Costa Rica is small enough to circle in two weeks yet varied enough that the Pacific and Caribbean sides feel like different countries entirely.
Start near Arenal, whose near-perfect volcanic cone dominates the town of La Fortuna even though it hasn't erupted since 2010. The real draw now is the surrounding landscape — hanging bridges through rainforest canopy, waterfall hikes, and hot springs fed by the same geology that once powered the volcano's eruptions. Go early to the springs at Tabacón or one of the cheaper free-entry rivers nearby; by mid-morning the tour buses have caught up.
From Arenal, wind up into Monteverde's cloud forest, where a permanent mist keeps everything dripping and improbably green. A guided night walk here turns up more wildlife than the daytime trails ever do — sleeping birds, tarantulas, and if you're lucky a kinkajou moving through the canopy — and a local guide's trained eye will spot ten times what you would alone.
Finish on whichever coast suits your pace: the Pacific side around Manuel Antonio or Nosara for surf towns and easy beach days, or the Caribbean side near Puerto Viejo for a slower, reggae-inflected rhythm and empty stretches of black-sand coastline. The roads connecting the interior to either coast are winding and often unpaved in the rainy season, so pad your driving-time estimates generously and never plan a tight connection to a flight on the same day.
