Costa Rica Holidays

Where fire meets cloud

The iconic cone of Arenal dominates the northern lowlands, rising 1,670 metres above rainforest-covered foothills. Its last major eruption was in 2010, but the area around it remains one of Costa Rica's most rewarding bases: soak in volcanically heated hot springs ringed by tropical gardens, hike old lava fields the forest has reclaimed, and cross swaying canopy bridges for a bird's-eye view of toucans and howler monkeys.

An hour or two south, the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is a different world, trails draped in mosses, orchids and bromeliads, the air alive with birdsong, visibility shifting between misty and crystalline by the minute. It is one of the best places on Earth to glimpse the resplendent quetzal, the iridescent bird the Maya and Aztecs held sacred.

The two pair naturally: most trips base at La Fortuna for Arenal, then transfer to Monteverde for the cloud forest, before dropping to the coast. Fire and mist, back to back, the classic opening to a Costa Rica itinerary.

Costa Rica's Caribbean Amazon

Tortuguero National Park is often called "Costa Rica's Amazon", a maze of canals, lagoons and rivers winding through dense lowland rainforest, explored by boat rather than road. It is one of the world's most important nesting sites for green sea turtles, which haul ashore between July and October; a guided night walk to witness it is genuinely unforgettable.

South of Limón the coast changes character entirely. Cahuita National Park protects Costa Rica's best coral reef and palm-fringed sand, while laid-back Puerto Viejo pulses with Afro-Caribbean culture, reggae and some of the country's best cooking, rice and beans in coconut milk, fresh ceviche, Caribbean-spiced jerk.

Wetter and greener than the Pacific, the Caribbean coast is the road less travelled, and the natural choice for a second, contrasting beach base if your trip runs longer than a week.

Turtles, whales & dolphins

Eight days built around what the wildlife is doing rather than what is convenient. You start in the Tortuguero canals, where there is no road in and you arrive by boat, and where green turtles come ashore to nest between July and October.

Then up over Cerro de la Muerte to look for quetzals in the high cloud forest, and down to the south Pacific for the mangroves at Sierpe and the pre-Columbian stone spheres nobody has fully explained. The last full day is whale watching at Marino Ballena.

Private throughout with a bilingual naturalist guide, flights from the UK included, ATOL protected.

Coast to coast

Twelve days across the whole country, which is the one to pick if you would rather not double back on yourself.

A night in San José to land, then two nights each in the Tortuguero canals, under Arenal at the Observatory Lodge, in the Monteverde cloud forest, on the Pacific near Marino Ballena, and finally up at San Gerardo de Dota for quetzals and hummingbirds.

A private naturalist guide stays with you the whole way. Built for four or more sharing, with flights from the UK if you would like us to arrange them.