Monteverde, my favourite place in Costa Rica, I’m not usually a huge fan of Costa Rica but this place was an exception. The vibe was far less touristy than other places even though there were just as many tourists, sometimes different places are just different and you don’t know why, but hey; I’m not complaining.

There’s just so much to do in the Monteverde area, mostly well placed from Santa Elena where you’ll (most probably) be staying. with so much variety, it can be quite overwhelming to choose what to do. So I’m gonna try make the decisions that little bit easier by using my time there (I spent a full week), to whittle down what I can into a doable four day plan.

Of course, the main thing is to do what you want, so use this as an advisory more than anything. Anyways, I hope you do follow this plan because without tooting my own horn too much, it’s a dang great itinerary.

Here ya go! Enjoy!

Day one: Getting here and a sweet intro.

• Get there: From Jaco/Quepos take the bus to Punta Arenas and then change for the bus to Monteverde. From San Jose, take one of two daily buses at 6:30AM or 2:30PM from Terminal 7-10 direct to Monteverde. From La Fortuna take the Jeep-boat-jeep which is basically a shuttle service with a boat over the lake.
• Settle in: Do what you need to do to move into your hostel/hotel because trust me, you don’t want to be walking up and down these hilly streets with your backpack/luggage.
• Grab a bite: Santa Elena has many cafes and restaurants to choose from. Because I keep kosher I didn’t get to try anything but coffee and beers in these so I can’t really recomend anywhere in particular. Sorry 😞. 
• Take a night tour: There’s no better way to start your stint in Monteverde than exploring what makes it famous, the Cloud forests. Their are two popular night tours, Kinkajou, and Curi Cancha. I took the Curi Cancha tour and it was amazing! The highlights being a tarantula we saw and going literally inside a giant tree. However, all the people in my hostel went to Kinkajou and they had far more animal sightings there: Sloths, Aguti, monkeys, and countless snakes. The two tours are the same price so I’d have to recommend going with Kinkajou. The tours are at 6, 7, and 8:20 PM, and cost $28 (your hostel/hotel often give better rates).

Day two: Tree hugging.

• Climb a tree: On the edge of Santa Elena you’ll find the Ficus Tree Bridge. After an easy five minute hike, you’ll find a massive behemoth of a tree stretching across a tiny Gorge. You can walk across the tree, whose gnarled, vine-like, structure offers natural hand rails. The place is usually empty, so it’s just you and nature. 

• Go ziplining: Fly through the forests and valleys like the birds you saw on last night’s tour (or bats).  Monteverde has many canopy tours available, all of the massive. I went with Xtremo Park and it was an absolute blast! They have 11 ziplines, totalling a whopping 4km!! After the ziplines, done your cake for two massive superman lines, and lastly the not-for-the-faint-hearted Tarzan Swing. If you’re feeling adventurous you can chuck in a bungee jump for good measure. 

Day three: The main attraction.

• Visit the Cloud forests which make this place famous: Yes it’s cliche but it’s cliche for a reason, a trip to Monteverde wouldn’t be complete without visiting the main attraction. It’s a must; the question is which you chose to go to:
• Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is the most famous of the lot and therefore the most busy. It also has an iconic hanging bridge, perfect for all you serial snappers out there 📸
• Santa Elena Natural Reserve: the second most popular cloud forest reserve, Santa Elena promises the same chances of wildlife spotting, with slightly less crowds, slightly less cost, and one less iconic bridge.
• Selvatura Adventure Park: If your budget is higher, consider adding a canopy tram, or multiple hanging bridges, or a canopy tour, at the costly Selvatora Park.
• Biological institute of Monteverde: looking to save some money? Head to the BI and take the trail through the back yard to the Kaplan foundation forest, a small but free cloud forest reserve where I was lucky enough to get surrounded by a large band of Coati, which was kinda cool.

Day four: the full adventure package.

• Chase Waterfalls on the El Tigre trail: My personal favourite in Monteverde, this trail heads through mossy mountainous forests, over many picture perfect bridges, past remarkable valley views, natural swim holes, and of course, to many wonderful awe-inspiring Waterfalls. The hike itself is not difficult though I wouldn’t call it easy and if you want you can add a zipline bike, horse riding, or ATVing (all after the main waterfalls). The standard price (hike only) is $29 and the package including one of ATV/Horseback and lunch is $59 (both are ten less for <18s).