Gateway to pura vida. Here is when to go, what a day costs on site and what to see, then Okela composes your itinerary hour by hour.

Compose my trip to San JoséSee San José in Okela

When to visit San José

Best months: January, February, March, April and December.

What to see in San José

1. Théâtre national
   This is the capital's drawing room: an Italian-style theatre whose marble, gilding and painted ceilings stand out against the concrete of downtown.
2. Musée de l'Or précolombien
   Tucked beneath the Plaza de la Cultura, this museum gathers pre-Columbian goldwork in a hushed setting, away from the bustle of downtown.
3. Mercado Central
   This covered market fills an entire city block and works like a small neighborhood of its own, with narrow aisles, the smell of coffee and cooking, and vendors who have known each other for years.
4. Musée du Jade
   This museum brings together jade objects and other remains left by the peoples who lived in what is now Costa Rica before the Spanish arrived.
5. Volcan Poás (excursion)
   You look straight into one of the largest active craters in the world, with a milky turquoise lake and steam rising from the walls.
6. Barrio Amón
   As the first modern residential neighborhood in San José, Barrio Amón preserves the elegance of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in a downtown that is often more functional than pretty.
7. Volcan Irazú (excursion)
   The highest active volcano in Costa Rica gives you a nearly lunar landscape above 3,000 metres, reached by road from the central valley.
8. Parc La Sabana
   This is San José's big green lung, where locals come to run, play football, picnic or simply breathe away from the traffic.

A sample itinerary for San José, three days

Composed by Okela from the places in its database, with times. Yours takes your dates, pace and group into account.

Budget

Expect about €111 per person per day on site (accommodation, meals, transport and visits), depending on the comfort you choose. Okela shows the price of every step of your itinerary.

My San José itinerary, hour by hour

Road trips through San José

More destinations: Costa Rica

Photo: Andres Alvarez, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.