See a few reasons why you should visit Monteverde on your trip to Costa Rica.
Why visit Monteverde?
There are many reasons to visit Monteverde, all the nature and the uniqueness of the Natural Parks, flora, and fauna in this area.
Also when traveling with kids, Monteverde is great, as there are many adventures options in this area for the whole family.
Let’s not forget about the amazing coffee that gets produced in Monteverde plus the typical Costa Rican white cheese. Continue reading to learn more about Monteverde and its very different attractions and activities.
What to do in the Monteverde Area?
1. Santa Elena Town
When visiting the Monteverde area you will drive through Santa Elena Town, this is a small downtown, where you can find the bus stop, ATM, health clinic, drugstore, souvenir store, supermarkets, bakery, restaurants, bars, and hotels. The hotels in town are mostly hostels, so you will see quite a few backpackers in this town. The other hotels and restaurants are more outside the downtown area closer to the National Parks.
2. Heladería y Fábrica de Quesos Monteverde (Icecream and cheese factory Monteverde)
Due to the large number of farms right outside the Monteverde area, Monteverde is also famous for its delicious dairy products, like ice cream and cheese. A fun and tasty place to visit is the Heladería y Fábrica de Quesos Monteverde. You can find the Google Maps directions here, as they have no official website listed.
3. Selvatura Adventure Park
I highly recommend visiting the Selvatura Adventure Park, when looking for adventure or if you simply want to take a beautiful stroll on top of the cloud forest treetops.
Walking on these bridges, you have the opportunity to appreciate a wide variety of flora and fauna of Monteverde and observe the biodiversity of the cloud forest canopy which is not found anywhere else in the world.
The treetop walkways provide the best vantage point to observe the beauty of the cloud forest at all its levels. For sure it’s not always a sunny place, but that is part of the adventure and experience.
However, if you are looking for more adventure you can also choose to enjoy a zip-line tour which is built entirely inside the cloud forest.
In this tour, you cross through the unique cloud forest canopy suspended over the forest while attached to high-weight-capacity cables and using specialized climbing gear.
This provides wonderful experiences and sensations only comparable to flying through the forest combining the thrill of one of Costa Rica’s most safe and popular adventures but also provides a unique vantage point of the cloud forest which in the past was reserved only to certain scientists brave enough to climb up to the forest canopy.
Next to these options, you can also visit the hummingbird and the butterfly garden, there are tour packages in which you can combine the different options. If you prefer we can pre-book this for you, you can find an overview of the prices here.
4. Reserva Bosque Nuboso Santa Elena
When I visit Monteverde I always include an early morning walk in this biological reserve, to spot the birds and the interesting flora.
The Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve is located in the area of Monteverde, about 7 km north of the town of Santa Elena, from which its name originates.
Located on the Caribbean side of the continental divide, at an average altitude of 1600m, this Reserve is bathed by the northern trade winds creating a cloud system that is maintained throughout most of the year, promoting the development of an exuberant diversity of plants that give life to an evergreen Magic Forest.
This reserve is part of the community and is managed by the Santa Elena Technical School Parents’ Board. It is located within the Arenal Tempisque Conservation Area (ACAT), which is part of the Arenal Monteverde Protected Zone and is also part of the Pájaro Campana Biological Corridor. Source: Translated from Spanish https://www.reservasantaelena.org/index.html
5. Santuario Ecologico Monteverde
As one of the pioneers in the Monteverde area, especially starting with
the Night Walks, this family-owned private National Park called Santuario Ecologico is beautiful to visit. Next to the night walk they offer guided or non-guided trail walks, cooking lessons, and a coffee experience.
It is also one of the many different night tours or twilight tours locations in Monteverde.
6. Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve
The Monteverde Reserve is preceded by 45 years of experience and a model of conservation proved in the field for decades.
The visionary eyes that proposed the need to generate an initiative for the conservation of a portion of the cloud forest in Monteverde were those of Dr. Leslie Holdridge and Dr. Joseph Tosi, that visited the area in 1968.
However, the hands that made this proposal a reality were those of the resident ornithologist George Powell(a scientist that resided in Monteverde) and the Quaker community in the area, represented especially by Wilford “Wolf” Guindon. In 1972, Powell acquired a donation of 328 hectares from the Guacimal Land Company to dedicate to its conservation in the hands of the Tropical Science Center. This was the beginning of the Reserve that would mark the way to follow for sustainable tourism in the Monteverde area and in the country.
By 1975 the Monteverde Reserve began to receive visitors, registering some 471 per year; thanks to the effort and mystique of the various generations in the Monteverde community and the efforts that hundreds of workers of the Tropical Science Center invested during these 45 years, actually the Monteverde Reserve reports more than 90,000 visitors that come to Costa Rica to live an experience of sustainable tourism and private nature conservation. Source: https://cloudforestmonteverde.com/who-we-are/#Our_History
7. Coffee, Chocolate, and Sugarcane Tours
There are many different coffee tours to choose from, our personal favorites are the one from Café Britt (if you are looking for a nice activity while being close to the San Jose/Heredia Area, plus if you are staying in the Monteverde area we really like the one from El Trapiche. Mainly because this is real local family farm which shows not just the process of producing coffee, but also chocolate and sugar.
Another one which offers all 3, which we can recommend is the tours from Don Juan. If you prefer we can always pre-book this activity for you and add it to your trip.
If you want more information about lodging, more things to do, or how to get there, please contact us, we will be very happy to share all the information.
