wmeleney asked 7 years ago
We leave Playa Hermosa on Saturday, Dec 2, will rent an SUV in Liberia. Then? We think we want to take our remaining 8 days to go to Arenal (we have changeable reservations for two nights on Dec 2 and 3 at Rancho Cerro Azul) then Monteverde (we have cancelable reservations at MonteVerde Inn for Dec 4,5,6). We leave on Sunday Dec 10 from Liberia. We think we want to go to Santa Rosa and/or Rincon de la Vieja and/or Tenorio. Earlier we thought we would go to Manuel Antonio, but looking into it, it seems it is mostly beach there and we will have been a week on the beach already. Thinking we would go to MA, we made reservations for Arenal, then Monteverde. But I’m thinking our travel is backwards now. Thoughts or suggestions about where to go and in what order. We love to hike, but are in our 60’s. While fit, we don’t want to knock ourselves out or camp. Thanks in advance.
Jenn and Matt Staff answered 7 years ago
Hi wmeleney,
The way you have it is a little backwards but not too bad. From Monteverde you can take Route 606 to Route 1 (see our post about Driving to Monteverde) and then just shoot up Route 1. It’s all highway (Route 1) and you can then take the turn off for either Bijagua (Tenorio) or Rincon de La Vieja. If you could rearrange, you might want to make more of a loop by doing Rincon or Bijagua first, then Arenal, then Monteverde. But again, what you have isn’t horrible. The drive around the Lake is at least interesting and scenic (even if you have to do it twice). Also, you may want to consider taking the trip up to Santa Rosa National Park while you are still in Playa Hermosa since you will be pretty far north already. Maybe get the rental car delivered up to you a day or two early? Check out our rental car discount too, if you haven’t already. Hope this helps.