Synopses & Reviews
- Full-color throughout, with a free full-color foldout map and a new wildlife chapter with photos. With Frommer's in hand, you'll experience the wonder of Costa Rica's amazing biodiversity, as we point out the best places to see hundreds of unique, colorful species of animals and plants.
- Completely updated every year, Frommer's Costa Rica features gorgeous color photos of the lush rainforest and the spectacular beaches that await you.
- Personally researched by a longtime resident, it's the only truly up-to-date guide that gives you such in-depth coverage of this fast-changing country, with recommended accommodations in every price category. This edition also features expanded coverage of the Central Valley, the Nicoya Peninsula, and Guanacaste.
- Insightful commentary and opinionated reviews. You'll visit rugged wilderness preserves and sleepy beach towns, spectacular orchid gardens and mineral hot springs at the foot of a steaming volcano. There are adventures here to suit all ages and abilities: swooping from treetop platform to treetop platform on a canopy tour, taking a dip in a jungle swimming hole, spotting playful spider monkeys as you hike through lush foliage, windsurfing on Lake Arenal, or watching endangered sea turtles nest on the beach.
Synopsis
- Hundreds of color photos
- Free pocket map inside,plus easy-to-read maps throughout
- Exact prices, directions, opening hours,and other practical information
- Candid reviews of hotels and restaurants,plus sights, shopping, and nightlife
- Itineraries, walking tours, and trip-planning ideas
- Insider tips from local expert authors
About the Author
Eliot Greenspan is a poet, journalist, musician, and travel writer who took his backpack and typewriter the length of Mesoamerica before settling in Costa Rica in 1992. Since then, he has worked steadily as a travel writer, food critic, freelance journalist, and translator, and continued his travels in the region. He is the author of Frommer’s Belize, Frommer’s Ecuador, Frommer’s Guatemala, Costa Rica for Dummies, and Costa Rica Day By Day, as well as the chapter on Venezuela in Frommer’s South America.
Table of Contents
List of Maps vii
1 THE BEST OF COSTA RICA 1
2 COSTA RICA IN DEPTH 29
3 SUGGESTED COSTA RICA ITINERARIES 59
4 THE ACTIVE VACATION PLANNER 78
5 SAN JOSÉ 101
6 THE CENTRAL VALLEY 150
7 GUANACASTE: THE GOLD COAST 187
8 PUNTARENAS & THE NICOYA PENINSULA 251
9 THE NORTHERN ZONE: MOUNTAIN LAKES, CLOUD FORESTS & A VOLCANO 294
10 THE CENTRAL PACIFIC COAST: WHERE THE MOUNTAINS MEET THE SEA 352
11 THE SOUTHERN ZONE 414
12 THE CARIBBEAN COAST 456
13 PLANNING YOUR TRIP TO COSTA RICA 507
14 COSTA RICAN WILDLIFE 530
15 SPANISH TERMS & PHRASES 547
Index 554