Archive for August, 2010

San José is the most cosmopolitan city in Costa Rica and offers the most rewarding restaurants, hotels and nightlife venues. For the tourist there are museums, parks, waterfalls and plenty of shopping.

Attractions:

La Paz Waterfall located about one hour from San José and features five breathtaking waterfalls surrounded by lush tropical plants and wildlife. The grounds also include a delightful Butterfly Observatory and a Hummingbird Garden.

Museo de Jade holds the largest collection of American jade. These lovely gems, dating from 500 BC to AD 800, are showcased with intricate lighting, spacing and groupings to allow visitors to appreciate them in full detail.

Centro Nacional de Arte y Cultura a large performing arts campus exhibits the best in the areas of dance, art and theatre.

Costa Rican Art Museum showcases cutting edge Costa Rican painting, print and sculpture in a newly formed sculpture garden that is quite attractive and still being developed.

Museo de Oro Precolombino boasts a stunning collection of over 1500 gold artifacts, one of the world’s most noted collections of Pre-Columbian gold, with valuable coins, figurines, jewelry and more.

Museo Nacional housed in an old army fort bears the marks of artillery fire from the Civil War of 1948; this museum showcases national archaeology, jade, gold, colonial furniture, costumes, religious art and a wealth of historical exhibits.

Parque Nacional brings natural beauty to the city. Worker bees come here during lunch for a little rest and relaxation, families bring children to work off some steam, and tourists find a restful retreat from the business of seeing the sights.

Spirogyra Butterfly Garden treats guests to an understanding of native butterflies, giving insight into the life cycles of over 30 species of butterflies and showing how they impact the environment.

Teatro Nacional was constructed in 1897 and showcases a lovely neoclassical facade, replete with statues of Beethoven and Calderón de la Barca, a noted 17th-century Spanish dramatist, offers well-done dramatic and musical performances on a regular basis.

Volcan Arenal is the youngest active volcano in the nation and actually one of the ten most active in the world since massively erupting in 1968.

Enterprise, Orbitz, Thrifty, Dollar, Avis and Budget are some of the car rental companies in Costa Rica.

CompareAutoInsuranceRates.com has auto insurance rates and quote from many companies at the push of a button.