San José

Pros: Fascinating glimpse of 2,000 year old civilizations as seen by the bright green stones
Cons: Difficult to find if you don't know where it is

The Museum of Jade? Why the heck would I want to go to the Museum of Jade? How interesting could jade be? It's just that green stone used to make cheap jewelry, right? Wrong.

Jade is a stone with a fascinating history and even more...

Pros: No cover for loud music, cheap beer, and funky atmosphere
Cons: What exactly was that sticky stuff on the bar stools?

When in San Jose, do as the josefinos do, or at least as a gazillion gringos before you have done -- go to the Key Largo. Most thirsty sojourners tend to find their way, at some point, to the Key Largo. You see, the Key Largo just might be the most...

Pros: Big city with good transportation, excellent restaurants, luxury hotels
Cons: Big city with crowds, traffic, noise, dirt

I've read some of the other reviews of San Jose, and I understand why the place gets a rather mixed bag of recommendations. After all, the city is not a very scenic place. There's virtually no good historical or archaelogical sites, there's no real "fun"...

Pros: Good central point for visiting this fascinating country.
Cons: San Jose holds none of the charm associated with the prettier parts of Costa Rica.

The song is of course about a city with the same name in the US. The Costa Rican one isn't half as sugar coated as the diabetes inducing song that has made it famous. The not so bright side of Costa Rica is the rather dull, very dangerous and congested ...

Pros: Great wildlife; rainforests, tall jagged mountains and rivers; a country where monkeys and macaws are common sites; great reserves
Cons: Getting a bit expensive in heavily tourist-frequented cities

Review Topic:  Sights & Attractions

Are you planning on spending some time in a place known all over the world for its fauna, flora, and/or wildlife? What if I told you that the whole place is a haven for outdoors people,...

Pros: The heart of culture, cuisine and nightlife in Costa Rica.
Cons: There is a new sense of hostility and menace on the streets.

Review Topic:  Overview

The center of Costa Rican culture and government, San Jose is a city of splendid museums, grand architecture and vibrant nightlife. Sadly, it's also the centerpiece victim of Costa Rica's ills -- crime...

Pros: Beautiful country, beautiful people
Cons: San Jose smells, watch for pickpockets.

I spent three weeks in Costa Rica during our winter, which is their "dry season." They divide their seasons into two-wet and dry. The dry time is the best time to be there although dry doesn't necessarily mean dry. Bring an umbrella. My...

Pros: excellent nightlife, friendly people, good restaurants
Cons: dirty, high theft area

San Jose seems to get a bad rap from many tourists, and some with good cause. I lived in the San Jose area for 11 weeks and thought I would shed some light on the truth of San Jose.

First, San Jose is definitely dirty. The streets are filthy...

Pros: peoplewatching, lots of restaurants, public transportation
Cons: filthy dirty, overpopulated, not a whole lot to do

Most visitors begin their Costa Rican adventure in San Jose, the Los Angeles of Costa Rica. I lived there for 6 weeks while attending Spanish school and learned one thing: stay a day, then head to the beach!

There are lots of interesting...

Pros: nightlife, proximity, culture
Cons: traffic, average dirty city

If you're an average gringo tourist, I'd recommend you stay out of downtown San Jose. It would be like trying to stay in downtown Miami if you only spoke german....a very dumb idea. The choices are either learn spanish fast, or stay in the more touristy...

Pros: liquor is cheap!
Cons: orange juice is expensive!

money things are getting very expensive down there. Have been to Costa Rica 10 times over the past 5 years(heaven on earth) San Jose has become a sprawling ghetto over the past few years with homeless and drug-pushers hoarding street corners to get the...

Pros: Excellent tempurature (about 21-27 Celcius) laid back atmosphere, very kind Costa Rican people
Cons: kind of expensive compared to other C.A. cities, behind the times.

This is a general review but is more geared towards the budget traveller in mind. My recent excursion to San Jose, Costa Rica was anticipated as a Passport update/4 day getaway. I went with my girlfriend and was looking forward to seeing a different ...

Pros: The vacation that will not break the bank
Cons: Theft is rampant, always carry money credit cards and such on your person

San Jose is the capital and the first destination of most travelers. The roads are terrible and the smog is worse. Rental cars are expensive but I would have to recommend TriColor as a rental company. It was not easy having to deal with our car being ...

Pros: Cheap vacation, friendly locals
Cons: Dirty streets, polluted air, crime on the rise

The streets are dirty and the air is polluted, but San Jose isn't as bad as most Epinioner's paint it to be. As a matter of fact, there are lots of tourists whom visit there every year. Its important to realize that San Jose is an urban city 2 hours away...

Pros: Central location for rafting trips/tours
Cons: Seedy, bad traffic, big city, rest of Costa Rica is better

My advice to people travelling to San Jose is to get out and see the rest of Costa Rica as quickly as possible! I don't want to dump on San Jose, because I honestly feel as large Central American cities go, its not bad, its just that the rest of Costa...