San José isn’t the most exciting city in the world and Costa Rica has so many amazing things to see, so I’d recommend spending no more than a few days exploring the city, either at the start or the end of a visit to Costa Rica. We spent somewhat more than 3 days in San José, as I contracted Covid and had to go into self isolation. Also, in reality, the three days we actually spent sightseeing weren’t consecutive as we did a side trip to Panama in the middle.

Getting There

Most people start and finish their visit to Costa Rica at the main airport; Juan Santamaría International Airport in Alajuela. This is 11 miles from downtown San José. We opted to stay near the airport the night we arrived, pick up a hire car (you won’t want one of those in San José), do a Costa Rica Road Trip and finish with a few days in San José. There is public transport from the airport into town; you can walk to the main road and pick up a local bus. This will get you to the Atlantic Railroad Station in around 50 minutes and costs CRC 240 (around £0.37). There are also a number of shuttle bus options, however we found that Ubers were so quick and cheap that we didn’t bother with public transport.

Getting Around

As mentioned above, we opted to stick to Ubers. They are prolific (we never waited more than a few minutes) and cheap.

Where we Stayed

We had initially booked a hotel room in central San José, however when I contracted Covid, we decided to change and book an apartment, so we could be self contained while I isolated. We ended up at Casa Conde Hotel & Apartments. It’s a couple of miles outside the city centre, but a lovely, quirky place offering large apartments, interesting architecture and a great pool.

Note that San José airport is in Alajuela rather than San José. We opted to spend our first and last night in Costa Rica at airport hotels rather than in San José itself. We spent our first night at Hotel Your House (which offers airport pick up and complimentary breakfast in the garden) and rounded our trip off with a night at Hampton Inn & Suites San José Airport (which has an airport shuttle and a decent pool).

Itinerary

	Drive to San José Accommodation – Casa Conde
Day 1	Parque La Sabana Museo de Arte Costarricense Dinner from Marinara
Day 2	Barrio Amón Parque Morazán Jardín de Paz Parque España Plaza de la Libertad Electoral Parque Nacional Estación del Ferrocaril Dinner from Restaurante Kay
Day 3	Brunch at Restaurante el Patio del Balmoral Museo Nacional de Costa Rica MADC Parque Central Accommodation – Hampton Inn & Suites San José Airport Dinner at Rostipollo

Attractions

1	Parque La Sabana
2	Museo de Arte Costarricense
3	Barrio Amón
4	Parque Morazán
5	Jardín de Paz
6	Parque España
7	Plaza de la Libertad Electoral
8	Parque Nacional
9	Estación del Ferrocaril
10	Museo Nacional de Costa Rica
11	MADC
12	Parque Central

Drive to San José

This morning we have a 4 hour drive from Uvita to San José. The most direct route is a rather windy 115 miles through the mountains. This was our Plan A, but as I’m not well, we’re going the long way round along the coast road, which is 140 miles but quicker.

Accommodation – Casa Conde

We drive to our newly booked destination; Casa Conde in a rather rough looking suburb of San José to see out my period of isolation. I’m not sure what to expect – all the reviews I’ve read give it either 5 stars or 1 star; it’s a kind of marmite hotel.

I fall in love with it immediately. It’s a rambling, colonial style complex like something out of a film set. It’s a bit shabby chic (leaning towards shabby) but it’s set in beautiful gardens, there are murals on the walls (and who doesn’t love a mural) and it has a good size pool in a tranquil courtyard. It’s just what the doctor ordered! The suites have 2 bedrooms, a kitchen and a living/dining area and there’s even, joy of joys, a washing machine.

There don’t appear to be many guests at this quirky hotel with its courtyards, fountains and stained glass windows. The best news is that the pool, which is in a walled courtyard garden, is completely empty – I can self isolate by the pool – yay! This is an unexpected turn of events.

While the old man returns the car to the rental office, I spend the afternoon lazing by the pool. I even manage a couple of short swims, although I’m totally drained after 15 minutes. Eventually, a man turns up and I figure I should go, but he keeps coughing. He sounds more like he has Covid than me! So I stay a while longer, until the old man appears and announces he’s bought lunch.

Day 1

Parque La Sabana

It’s release day and we’re going to the park. We take an Uber to Parque La Sabana. La Sabana was San José’s original airport, but it is now a park and home to the National Stadium. The former terminal building has become an art gallery.

Museo de Arte Costarricense

We take a stroll round the park and round off with a visit to the gallery; Museum of Costa Rican Art. Entry is free, if a little fiddly, as you have to complete an online questionnaire first, and it takes a while for the Wi-Fi to load. I have a slight panic on entering the museum when the security guard produces a thermometer, but I pass.

The Golden Room

In addition to picture galleries, the walls of what was once the VIP lounge (the Golden Room), are covered with a 150 square metre bronze mural depicting the history of Costa Rica. Apparently it was supposed to ‘offer travellers a private and inviting space whose walls informed them, in an artistic and educational way, of events in the history of Costa Rica’.

Sculpture Garden

Outside is a sculpture garden (who doesn’t love a sculpture garden?) with some interesting pieces.

My overall favourites are the sculptures of Leda Astorga; I’m sure there’s a much more artistic way to interpret her work, but basically it depicts fat people having a good time!

The Museum is open daily except Monday between 9 am and 4 pm.

Dinner from Marinara

We take an Uber back to Casa Conde an dtry to decide what to eat. The old man wants pizza. The nearest pizzeria; Marinara is 100 metres away and has excellent reviews. I choose a Mexican pizza, which turns out to be the best pizza I’ve ever tasted. The old man returns with burger and chips. I asked him why he changed his mind? Apparently he realised the pizzeria was vegan! Marinara is currently closed, but hoping to reopen. If it does, I thoroughly recommend it.

Day 2

Barrio Amón

It’s Monday, which means that most of the museums etc are closed, so we take an Uber into town and go for a wander. We decide to start to the north of the city centre in Barrio Amón, which Lonely Planet informs me is a ‘pleasant, historical neighbourhood, home to a cluster of 19th-century coffee grower mansions. Recently many of the area’s historical buildings have been converted into hotels, cafes, bars, and offices, making this a popular district for an architectural stroll.’

Our driver pulls up at our chosen location. He looks a little worried and checks that we really do want to be left here! We do, so off we set on our architectural stroll. First, we head in the opposite direction as the old man has spotted a fire station with some fireman sculptures outside. A real fireman sitting outside tells us; ‘That way is dangerous, go the other way!’

We turn round and walk through Barrio Amón taking pictures of buildings and street art, finally reaching the more touristy centre of town without incident, despite the driver and fireman’s misgivings.

Parque Morazán

There’s not a huge amount to do in San José on a Monday other than wander aimlessly through the city. So we walk through a string of parks taking photographs for a couple of hours.

Templo de Música

As well as pair of Instaworthy wings, Parque Morazán is home to the Templo de Música; a 1920s replica of the Temple of Love in Versailles, which doubles as a bandstand.

Jardín de Paz

The Jardín de Paz is a tree lined park, which runs between the Parque Morazán and the Parque España.

Parque España

The Parque España is home to a statue of Christopher Columbus and a lot of birds.

Plaza de la Libertad Electoral

On the edge of the Parque Nacional is the Plaza de la Libertad Electoral, which commemorates the abolition of the Costa Rican army.

Parque Nacional

The Parque Nacional has an interesting collection of sculptures, apparently of Latin American historical figures, like this naked man emerging from the earth.

Estación del Ferrocarril de Costa Rica

San Jose’s original station, built in 1908 has an ornate exterior. It is still operational during the week, but we went on a Sunday, when it was closed.

Dinner from Restaurante Kay

We take an Uber back to our accommodation and purchase Chinese from Restaurante Kay. It’s very good and the portions are enormous.

Day 3

Today is the last full day of our trip and we’re going into San José for some culture to see the things we couldn’t see on Monday because they were shut.

Brunch at Restaurante el Patio del Balmoral

We take an Uber into town and find a spot for brunch; Restaurante el Patio del Balmoral. We order the Del Patio Breakfast; gallo pinto (fried rice and beans) with fried cheese, fried eggs, fried plantain and fried bread. In case that isn’t sufficient calories, it comes with a side of sour cream! And a pint of orange juice.

Museo Nacional de Costa Rica

Once we have consumed a zillion calories, we head to the National Museum of Costa Rica, which is housed in the former Bellavista Fort, HQ of the Costa Rican army until 1948, when the army was abolished. It is peppered with bullet holes from the Civil War, also in 1948.

Wwe enter through a glass atrium which is a butterfly house. There aren’t many butterflies flying around, however there is a rack full of chrysalises from which a couple of butterflies are emerging.

The museum details the history of Costa Rica. Some parts (the auditorium, jail cells) remain closed. This leaves the Pre Colombian History room, the History of Costa Rica room and two temporary exhibitions; during our visit, these were White, Blue and Red 1821-2021 (which celebrates the bicentenary of Costa Rican independence) and Nests & Eggs (a collection of nests and eggs).

My favourite part of the museum (because I’m a big kid) is at the end where a series of time lapsed screens allow you, if you run from side to side, to appear on several screens simultaneously. The old man is not impressed…

The museum is open daily except Mondays, from 8.30 am (9 am on Sundays) until 4.30 pm. Entry costs $11 for foreign visitors.

MADC

Once I have finished running up and down the museum like an idiot, we walk to our next destination, the MADC (Museum of Contemporary Art and Design). It’s always risky taking the old man to an art gallery, especially if it contains the word ‘Contemporary’ in the title. He tends to walk round muttering; ‘Call that art?’ a lot. To be honest, this time he has a point. It costs $4 entry – cash only, no change given. So we end up having to pay $10 to get in.

The first exhibit we see upon entering is literally a bowl of rotting fruit. Seriously? We’ve paid $10 for someone to shove some rotten fruit in a recess and call it art?

Much of the rest of the space it taken up with chairs hanging from the ceiling. There’s also a map with some stickers on and a room where everything appears to be made of cotton wool, which is somehow indicative of Covid. I can think of better ways of spending $10. The best bit about the museum is the building (a 19th century former liquor factory) but when I try to take a peek outside, a security guard is quick to intervene.

The museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday between 10 am and 4.55 pm. As mentioned above, entry for foreigners is $4 in cold hard US cash, no change given.

Parque Central

After we have paid $10 to look at a rotten pineapple and a room covered in cotton wool, we round our trip off at Parque Central. It’s not really a park, just a grubby plaza full of pigeons, but it does have that all important SJO photo opp…

Then we return to the hotel where I get my sun/pool fix while the old man crushes candy.

Accommodation – Hampton Inn & Suites San José Airport

We were supposed to be flying home this evening, but the pilot went for a run and injured his ankle, so we have a 13 hour delay while they fly another pilot out from the UK. As we are a long way from the airport and check in is now 5 am, we decide to to book an airport hotel. So we check out, take an Uber to Alajuela and check in again at the Hampton Inn.

That leaves me with just enough time for one last pool session before we return to an English winter.

Dinner at Rostipollo

For dinner, we walk round the corner to a fast food chicken joint, Rostipollo. We buy a sharing platter (a Súper Piqueo) which consists of fried chicken, plantain, cheese and tortillas with a selection of dips. I’m not sure how many it’s supposed to serve, but it’s enormous. We manage to finish it with the help of a stray dog who appears under the table just as we are running out of steam. And so, when we should actually be half way across the Atlantic, we are sitting in a diner by the side of a motorway sharing chicken nuggets with a manky mongrel.

Then it’s back to our room for a (very) early night before our 5 am check in. The noise as we approach the hotel is deafening; there are hundreds of parrots congregating in the trees outside. It’s quite a sight – I try to take a video, until two parrots poop in my hair and I have to take an impromptu shower before a slightly-later-than-planned early night.

• Trip Taken: February 2022
• Updated: April 2023