Costa Rica San Jose, central highlands and central valleys

  • Pacuare River
  • Kayaking
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Costa Rica’s busy capital, San José, is surrounded by rolling highland coffee country and smouldering volcanoes.

Overview

Costa Rica’s busy capital, San José, is a city on the move, where the choking traffic and crowds are mitigated by the eager friendliness of the people. There are some good museums and excellent restaurants but no colonial core: it’s a modern place, full of offices, North American style bars and malls – many US citizens visit or are resident in the country and their cultural influence is strong. The landscapes around however are delicious, both in the rolling coffee country of the highlands and in the fertile central valley, watched over by the smouldering Poás and Irazú volcanoes.

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Holidays San Jose, central highlands and central valleys

Discover our range of holidays taking in Costa Rica’s central highlands and valleys. Book now with Journey Latin America.

Water and jungle in Tortuguero National Park

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Costa Rica Wildlife Discovery

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Palm trees on a white sand beach

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Explore and Relax in Costa Rica: Volcanoes to the beach

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Boys standing on hanging bridges in Costa Rica

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Family Costa Rica: Jungle walks and turtle spotting

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Bridge to Pacuare Lodge in deep jungle

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Luxury adventures in Costa Rica

8 days from £4,700pp

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Things to do

Discover Costa Rica's capital San Jose and enjoy a trip to the rolling hills of the coffee country. Book now with Journey Latin America.

Accommodation

Discover our great range of accommodation around Costa Rica's capital, San Jose, and the central highlands. Book now with Journey Latin America.

El Silencio Lodge
Grano de Oro
La Quinta de Sarapiquí Country Inn
Pacuare Lodge

Where to go when - our guide to San Jose, central highlands and central valleys

San José

The weather in San Jose, central highlands and central valleys is wide and varied

The capital and surrounding fertile valleys and coffee highlands lie at around 1,000m above sea level. As such they enjoy a pleasant, temperate climate all year round.

View our San Jose, central highlands and central valleys weather guide

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  • Sophie
    Sophie Barber - Travel Expert

    Sophie lived in Chile before joining us and has travelled extensively across Latin America, from Mexico to the furthest tip of Patagonia and beyond to Antarctica.

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    Heloise Buxton - Travel Expert

    Heloise started her Latin American journey as an exchange student in Santiago, Chile. With extended summer holidays this was the perfect opportunity to backpack through Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Brazil.

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    Sally Dodge - Travel Expert

    A former Journey Latin America tour leader, Sally spent 7 years working, travelling and living throughout Latin America before returning to the UK to help people arrange their own adventures to this wonderful destination.

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    Maggie Wilson - Travel Expert

    Maggie visited Latin America on her first backpacking trip when she was 19. Since then, she has taken every opportunity to travel, and has managed to explore a lot of the region in subsequent trips.

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    Chris Rendell-Dunn - Travel Expert

    Anglo-Peruvian Chris grew up in Lima and spent much of his adult life in between London and Cusco as a tour leader, before settling permanently in our London-based Tailor-made and Group Tours sales team.

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    Lina Fuller - Travel Expert

    Lina's passion for the continent where she was born really took off when she moved to Córdoba (Argentina) to study, spending the holidays travelling between Argentina and her native Colombia.

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