San Jose
Travel Advice for Seniors: San Jose
When it gets cold in the Midwestern US, we start thinking about going somewhere, make that anywhere(!), warm. This year Costa Rica caught our eye!
Since the trip was unplanned and we just needed to thaw out, we had a sharp eye on budget. We opted for a small group tour which included most meals and visits to all the best places: Rain forest hikes, water safaris, volcanoes, cloud forests and wildlife sanctuaries. Wow, great itinerary, it’s affordable AND IT’S WARM!
Wanted to highlight one of the great things about small group tours here…. the “meals included” part. Sometimes when you are staying in national parks or small towns where there are few options for dinner, tours include meals. For this particular tour, most all the meals (including breakfast) were included. Just mentioning it as it is a huge money-saving feature.
The thing about going to Costa Rica is that there is a lot to do and most of the top things involve some hiking or some type of physical activity. This is a “moderately” active tour, so be prepared for a little hiking. Not “strenuous”, just moderate, and bring your walking stick(s). This is also definitely a “natural resources” tour, and we particularly liked that Costa Rica is into eco-friendly tourism and the preservation and expansion of national parks and wildlife preserves.
A little quick history… Indigenous groups sparsely inhabited Costa Rica from about 10,000 BC, but things pick up around the time Christopher Columbus arrived in the 1500’s looking for gold. Costa Rica was a Spanish colony for the next 300 years and Spanish is still the main language. Costa Rica gained independence from Spain in 1821and became fully independent in 1838. Their army was abolished in 1948.
Early Costa Rica flourished on the coffee trade and still does export it today as well as pineapples and bananas. Only these days tourism is the biggest industry. Make sure to grab plenty of delicious Costa Rican coffee to give to your friends when you get home…and of course some for yourself! It is tasty.
San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica and a logical first stop. The afternoon we arrived traffic from the airport was heavy, but we found out later it was due to a large concert that was in the arena right across from our hotel. Guess who was playing? Bad Bunny! Loud concerts don’t work with Mom’s hearing, but sitting at an outdoor rooftop bar listening to the concert from the hotel certainly works! Serendipity!
Costa Rica is on central time (same as central US), so was an easy destination for us, as well as a relatively short flight. The currency is the Costa Rican Colon, which you will need, though you can tip guides in US Dollars and credit cards are taken at larger and even smaller shops.
A word on tipping…. we usually tip the main tour guide and the bus driver as they do the bulk of the sweating over our itinerary and sometimes it is indeed a test to keep all of the travelers happy and safe. We also tip the individual tour guides for their efforts. Tipping is optional and is based on good service, but we found that people in CR went out of their way to be kind and helpful.
We didn’t spend a lot of time in San Jose, but we did have a bit of fun. Not only did we get to see amazing fireworks and hear (faintly) the Bad Bunny concert, we also witnessed the Costa Rica Christmas Marathon! It was fun to watch all the decorative costumes and runners from our room high above the city and chart their progress…yes, even the guy dressed as a Christmas tree!
There are some interesting things to do in San Jose before heading out to the parks: Check out the Jade Museum, National Museum and the covered Central Market for starters. There are also many sights that are a day trip out of town if you want to base out of San Jose.
On the way back through San Jose to fly out, we were fortunate to dine at an outstanding restaurant in the Escazu part of town (very hilly area – make sure your taxi has enough juice to make it up the hills with your group. We had to keep circling around until we found a fairly level approach or the van dogged out!) The dinner was a buffet of the usual…rice, beans and stewed meats, but the night VIEW was fantastic! They also had a traditional dancing show at the end of dinner that was fun to watch and beautiful on its own with colorful skirts flying in patterns, though a little loud. Go for the view!
As it was right before holiday time in December, we were also treated to a couple of seasonal markets by our hotel (very pricey, but original pieces) and a Christmas fantasy land of lights at Escazu Central Park. Be sure to go at night…the lights were phenomenal.
However, the city is not why we were visiting Costa Rica…we were there for the rain forest, volcanoes and cloud forest preserves! So, don’t spend too much precious time in the city, when there is so much to do around the country. Let’s get started!
Where we stayed:. Hilton Garden Inn La Sabana on the way in and Hilton Garden Inn Santa Anna on the way back. Fully accessible and very nice rooms and breakfast.
How we got there: Flight from the US. This was part of a 9-day small group tour through Costa Rica.
General Accessibility Information: Hotels in larger cities may be fully accessible, with others further out partially accessible. Some tourist attractions are accessible including Manuel Antonio National Park (paved paths, beach wheelchairs), and Mistico Hanging Bridges. Specialty tour companies include Wheel the World and Il Viaggio Travel. However, outside of a few parks, accessibility is limited due to uneven surfaces and lack of infrastructure. Call in advance to verify and make specialty arrangements. See our sections on specialty apps and accessible travel for more on accessibility assistance.
