rack him

I am thinking about cashing in frequent flyer miles to take the family to Costa Rica for a week or so. Generally speaking, our plan would be to spend about half of our time at the beach (swimming and snorkeling), and the other half taking in the natural surroundings (nature walks and animal spotting). It would be nice to be near the city for restaurants, museums, etc., but is not critical.

I can choose between flying into San Jose (SJO) or Liberia (LIR). Any thoughts on what is the better choice for an arrival airport?

Then, after we figure out what is the better airport choice, any suggestions for less expensive hotel accomodations??
We are trying to do this on a price-conscious budget, so hotels with breakfast included (or even all-inclusive) would be much more manageable.

Thanks for your help!

wolfie_cr

Generally speaking avoid San Jose altogether (the city, not the airport) , there are few worthdoing things.......and you are much better off skipping it while focusing on more interesting things

have you decided on a particular set of things you want to do? like volcanoes (if so which ones) etc etc?

advantages of landing in LIR, much closer to the beach as opposed to 2 hour (or a lot more if you want to go to Guanacaste) drive from SJO

you have beaches and a couple of volcanoes in the northern section of the country , for a first visit that should do it

Generally in the 'must see' you can have

Arenal Volcano
Poas Volcano
Manuel Antonio/Quepos (national park on the central pacific side)
Tamarindo or any of the other beach towns in Guanacaste

rack him

Thank you wolfie_cr, I appreciate the feedback. Sounds like a flight into LIR is the way to go.

wolfie_cr

feel to ask any question, here or by PM

Zarf4

Agree that San Jose should be avoided.

Also wanted to recommend the cloud forest in Monteverde. Great hiking areas & nice town (be sure to stop at the Quaker dairy for ice cream.) Along the way are several spots on the continental divide where you can see both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

remphish1

Are there any nice all inclusive resorts near San Jose? I was debating also SJO vs LIR but it is way cheaper to buy a ticket to SJO.

mdhaberkorn

LIR's proximity to Guanacaste's and Nicoya's beaches can't be beat, if you have a choice and it costs the same as arriving in San Jose.

ludwip

I have one more piece of advice that may be helpful here. The reason that most people fly into san jose is because it is an easy "base area" to stay at.

Most parts of the country can be reached within 4-5 hours driving from san jose. I agree that if you're planning on staying in the north west side of costa rica, yes, liberia is the way to go. But, if you plan on going to south costa rica or the Caribbean coast,you may want to consider san jose. It would take 8 hours or more to drive from liberia to costa rica. Here's two maps that show liberia, san jose, and the items nearby:

Liberia:
http://www.costaricabeauty.com/ViewM...390625&BID=222

San jose:
http://www.costaricabeauty.com/ViewM...8271637&BID=39

The reason I mention the osa peninsula is because that is where the is an amazing amount of wildlife (e.g. corcovado), much more than the surroundings of liberia. Liberia is famous for its amazing beaches more than the wildlife or jungle.

An all inclusive place that I really loved was punta leona north of manuel antonio. It is an all inclusive hotel (with 3 meals a day buffet) that basically has two beaches all to itself (its like a gated community hotel) and when I went the price was good.