Arenal Volcano is Costa Rica’s best known volcano. For years it was also Costa Rica’s most active volcano. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, this was before our visit. The volcano ceased erupting in 2010 and has since been inactive. This doesn’t make it any less impressive to look at, and when you’re in Arenal and La Fortuna you can see it from just about anywhere you are. It is imposing and incredible from every angle.
Where to Stay: Arenal Observatory Lodge
The best views of this incredible volcano were from our hotel “Arenal Observatory Lodge”. We loved this place so much I wrote an entire blog post about it, you can read it here. The lodge is the only hotel located within the Arenal Volcano National Park. The lodge began in 1987 when the Smithsonian Institution used the land to study the volcano. They would use the trails and camp on the property. Eventually the the family built cabins and and a small hotel to take care of them and this is how the Lodge was born.
You could spend a few days here and never leave the lodge, although we did go exploring quite a bit as well. The property has 11km/7 miles of trails, stunning gardens, hanging bridges, a large pool and hot tub, interesting wildlife, so many opportunities for bird watching, and mind blowing views. We ate breakfast and dinner here each day in the observatory and loved birdwatching out the windows while we ate. The room was simple and comfortable and we loved our balcony overlooking the volcano. The Lodge also has an extensive list of activities and tours, if you don’t have a car you could still be FULLY entertained and participate in so many different things. Overall we’d highly recommend a stay here if you’re in the area.
Getting to La Fortuna/Arenal
Both Arenal and La Fortuna are about a 3 hour drive from the airport in San Jose. We rented a car for this trip and driving there was smooth sailing. If you wanted to venture to this area without a car there are a few other options, though I can not vouch for having done any of them personally. You could take a bus, shuttle, taxi, or private transfer from the airport or hotel in San Jose. There are also domestic flights from San Jose to La Fortuna that take about an hour, this can be a good option if you don’t want to stop in San Jose at all. However, it does not look like these flights run every day, so it would be important to check beforehand and make sure you schedule properly.
The town of La Fortuna was about a 25-30 minute drive from our hotel and we passed through here quite a few times on our journey. The town is ready made for tourists but still has an authentic feel. La Fortuna is full of food, bars, tour operators, souvenir shops and VIEWS. The town is centered around a gorgeous little park with the backdrop of the imposing Arenal Volcano behind it. You could find accommodation in this town as well, but since we were staying at the Lodge we spent our time in the town during the afternoons.
Places to eat
We had lunch here all 3 days during our time in Arenal and really enjoyed all 3 spots for different reasons. The first day when we rolled into town we had lunch at “Soda La Hormiga”. In Costa Rica a “soda” is generally known as a mom & pop type place to eat, usually open air and makes traditional Costa Rican food. They are a great place to stop if you want to have an authentic meal and eat like the locals do. The prices are generally very reasonable and the food is great! We really enjoyed having a local meal as our first stop in Costa Rica.
The next spot we tried was called “Rain Forest” and it was a cafe restaurant. Do not confuse this with the Rain Forest Cafe chain, it is not that. This was another very charming authentic spot that we really enjoyed. I would describe it as slightly more elevated than a soda, but VERY casual. We tried some empanadas among other things and found everything here to be delicious! If we were spending more time in town I’m sure we’d have gone back.
The last place we tried was a seafood spot called “Snappers House“. We REALLY enjoyed this meal, though it was considerably more expensive than some of the other meals we had in the area. We got red snapper two different ways, my husband got it fried whole with sides and I got it in their sauce with shrimps. We both LOVED our meals and enjoyed sitting in the open air having our delicious fish feast, I would highly recommend this spot if you’re passing through or staying in La Fortuna.
Of course we also visited many little shops along the way. We visited the chocolate shop & got ice cream (as one does). We checked out the grocery store for snacks, we always like to check out the snacks in other countries and try some new things. Many of our favorites have come from random grocery stores around the world!
Finding Sloths!
One of my favorite things we did was right on the edge of La Fortuna town, and it was the “Sloth Watching Trail”. It looked a little suspect at first, it had a lot of signage and we were honestly a bit confused as to whether or not we were able to be ripped off. But we figured “when in Costa Rica” so we walked in and signed up for a guided walk. It says now on their website that the walk is $50 per person. I honestly don’t remember paying that much, but maybe we did, or maybe inflation? Regardless, we actually LOVED this tour. We saw so many animals and learned so much with the help of our very knowledgable guide. The scopes that the guides use really allow you the opportunity to see the animals up close without disturbing them at all, and you are even able to take great photos through it. We saw multiple sloths and even saw one sloth that had a baby with her! This tour is also very easily accessible. It would be good for young and old, the walk is very flat and you move slowly and talk throughout so it is not strenuous at all. If we had felt like leaving our hotel grounds at night I am sure we would have also enjoyed the night experience here.
Horseback riding & Waterfalls
One of the coolest experiences we did in this area was a “Horseback riding and La Fortuna Waterfall Hike“. We rode horses for quite a while into the forest and even had some sneak peek views of the Arenal Volcano. Eventually we came to a trail where our horses dropped us off and we carried on hiking to the waterfall. The horseback ride was easy, I have only ridden a few time sin my life and mostly on vacation. I didn’t have any trouble with the horse and found the path very comfortable. We did cross through a small stream a few times on the way up. The hike was beautiful and steep, there were some amazing views along the way, we even saw some groups zip lining through the canopy. When we reached the waterfall we were able to relax for a while, to swim in it if we wanted, or to just hang around and admire its beauty. Whether you plan to swim or not I would recommend packing water shoes for this excursion. When you get close to the waterfall it’s almost impossible to not have to wade into some shallow water and to walk on some wet rocks. The waterfall is powerful and the water around it freezing! But you can go in for a dip and it feels great, especially if you’re visiting during the hot afternoon days. After your time at the waterfall the entire events are reversed. You hike back to your horse, ride back to the farm, and the tour is over. Overall we really enjoyed the tour and found it to be a fun half day excursion.
Hanging Bridges
The last excursion we did in this area was the “Mistico Hanging Bridges Park”. I would hate to discourage anyone from doing this, it is an easy place to get to, walk around, and enjoy. Being up in the rainforest canopy and getting to walk around the see the views is a really neat experience. I was disappointed at the lack of wildlife in the park. We honestly saw more animals on the side of the road than we did the entire time we were in the park, but maybe we just had an unlucky day. We also did this tour self guided, we learned throughout our time in Costa Rica that guides can be REALLY good at spotting animals. Maybe we’d have had a different experience if we’d done a guided tour. The park costs $28 to enter as an adult and you can spend a good few hours in the park walking around exploring. It is not strenuous in any way and would be fine for older travelers or kids.
Overall we absolutely loved this area of Costa Rica. We would happily come back and stay at the same lodge and do it all again. Of course there are also many luxury as well as budget places to stay in the area so you just have to find out what works for you. We got a LOT of information from the blog “My Tan Feet” when I was planning this trip! I was really thankful to have all the info and I hope that someday people use my blog and find it as valuable!
If you’re on the hunt for the tours & activities I mentioned as well as others you might enjoy, you can check these sites. These are affiliate links which means that I may earn a small commission at no cost to you if you book through these links. This helps to keep my blog ad free. It also helps to support all of the time and effort I put into this blog and is FREE for you!