Costa Rica is a small country and many tourists choose to rent a 4X4 for their vacation in Costa Rica. There are a large number of Rental Car companies in Costa Rica, some world renowned such as Dollar Rental Car, Economy Rental Car, Avis Rental Car, Payless Rental Car, National Rental Car and Europcar – these companies opened branches in Costa Rica. Also available are smaller rental car operations such as Mapache Rental Car, Adobe Rental, Suzuki Rental Car, Toyota Rental Car and Poas Rental Car. These companies service the tourism sector with professionalism, offering good service and usually new vehicles in their fleets.

Companies usually deliver cars to client’s hotels in San Jose area, or at the airport for no extra charge. Also pick-up and drop-off services are available in all other major areas in the country (usually an extra charge is added to the final bill for drop off or pick up in other location than San Jose’s Metropolitan area).
Companies offer many different types of vehicles, from small private cars to large and Luxurious SUV’S with a Four-Wheel-Drive and all the extras (CD changers, A/C, Power Steering and Electrical Locks and Windows, Airbags).

In Costa Rica there is one obligatory insurance, that is a must for all visitors wishing to rent a car in Costa Rica, rate usually ranges between $6 - $15 per day (vary according to the car rental company and the type of car). Other than that basic insurance which is practically a third party insurance there are additional types of insurance available for an additional cost.

To learn more about Car Rental in Costa Rica you can click on the following link, you will be redirected to our car rental section where we offer a large fleet of vehicles from Costa Rica’s 10 biggest car rental companies with whom we have experience for their good service and professional service. Look for the best car rental rates via our search window in our home page, or just go with a Car Rental company that you like by choosing a specific car rental company from our car rental page.

Costa Rica is unique in its accommodation offerings with many small boutique hotels that provide a very personal service and are usually owned and managed by private owners. Most hotels have between 20 – 60 Rooms. In Costa Rica you can find hotels of every scale, from 1 star Costa Rica hotels to 4 and 5 star hotels such as the famous Marriott Los Suenios and the Four Seasons in Papagayo.

Hotels in Costa Rica come in many styles for every budget; Big hotels, with full services, swimming pools, restaurants, discotheques, conference rooms, in the city or in the outskirts, in the jungle or on the beach, beautiful ancient houses and lodges in the mountains, Costa Rica Hostels, Costa Rica Cabins and family owned Costa Rica Bed and Breakfast.

In Costa Rica the most common restaurants are the “Sodas” –usually family run restaurants that serve the typical Costa Rican meal, named “Casado” – Casados come in three main ways, rice and black beans with chicken, beef or fish, remember, always with rice and beans, and a side salad. Simple and cheap, usually costs $2 to $3.

Other than the local “Sodas” there is a wide variety of restaurants of all types and for all tastes, Costa Rica has very good Sea-Food as most touristy towns are on the Pacific or the Caribbean Ocean and there is nothing like a good (recently caught) fresh Tuna Steak (Medium Rare). Also many Italian restaurants, Chinese restaurants and Steak Houses can be easily found.

Costa Rica arts and crafts have a wide scale of color tones and typical features to Costa Rica. Many Pre-Columbian objects are available in the Gold Museum in San Jose – Link to San Jose City Tour) and in specialty stores (link to our shops in San Jose). In the town of Sarchi visitors can observe the craftsman creating Costa Rica’s traditional multicolored wagons. Art made in wood and clay, objects of ceramics, articles of leather and jewelry shops can be found around Costa Rica. Crafts can be bought both in San Jose in Moravia, Sarchí (Alajuela) and Guaitil (Guanacaste) and in the beach towns.

Although Costa Rica is famous for its nature activities and not as much for its cultural diversity and cultural heritage, still there are many cultural venues, Theaters, Street Shows, Cinemas and Musical venues. Most establishments are located in San Jose. One of the best venues for classical music is the National Theater with weekly shows and for Jazz and Modern Music do not miss the Jazz Café in San Pedro (20 minutes from downtown San Jose) – the Jazz Café has live shows every night featuring the cream of Costa Rica’s performers.

You can learn more about culture activities by clicking on the following link (Link to San Jose tours).

The Museums are a sample of Costa Rica’s cultural heritage, architectural, archaeological, artistic and scientific; Museums have the function to protect, recovering, restoring and preserving Costa Rica’s knowledge and History. This important material is represented in Costa Rica’s museums, libraries, sculptures, churches, markets, crafts or in any manifestation of creativity realized in the county. Museums can be grouped to 8 types: Those of Contemporary, Religious, Anthropologic Art, Natural History, Criminology, Entomology, Historical and those of Science and Technology. The most important museums are Costa Rican Art Museum, Museum of Religious Art, Jade Museum, Museum of Natural History, Museum of Criminology, Entomological Museum, Museum of Science and Technology, Museum Juan Santa Maria, and the National Museum the most important Museum due to the variety and wealth of its exhibitions.

The Costa Rican people

Costa Rica is characterized by its peaceful tradition and it is not an exaggeration to say that the country qualifies as a peaceful oasis in Central America. Simplicity and serenity are two fundamental parts of Costa Rica.

People in Costa Rica are usually very friendly to visitors, trying to help whenever they can while keeping an eye on their privacy.

There are three main cultures in Costa Rica: The Central Valley culture of rural farmers; that of the Pampa Guanacasteca in the Northern Regions of Costa Rica and the African Caribbean culture mainly in the province of Lemon. To this we can mention the indigenous people (though in minor proportion that in other Central American countries); The Costa Rican is nice, hospitable and proud of his freedom. Costa Rica, one of the most ancient democracies of America, is a free and independent republic. Costa Rica’s inhabitants enjoy full political stability, in which there prevail big and deep-rooted commitments of democratic freedom. La Paz (The Peace) is its basic characteristic. The country has no army, since it was abolished in the middle of the 20th century. Costa Rica was nominated once for the Nobel Prize for Peace. It was granted in 1987, to the president Oscar Arias Sánchez this was a well-deserved recognition for the form of life of the Costa Ricans. The social results of the democratic traditions of Costa Rica are clearly palpable.

Costa Rican representative seat in the head office of the University for the Peace and of the Inter-American Court of Human rights, this reaffirms the confidence of the international community in the political and social stability of Costa Rica. The University for the Peace dedicates to study the peaceful way of life and sustainable development for the human race. The Inter-American Court for the Human Rights acts as the court for clarifications in the interrelations man - society - state.

In 1869 Costa Rica established an obligatory educational system financed by the State. The government divides the necessary budget for the medical care and the educational programs. Both services have reached notable achievements. In case of the education, 93 % of the population possesses capacity of reading and writing. The expectation of life went from 72 to 75 years of age. Costa Rica possesses a high rate of development in medicine, especially preventative, in its urban and rural areas.