolic center of the city thanks to the Teatro Nacional on the Plaza de la Cultura (Av. Ctl, Calle 3/5). Always busy, it is the meeting place of young people, students, lovers and business people.

In San Jose, one must visit especially the central market (mercado central el) with its shops and its many cafés. You can buy good quality hammocks, bags, cigars, herbs and spices of all kinds, coffee ...