Walk across kilometers long hanging bridges, relax in wonderful (free) hot springs and jump into the water with a rope. You can find all these cool activities in beautiful La Fortuna, just 1.5 hours drive from the capital San José. One thing is certain, you won't be bored for a moment in La Fortuna! In this blog you can read the best tips and activities in La Fortuna.
La Fortuna
La Fortuna is only a small village in the middle of the nature of Costa Rica. It is mainly characterized by the beautiful Arenal volcano that you can admire from all over La Fortuna. It is a very popular travel destination for foreign travelers, but locals from Costa Rica also love to visit this beautiful place during holidays and weekends. The temperature in La Fortuna is somewhat lower than in most parts of Costa Rica, around ℃25. La Fortuna is very similar to the also very famous Monteverde. Both places have a lot of activities that all mainly take place outside. Besides the cool activities, La Fortuna is also a very nice village where you can enjoy delicious food. We therefore share our favorite activities and restaurants with you below.
Walk through the jungle over the hanging bridges
One of the must-do activities when traveling in Costa Rica is visiting the hanging bridges. Whether you do this in Monteverde or in La Fortuna, that doesn't matter. In La Fortuna you will find the Mistico Arenal hanging bridges. There is a 3.2 km long path in the park with a total of 16 bridges. Of these, 10 are normal bridges and 6 are hanging. The entrance is quite pricey, namely €25 p.p., but the beautiful surroundings in which you find yourself are more than worth it.
TIPYou are required to buy a ticket online in advance. So make sure you already have these before you go there.
TIPAlways bring a poncho or raincoat. Despite the seasons, you always have a chance of rain in La Fortuna, especially around the Arenal.
Spot Sloths while walking the Bogarin Trail
The Bogarin trail can be found on the edge of the village and is also listed on Google as 'Sloths, sloths and sloths'. In other words, you come here to spot sloths. The path is about 2.5 km long and completely flat so easy to walk. That's a good thing because you're mostly looking up. Sometimes you have to search well, but then you should certainly be able to spot a number of them. We were able to spot 5, one closer than the other. There are also very beautiful birds along the Bogarin Trail. So pay close attention to the surroundings and don't make too much noise. We also recommend going in the morning when the sloths are most active. This makes it easier to spot them and it is also more fun to look at than when you only see a hanging ball. An entrance ticket is about €17. You can also choose to go with a guide, then you will of course pay more money.
TIPTake your time. Sometimes you have to do your best to spot a sloth.
Take a dip at El Salto
On the way to the hot springs you will find El Salto along the road. There is a parking guard who indicates where you can park your scooter. After this you walk down the road under a bridge. You will come to a small waterfall and a natural pool. You will see that all kinds of tourists, but also locals are swimming, sunbathing, fishing or jumping here. A rope hangs from a tree with which you can swing into the water. A nice free stopover if you already have your swimsuit on. At the parking there is also someone selling pipa frias. Always good a cold coconut!
Warm up in the relaxing hot springs of La Fortuna
Around the Arenal volcano you have several hot springs or terminal baths. Most of these are paid. The most famous of these are the Tabacon hot springs. These are quite pricey and you have to book well in advance, otherwise you run the risk that they are fully booked. (Unfortunately we had this 🙁) Fortunately, there are also free hot springs that are not far from here. These are also crowded with locals, especially on weekends. Everyone just parks the car or scooter along the road and walks down where you arrive directly at the hot springs. Great to warm up on a rainy day, for example.
TIPGo early to the free hot springs, then it's still nice and quiet!
Rent a scooter and explore the surroundings of La Fortuna
One of the easiest activities is exploring the area with a scooter. Most activities are easiest to reach by scooter anyway. In addition, you save a lot of money when you visit multiple activities with the scooter. Renting a scooter costs about €20 per day. You will find several scooter rentals in La Fortuna, so there are plenty of them.
Visit Bajos del Toro
From La Fortuna you can also visit the hidden gem of Costa Rica: . You will find the waterfalls with the bluest water here. This was definitely one of the highlights of Costa Rica for us. Read more on this place
Tips for hotels and restaurants
Hotel
We slept in Le Petit Hotel Costa Rica. This was a very nice hotel with clean rooms, a nice swimming pool and a shared kitchen. Especially the latter is not a superfluous luxury in Costa Rica. By making your own meal now and then, you can easily save money here.
Restaurants
But if you do want to go out for a nice meal, you can read our tips here:
- Rain forest cafe & Restaurant Fortuna Nice cafe where you can drink delicious coffee, but also have breakfast, lunch and dinner. Try the Mono Loco here, a delicious coffee with banana and cinnamon.
- Pollo Fortuneño If you like to eat chicken, you have to eat here. You can get delicious fresh chicken here for a good price. But you can also get other meat dishes here.
- La street Bistro This was our personal favourite. You can eat delicious fresh tacos here, but also burgers and salads.
- Restaurant Cafe Mediterraneo This one is a bit on the pricey side, but if you fancy a really good pizza or pasta, this is the place to be.
How to get to La Fortuna?
From San José
From San José you take the bus to Ciudad Quesada for about €4. Here you change at the bus stop to a bus to La Fortuna for about €3. These buses are not always clearly marked everywhere, but you can always ask because the people here are very friendly. Handy if you can speak a little Spanish.
From Monteverde
At Santa Elena you take the bus to Tilaran for about €2. Then you transfer here to a bus to La Fortuna that costs about €2. There are not many buses that run from Santa Elena in a day, so make sure you leave on time and take one of the first buses.
TIP: Use for choosing your transportation Rome2RioWe used this for our entire trip through Central America and this always worked.
Curious to discover more? Read all about the most beautiful destinations in Costa Rica!
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