Top Local Tips for Alajuela

Jade Museum An absolute must for any trip to San Jose. Eye opening collection, especially for anyone who has seen museum quality jade in Asia.

Don't be scared to drive to downtown San Jose The taxis to and from the city are $20 each way (for 2 people), which is really quite ridiculous. If you have a car, don't be afraid to drive into the city. We went there every night to eat & if you can drive in NYC, LA, or any other major US city, you will have no problem with San Jose driving. The books & reviews scared us away from this on our first night, and so we threw away $40 that night for no reason. Be aware of restaurants that offer you a free ride from the hotel (for example, "El Mirador"). The food & wine was horrible (although the view was breathtaking) and it turned out to be incredibly overpriced.

If taking a cruise in Costa Rica, bookend your trip with a stay at a hotel The ride from San Jose to Puerto Caldera can be 2 to 3 hours depending on traffic. My mom and sisters were exhausted after their flight from NYC and didn't realize that we had such a long bus ride ahead of use to get to the ship. They had been told that the drive was just under an hour. Because of Saturday beach traffic, it took us around 3 hours to get to the port. Going home they had a flight that left at 11:45, they just made the check-in time for their flight, the airport was super crowded and they still had to pay for their departure tax. Because of when my flights were I had to bookend my trip. It made for more relaxing travel and the airport was less crowded on those days.