Ecotourism to Costa Rica

Holiday Inn Aurola is across the park from museums and shopping and approximately 10 miles from Juan Santamaria International Airport. This location is also less than a mile from the National Theater, Cultural Plaza/Gold Museum, Legislative Assembly (Congress), National Museum/Democracy Plaza, Artisan Market, Jade Museum, Costa Rican Center for Culture, Simon Bolivar Zoo, Cathedral, Central Market, and Fanal Museum. Hotel amenities include the casino, beauty salon, indoor swimming pool, gymnasium, whirlpool, business center, Mirador Restaurant, Tropicana Restaurant, and La Palma Bar. The hotel also offers room service, valet laundry service, babysitting, currency exchange, a concierge, and free parking. All rooms feature satellite TV, refrigerators, coffeemakers, hairdryers, individual climate controls, irons and ironing boards, and voicemail.

San José is the capital city of Costa Rica, the oldest democracy in Latin America. While the city itself is often merely a stop over to the country’s more interesting destinations, San José is surrounded by beautiful countryside, and nearby volcanoes are easily accessible on a day trip.

The city does boast a fair number of interesting museums, including ones featuring gold and jade. The Museo de los Niños (Children’s Museum) and the Museo Nacional (National Museum) also are worth a look.

This huge four-floor mall is one of Costa Rica's largest shopping centers. It boasts over 200 stores offering everything from expensive furniture to fashion clothing. Hallway sales are organized according to the season. The food court is two stories high, and you can choose from nearly 50 fast-food eateries, including regional food, Italian cuisine and McDonald's. Other services include a ten-screen movie theater, a bank and a Planet Hollywood bar and disco. There is parking space for 1,200 cars.

These tranquil gardens are dedicated to the Virgin Mary and located in the northeast corner of the Parque Central in Heredia. Here, you can wander in a peaceful setting and see many species of vegetation growing, including flowers, such as orchids, and other rare plants such as Japanese cypress. The more rare vegetation is marked with signs to inform visitors about plant types and origins. This is a nice place to visit while in the area.

Although Costa Rica does not have a wine culture, many of the typical foods, including barbecued meat cuts, chicken and pork, as well as the good, tender, juicy steaks, deserve great wines to go along with them! This restaurant offers a good selection of imported wines, from France, California and other places. This is a great place to go when visiting the Poas volcano. Additionally, the restaurant claims that all the food served is organic.

This museum (called "el MAC") is committed to preserving the national arts heritage of Costa Rica. It holds two separate collections, one of Costa Rican art and another for foreign art works. The national collection includes approximately 2,575 pieces, including sculptures, paintings and woodcarvings. Only about half the collection shows at any given time. Additionally, El Salon Dorado (Gold Room) is used to present concerts and conferences. The Alternative Space section was recently inaugurated for temporary exhibitions. Contact the museum for current exhibits and upcoming concerts.

San José is the capital city of Costa Rica, the oldest democracy in Latin America. While the city itself is often merely a stop over to the country’s more interesting destinations, San José is surrounded by beautiful countryside, and nearby volcanoes are easily accessible on a day trip.

The city does boast a fair number of interesting museums, including ones featuring gold and jade. The Museo de los Niños (Children’s Museum) and the Museo Nacional (National Museum) also are worth a look.

This late-night restaurant and bar boasts a wide range of meat and seafood dishes, such as shrimp with garlic, fillet of fish in Mexican-style sauce and steak with all the trimmings. Vegetarians will not feel neglected, with the considerable variety of salads on offer. Not to everybody's taste, but very Central American, is the tongue, fried and served with a traditional sauce. When you have finished your meal, you can drink and dance on the same premises.