Don't fear the layover
While Costa Rica's capital, San José, isn't known for its 24-hour antics, the city has a pleasant buzz. That it's the literal center of the country adds to the draw; all roads lead to San José.
The setting--in the highland Central Valley, surrounded by live volcanoes--makes the city seem like a slightly tarnished jewel in an emerald green crown.
Those expecting a historic city will be disappointed. It's the rare building that is more than 100 years old, and San José boasts its fair share of remarkably ugly modern edifices.
Still, the city (known as Chepe to locals) grows on you. You find your own favorite attractions, from the impressive Pre-Columbian Gold Museum to the sumptuous National Theater to the guy selling fresh orange and carrot juice on the corner near the bus stop (the bus system is very good, and taxis are abundant.)
For a medium-sized city (about 350,000 inhabitants, with closer to 1 million people if you include the urban sprawl that extends into other cantons), San José had a lot to offer. On any given night you can choose from a dozen plays (some in English), opera, dance performances, classical and popular music, and dozens of movie screens on which you'll find some of the latest films, often premiering just a few days after their U.S. release. Add to that the burgeoning restaurant, bar, and music scene, and you've got a pretty painless layover.
Juan Santamaría International Airport is 10 miles northwest of the city.
Around San José...
The setting--in the highland Central Valley, surrounded by live volcanoes--makes the city seem like a slightly tarnished jewel in an emerald green crown.
Those expecting a historic city will be disappointed. It's the rare building that is more than 100 years old, and San José boasts its fair share of remarkably ugly modern edifices.
Still, the city (known as Chepe to locals) grows on you. You find your own favorite attractions, from the impressive Pre-Columbian Gold Museum to the sumptuous National Theater to the guy selling fresh orange and carrot juice on the corner near the bus stop (the bus system is very good, and taxis are abundant.)
For a medium-sized city (about 350,000 inhabitants, with closer to 1 million people if you include the urban sprawl that extends into other cantons), San José had a lot to offer. On any given night you can choose from a dozen plays (some in English), opera, dance performances, classical and popular music, and dozens of movie screens on which you'll find some of the latest films, often premiering just a few days after their U.S. release. Add to that the burgeoning restaurant, bar, and music scene, and you've got a pretty painless layover.
Juan Santamaría International Airport is 10 miles northwest of the city.
Around San José...
Barrio Bird Tours
Urban Walking Tours
The best way to get to know a city is to walk it, and Stacey Auch of Barrio Bird tours wants to help you do just that in San José. An Indiana native, Stacey fell in love with the oft-maligned Costa Rican capitol when she moved here a few years back.
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Bochinche Bar Restaurant
Hot & upscale gay club
Bochinche► is a smallish upscale gay bar popular among stylish young Ticos. And it’s a great place for travelers—whether gay or gay friendly--to jettison their beachwear, dress to impress, and party into the wee hours.
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Cafe Britt, National Theater
Local coffee, European elegance
Tucked inside the architecturally stunning National Theater in San José is a lovely little high-ceilinged café that serves espresso drinks, desserts, and light meals.
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Cafe Mundo
International cuisine, outdoor seating
Savor eclectic international cuisine in a former colonial mansion in Barrio Amón. Pasta, pizza, and Asian-inspired dishes abound. The slightly bohemian crowd belies the prices, which are moderate to expensive.
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Casa 69 Bed & Breakfast
Gay-friendly B&B near city center
No longer gay owned, but still gay-friendly, Casa 69 is a boutique bed and breakfast located in a quiet residential neighborhood within walking distance of downtown San Jose.
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Club Oh!
Great music and room to dance
This spacious and happening gay club draws an upscale and well-dressed local crowd of mostly gay men. The very loud music—from old-school to techno—gets dancers moving; lasers and strobes light up the action.
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Colours Oasis Hotel
A great base or first stop for gay travelers
Colours► is a gay-owned boutique guesthouse in the quiet San Jose neighborhood of Rohrmoser, where many embassies are located and where the former President, Oscar Arias, makes his home.
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Esquina de Buenos Aires
Argentine outpost in San José
Step into this artfully lit restaurant with white tablecloths, flickering candlelight, and tango musician Carlos Gardel on the sound system, and you’ll wonder if you’re still in Costa Rica.
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Explore Walkable San José
The art of urban appreciation
Downtown San José, Costa Rica, the city tourists love to hate, is on the upswing. Historic buildings are being renovated. Festivals, museums, and outdoor art abound. Even the restaurants are improving.
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Guzman Guitars
High-end guitars in a low-end barrio
Guzman Guitars in San José has been hand crafting acoustic guitars since 1833. The "cheap" guitars here run several hundred dollars, and the best--gorgeous instruments with a very fine sound--will set you back several thousand.
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Hospital CIMA San José
Modern hospital near the capital
One of the better hospitals in the country, CIMA► is a very modern facility that opened in 2000, near the upscale suburb of Escazú, about half an hour from downtown San José.
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Hospital Clínica Bíblica
Arguably the best hospital in Costa Rica
Founded in 1929 by Christian missionaries from Scotland and Ireland, the Bíblica (as this well-regarded hospital is known) takes up more than a city block in downtown San José.
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Hospital La Católica
San José-area hospital
La Católica is one of three best San José-area hospitals vying for your medical tourist dollar.
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Hotel Aranjuez
Centrally located budget hotel
Within walking distance of downtown San José, this labyrinthine hotel sprawls across five contiguous old houses in Barrio Aranjuez, a quiet, historic, and somewhat run-down neighborhood.
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Hotel Le Bergerac
Quiet, charming, and centrally located
The small and charming Hotel Le Bergerac in western San José is surprisingly quiet, given that it's just a block south from the main road from downtown San José to San Pedro (the university district). This boutique hotel has bright and airy rooms, cool tile floors, cable TV, personal safes, ceiling fans, and big, firm, comfortable beds.
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Hotel Parque Bolivar
Neoclassical jewel in downtown San José
This lovely and intimate boutique hotel is centrally located in San José but feels a world away from the smog and bustle. In a city not known for its historical architecture, it’s a joy to come across this exquisite neoclassical gem, with a curving polished wood stairway, chandeliers, and a small flower-bedecked patio on which to enjoy your complimentary breakfast.
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Jade Museum
More valuable than gold
Before the conquistores landed in the Americas, jade was considered even more valuable than gold. Native artisans worked the milky green stone into large pendants and even inlaid it in human teeth for purely decorative reasons.
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Juan Santamaría Airport (SJO)
Just north of San José
Costa Rica's main airport is in Alajuela, 16 kilometers (10 miles) northwest of downtown San José. The airport occupies an attractive glass-and-steel terminal with fast food options, wireless Internet access, TVs, gift shops, and a money-change counter.
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La Avispa
Hot gay & lesbian dance club
From the run-down street you’d never known that once you step inside La Avispa► (The Wasp), you’ll be hit with two floors of (mostly) young men and women gyrating to the latest club music under pulsating lights.
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National Museum
From ancient artifacts to living butterflies
From the pre-Columbian stone spheres in the Spanish-style courtyard to the charming butterfly garden on the lower level, this San José museum is dedicated to exploring and preserving Costa Rica’s natural and cultural heritage.
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National Theater
A prima donna among street buskers
In the heart of downtown San José, the National Theater (Teatro Nacional) is an impressive neoclassical arts complex that hosts visiting artists--from the Moscow Ballet to Chinese acrobats--and is home to the National Symphonic Orchestra, who perform Thursday and Friday evenings and Sunday mornings during their regular season (March to November).
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Olio Restaurant
Hip spot for tapas and drinks
Head to stylish Olio for drinks and tapas in a quiet neighborhood near downtown San Jose.
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Pre-Columbian Gold Museum
One of the best collections in the Americas
Under the Plaza de la Cultura, steps from the National Theater, you'll find a small but fascinating museum that is said to have one of the best collections of Pre-Colombian gold in the Americas.
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Sauna Hispalis
Steamy fun for gay men
With its many gay clubs, you’d expect San José to also have bathhouses and saunas, and you’d be right. Of the many on offer, Sauna Club Hispalis, for gay men, is one of the best known. By many accounts it’s big, busy, clean, and fun.
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Tinjo Restaurant
Pan-Asian cuisine & real napkins
Places that try to do too much usually get into trouble, but Tin Jo in downtown San José takes on a full range of Asian cuisines, from Japanese tempura to Indian curry, and is the delicious exception to the rule.
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Vishnu
Cheap & filling vegetarian
Vishnu is a chain of eight vegetarian restaurants with locations all over San José; try the one on Avenida 1 between Calles 1 and 3, a few blocks east of the big downtown post office.
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