
Gardens of Costa Rica
From £4,395
Summary
The term biodiversity may have been coined with Costa Rica in mind, such is the range of different species within its pristine, tropical forests. Throw in some spectacular scenery and resplendently laid-back citizens, and you have all the makings of a life-affirming holiday experience.
Visit a broad range of gardens both public and private, such as the Else Kientzler Botanical Gardens with its world-class collection of plants. At the Monteverde Cloud Reserve we will see some of the 100 mammals, 400 bird species and more than 2,500 varieties of plants that thrive here, including, if we are lucky, the famously elusive resplendent quetzal.
Tour highlights:





- World’s largest butterfly garden at La Paz Waterfall Gardens
- The imposing volcano of Arenal
- Explore the cloud forest at Monteverde
- Spotting subtropical wildlife in the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge
- Visits to private gardens
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Your Departure date
Today's Price
£4,395
Deposit: £420 Single supplement: £995
Includes flights
Meet your Experts
Colin Crosbie
Colin Crosbie was the Head Gardener to Her Majesty The Queen Mother in Windsor prior to taking up the position of Curator at RHS Garden Wisley, and is currently the President of the Scottish Rock Garden Club.
Your itinerary
Day 1 -
Enjoy access to the airport Executive lounge before we fly from London to San José, arriving in time for dinner.

Hotel | Bougainvillea Hotel |
---|---|
Meals included | Dinner |
Bougainvillea Hotel
Set within lush tropical gardens just a 20-minute drive from San José Airport, Hotel Bougainvillea offers a large outdoor pool, tennis courts and a gym. Rooms have balconies overlooking the gardens or city.
The hotel’s beautiful gardens are home to a huge range of native Costa Rican trees and flowers. You can also spot wild hummingbirds and frogs.
Each room at Hotel Bougainvillea offers free Wi-Fi, flat-screen cable TV, a ceiling fan and a coffee maker. Rooms are decorated with unique furniture made from local hardwoods.
The Vitrales Restaurant & Bar serves international fusion cuisine in stylish surroundings. There are fantastic garden views from the lounge bar.
Day 2 -
After breakfast, we visit the stunning Else Kientzler Botanical Garden, home to a vast array of tropical plant species from around the globe. We spend some time exploring the gardens, wandering the trails and discovering the collections of succulents and bromeliads.
We later also enjoy a visit to a private garden.

Hotel | Bougainvillea Hotel |
---|---|
Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch |
Bougainvillea Hotel
Set within lush tropical gardens just a 20-minute drive from San José Airport, Hotel Bougainvillea offers a large outdoor pool, tennis courts and a gym. Rooms have balconies overlooking the gardens or city.
The hotel’s beautiful gardens are home to a huge range of native Costa Rican trees and flowers. You can also spot wild hummingbirds and frogs.
Each room at Hotel Bougainvillea offers free Wi-Fi, flat-screen cable TV, a ceiling fan and a coffee maker. Rooms are decorated with unique furniture made from local hardwoods.
The Vitrales Restaurant & Bar serves international fusion cuisine in stylish surroundings. There are fantastic garden views from the lounge bar.
Day 3 -
This morning we check out of our hotel and depart for a visit to La Paz Waterfall Gardens where we visit the world’s largest butterfly garden and learn about the surprisingly complex life of the butterfly. We visit the Hummingbird garden where we will be serenaded by the gentle hum of tiny wings lightly brushing the air as dozens of these colourful jewels buzz around you in search of food and a quiet resting spot. We then take a short walk to the magical waterfalls where the refreshing spray of water from the streaming cascades cools us.

Hotel | La Quinta Lodge, Sarapiqui |
---|---|
Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
La Quinta Lodge, Sarapiqui
La Quinta is an eco-lodge which promotes sustainable tourism. It strives to have little, to no negative impact on its immediate environment. The hotel has ten acres composed of regenerating agriculture, a reforested area with native trees, an old-growth forest on the riverside and tropical gardens.
La Quinta has 28 rooms in bungalows, most of them are wheel chair accessible, surrounded by the tropical garden rich in heliconias, gingers, palms and flowering trees.Rooms have private bathrooms, hot water, clean fresh towels, air conditioning, ceiling fan, walking closet area, hairdryer, safety box, and a beautiful roofed porch facing the gardens with hammocks and rocking chairs, from where you can enjoy the view of dozens of flowers and birds.
Day 4 -
This morning we travel to La Tirimbina reserve, where we visit an organic cacao plantation, with the chance to make and eat our very own chocolate!
In the afternoon we visit Organic Paradise Tour, where we will learn about the process of pineapple farming, from the harvesting to then packing and export. There will of course be an opportunity to taste this delicious, sweet fruit.

Hotel | La Quinta Lodge, Sarapiqui |
---|---|
Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch |
La Quinta Lodge, Sarapiqui
La Quinta is an eco-lodge which promotes sustainable tourism. It strives to have little, to no negative impact on its immediate environment. The hotel has ten acres composed of regenerating agriculture, a reforested area with native trees, an old-growth forest on the riverside and tropical gardens.
La Quinta has 28 rooms in bungalows, most of them are wheel chair accessible, surrounded by the tropical garden rich in heliconias, gingers, palms and flowering trees.Rooms have private bathrooms, hot water, clean fresh towels, air conditioning, ceiling fan, walking closet area, hairdryer, safety box, and a beautiful roofed porch facing the gardens with hammocks and rocking chairs, from where you can enjoy the view of dozens of flowers and birds.
Day 5 -
We check out of the hotel and head west towards Arenal where we will see the majestic Arenal volcano, which has not erupted since 2010 but still rumbles and smokes from time to time. Here we will visit a medicinal garden and discover how various endemic plants are used to produce effective medicines.
In the afternoon, we journey on to our comfortable hotel which enjoys marvellous views of the volcano.

Hotel | Arenal Springs |
---|---|
Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Arenal Springs
The hot springs of Arenal Springs Hotel are hundred percent natural and rich in mineral salts and ions. Offering an outdoor pool and a restaurant, Hotel Arenal Springs Resort & Spa is located in Fortuna, 20 minutes’ drive from Arenal Volcano site. Free Wi-Fi access is available. Specialties in meats and seafood, the international chefs do an excellent job receiving constant training. Each distinctive Junior Suite comes with direct views to the beautiful Arenal Volcano.
Day 6 -
This morning we depart on a full day excursion to the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge, close to the Nicaraguan border. This area of protected marshland is the epitome of ‘biodiversity’ – in the course of our two and a half hour boat trip we will see an astonishing variety of birds, monkeys, iguanas, sloths, alligators and turtles as well as a diverse range of flora. We will travel back to the Arenal Area where we will visit some of the abundant hot springs to be found here, fed by the constant geo-thermal activity of the region.

Hotel | Arenal Springs |
---|---|
Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Arenal Springs
The hot springs of Arenal Springs Hotel are hundred percent natural and rich in mineral salts and ions. Offering an outdoor pool and a restaurant, Hotel Arenal Springs Resort & Spa is located in Fortuna, 20 minutes’ drive from Arenal Volcano site. Free Wi-Fi access is available. Specialties in meats and seafood, the international chefs do an excellent job receiving constant training. Each distinctive Junior Suite comes with direct views to the beautiful Arenal Volcano.
Day 7 -
This morning we leave the hotel and after a boat trip on Lake Arenal, Costa Rica’s largest body of fresh water, which was enlarged to three times its original size when a hydro-electric dam was built here, we head south to Monteverde.

Hotel | Monteverde Country Lodge |
---|---|
Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Monteverde Country Lodge
Monteverde Country Lodge has been remodeled assuring the maximum comfort, yet preserving the real essence of traditional rustic lodging of the Monteverde from 20 years ago. Wooden finishes and gorgeous gardens ensure we keep our guests in touch with nature; personal service and accommodating staff complement a renewing experience for fellow Costa Ricans and guests from around the world.
By rescuing concepts like sustainability, helpfulness, quietness and delicious traditional Costa Rican recipes, Monteverde Country Lodge orients its efforts on lending your trip a hand to become the most authentic adventure in this amazing forest.
Day 8 -
Wander around orchid and butterfly gardens today. Costa Rica has the richest orchid flora in Central America with more than 1400 identified species. At the butterfly garden we can expect to see myriad different species in a garden that has been specially designed to attract these delicate, colourful creatures.
This evening there will be an opportunity to have dinner in the unique Tree House restaurant, built into the upper branches of a huge tree (not included).

Hotel | Monteverde Country Lodge |
---|---|
Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch |
Monteverde Country Lodge
Monteverde Country Lodge has been remodeled assuring the maximum comfort, yet preserving the real essence of traditional rustic lodging of the Monteverde from 20 years ago. Wooden finishes and gorgeous gardens ensure we keep our guests in touch with nature; personal service and accommodating staff complement a renewing experience for fellow Costa Ricans and guests from around the world.
By rescuing concepts like sustainability, helpfulness, quietness and delicious traditional Costa Rican recipes, Monteverde Country Lodge orients its efforts on lending your trip a hand to become the most authentic adventure in this amazing forest.
Day 9 -
This morning we have a tour of the Monteverde Cloud Reserve, whose variable climate and large altitudinal gradient supports a complex and extensive eco-system: over 100 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, tens of thousands of insect species, and over 2,500 varieties of plants, including orchids, bromeliads, ferns, vines and mosses. Animal species include the jaguar, ocelot and Baird’s tapir and birds such as the three-wattled bellbird, bare-necked umbrella bird, and the famously elusive resplendent quetzal – you never know with animals and birds but we might be lucky!

Hotel | Parador Resort and Spa |
---|---|
Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch |
Parador Resort and Spa
Treat yourself to luxury at Parador Resort & Spa, one of Costa Rica’s foremost eco-hotels. The resort is perched on the Punta Quepos promontory, just a five minute walk to the beach and a short drive to the famous Manuel Antonio National Park. Stretching across over 12 acres of lush, wildlife-packed rainforest, Parador features a crisscrossing network of nature trails, culminating in exquisite cliffside vistas. Expansive rooms and suites effortlessly blend relaxed tropical style with contemporary comfort, and include private balconies, free Wi-Fi access and deluxe bedding. Buffet breakfast is included. The hotel has three swimming pools and a fitness centre and Spa.
Day 10 -
This morning we tour the Manuel Antonio National Park, which was established in 1972 to preserve, for future generations, one of the most beautiful and bio-diverse areas in the world. Although it is the country's smallest national park, the stunning beauty and diversity of wildlife in its 683 hectares is unequalled, with its charming combination of rain forest, beaches and coral reefs. The forest is home for sloths, iguanas, the rare squirrel monkeys and millions of colourful little crabs.
In the afternoon we will take the Rainforest Spices Plantation tour. In this highly sensorial journey we will smell, touch and taste many different spices such as vanilla, cinnamon, cocoa, black pepper and a variety of essential oils and medicinal plants.

Hotel | Parador Resort and Spa |
---|---|
Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch |
Parador Resort and Spa
Treat yourself to luxury at Parador Resort & Spa, one of Costa Rica’s foremost eco-hotels. The resort is perched on the Punta Quepos promontory, just a five minute walk to the beach and a short drive to the famous Manuel Antonio National Park. Stretching across over 12 acres of lush, wildlife-packed rainforest, Parador features a crisscrossing network of nature trails, culminating in exquisite cliffside vistas. Expansive rooms and suites effortlessly blend relaxed tropical style with contemporary comfort, and include private balconies, free Wi-Fi access and deluxe bedding. Buffet breakfast is included. The hotel has three swimming pools and a fitness centre and Spa.
Day 11 -
In the morning we depart from the hotel and head back to San José, with a visit to the Orchid Garden in La Garita included en route. Costa Rica has the richest orchid flora in Central America with more than 1400 identified species. On arrival at our hotel there will be some free time to relax.

Hotel | Bougainvillea Hotel |
---|---|
Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Bougainvillea Hotel
Set within lush tropical gardens just a 20-minute drive from San José Airport, Hotel Bougainvillea offers a large outdoor pool, tennis courts and a gym. Rooms have balconies overlooking the gardens or city.
The hotel’s beautiful gardens are home to a huge range of native Costa Rican trees and flowers. You can also spot wild hummingbirds and frogs.
Each room at Hotel Bougainvillea offers free Wi-Fi, flat-screen cable TV, a ceiling fan and a coffee maker. Rooms are decorated with unique furniture made from local hardwoods.
The Vitrales Restaurant & Bar serves international fusion cuisine in stylish surroundings. There are fantastic garden views from the lounge bar.
Day 12 -
We transfer to San Jose airport for our return overnight flight to London.
Meals included | Breakfast |
---|
Day 13 -
We arrive in London.

Tour dates & prices
Included in your cost:
- Accommodation
- Meals - as per the itinerary
- London pre-flight Executive lounge access
- Comfortable coach travel throughout
- All visits as outlined in the itinerary
- Services of a professional tour manager & local guides
Tour Departure | Tour ID | Departure date | Return Date | Guided by | Price | Deposit | Single supplement | Availability |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
26 January 2024 | BCOS240126 | 26 January 2024 (Friday) | 7 February 2024 (Wednesday) | Colin Crosbie | £4,395 (inc. flights) |
£420 | £995 | Book your trip |
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