Costa Rica tour highlights
For jaw-dropping scenery and wildlife wonders, Costa Rica ticks all the boxes. Embrace the pura vida lifestyle on our immersive small group holidays to Costa Rica, which can take you from through the highlights of Monteverde and Manuel Antonio to exploring Costa Rica by bicycle; if you’re looking for family holidays to Costa Rica, we have that covered too.
Traversing volcanic trails, discovering the wildlife of the dense cloud forest and escaping to laid-back Caribbean beaches: take a closer look at some of our favourite highlights of Costa Rica:
Tortuguero National Park
Perhaps one of Costa Rica’s most famous inhabitant is the sloth. One of the best places to view sloths is Tortuguero National Park, a coastal reserve where the rainforest meets the sea in a network of complex canals and lagoons. It’s known as the ‘mini Amazon’ for its diversity of wildlife. Accommodation here is generally in traditional forest lodges, where you’ll have the chance to get up close and personal with sloths, as well as a variety of birdlife including heron, stork and kingfisher who feed on the rich fish stocks. Tortuguero National Park actually translates as ‘land of the turtles’, so as well as the furry and feathered inhabitants you may also get to spot the sea turtles that call the area home. You can go sloth-spotting in Tortuguero National Park on many of our Costa Rica trips, including our best-selling Explore Costa Rica tour or our shorter Highlights of Costa Rica adventure.
Volcanoes
Costa Rica’s volcanoes are a must-see for all visitors, whether you come for the spectacular views or the hiking trails. Arenal is an active volcano and is perhaps the country’s best-known, situated in the north of the country. You can view the volcano from a variety of angles on one of the many great footpaths – or perhaps try something more adventurous like rafting or zip-wiring, perfect if you’re travelling as a family. The base of the volcano is edged by the tranquil Lake Arenal, and if you opt for our Cycle Costa Rica holiday you’ll skirt the northern shores of the lake with magnificent views of the volcano’s perfectly conical shape.
Rainforests and cloud forests
With monkeys swinging in the trees to a cacophony of sound, exploring the Costa Rican rainforest is a multi-sensory experience. One of the finest examples of dense jungle is in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, believed to have been inhabited since 3000BC. If you’re feeling brave you can fly through the treetops on a zip-line, or perhaps take a jaw-dropping stroll along the treetop walkways. At night the cloud forest comes alive; on a nocturnal walking tour you may spot tarantulas or pacas – a spotty herbivorous rodent.
Solo travel in Costa Rica
Every one of our Costa Rica holidays is ideally suited to solo travellers. It depends on the tour, but generally around half of all our customers will be travelling solo. If you’re a solo traveller considering an Explore holiday, you can be sure that you’ll meet likeminded fellow travellers on the trip. You can leave all of the logistics to us and just enjoy preparing for your holiday.