Monteverde. Heredia is too close to San Jose. You'll get more of a CR experience in Monteverde with the people of the mountains.

I will second Anthony...more chances to see more of the great Costa Rica rain Forest at Monteverde...if you like to hike...is the perfect place!

Luis Road Advisor

Just buckle up and enjoy the ride in paradise!!

Hi Marina,

I think a lot of this depends on your preferences and what you are looking for form your stay in Costa Rica. There are things to be said for both.

Heredia is a small city. I have visited there - but not spent s lot of time. I found it very pleasant and like the atmosphere. It has a nice central park/square area.

Tracey wrote "You'll get more of a CR experience in Monteverde with the people of the mountains."

While I understand what she means (the nature etc..)I sort of question what a Costa Rica Experience is. I am sure it can be different things to different people. The highest percentage of Ticos live in the San Jose and the central valley area of CR. Yet for some reason people seem to dismiss that fact and say that things there or near there are not really a Costa Rican experience....

Heredia is full of Ticos living their normal Costa Rica lives. There is a university campus there, so there are a large number of Costa Rican students. You will probably have a better chance to meet and interact with Ticos in Heredia if you make the effort than you would in Monteverde.

And the fact that it is close to San Jose, has its pluses. You are far enough away from all the negatives, yet close enough to take a trip in, see the highlights and leave.

And you are not that far from Poas and the La Paz Waterfall and places where you can do outdoor activities like horseback riding or hiking if you want to.

Montverde is very small. You will have a chance to see the Cloudforest and some of the nature and natural beauty of the country. But many of the people you will interact with will end up being tourists or people involved in the tourist industry.

Good luck and Enjoy - whatever you decide.

Pura vida

raquel

We went to Heredia in an effort to get closer to the airport for the last four days. We wished we had gone to Monteverde instead.... Oh well... there is always next time!

Are you going to CPI? When? I'm doing 2 weeks in Heredia and 1 week at Playa Flamingo June 22-July 12.

Hi: I agree it depends on what you call the CR experience. My husband and I have lived in La Garita just outside Alajuela and absolutely loved every minute. We traveled to Monteverde, Arenal, Poas and many other "tourist" spots and enjoyed them. But we interacted mainly with tourists not locals while we were there. Even a lot of the businesses tend to be more "English".

On the other hand while riding the public buses, walking the city streets (and by the way, San Jose is no more dangerous than any other large US or Canadian city) you get, in my opinion, the true CR experience.

If you are coming to learn spanish I would think that daily interacting with locals would help the learning process.

Like was said before many dismiss the Central Valley area and I think they miss a lot of the charm and history of this beautiful country. By all means enjoy all the nature CR has to offer but don't be blinded to the beauty of the rest of the country.

Anne