Costa Rica Tours, Ltd.

 Garden Tour in Costa Rica

March 11-18, 2011

(March 10-17, 2011 tour is now fully booked)

Learn about horticulture while enjoying exotic gardens in Costa Rica, the #1 destination worldwide for nature travel. See many of their 10,000 plants while also experiencing the charm of Tico culture. Costa Rica Tours, Ltd.'s commitment to providing you with the best travel experience has resulted in a tour which takes you off the usual tourist path in a small group of like-minded travelers. Our full-time Costa Rican naturalist guide helps insure we never miss a thing, whether on a planned stop or in a chance roadside encounter.

Tour Highlights: 

• Small group size (16 maximum) makes the best nature experience
• Full-time Costa Rican naturalist guide and U.S. tour escort
• Annual National Orchid Show in San Jose
• City Tour of San Jose
• Lankester Gardens in peak orchid blooming season
• Tayutic Hacienda tour & demonstrations of crop processing
• Solo Rosas (rose and herb garden)
• El Silencio Cloud Forest at Villa Blanca
• Arenal Hanging Bridges
• Tabacon Thermal Springs & Spa
• Zarcero Topiary
• Else Kientzler Garden in Sarchi

Tour Preview Video
(Prepared for March 10th Tour)
 Events for March 11-18 Tour Are the Same but in a Slightly Different Order)

Daily Itinerary:

Day 1: Upon your arrival in Costa Rica, you will be greeted at the airport and transferred to El Rodeo Country Inn, your 4-star hotel only 10 minutes from the airport.  In the evening, you will have a welcome cocktail and tour orientation meeting followed by dinner.

Day 2: Your day will begin with an informative motor coach tour of San Jose with stops at the National Museum and the Jade Museum, which has the best collection of Pre-Columbian ceramics in Central America. We will attend the annual National Orchid Show if it is held on this day.  After a typical lunch at Nuestra Tierra Restaurant, we visit a gift shop and a bookstore with a good collection of garden books.  In the afternoon, we have a specially arranged visit for our group to Hacienda La Laguna, the home and gardens of the founder of SACRO (Save Our Orchids Foundation). We will return to our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 3: We leave the San Jose area to travel southeast to Cartago, the first capital of Costa Rica where we will see the Basilica de Los Angeles and the local market, full of exotic tropical vegetables and fruits.  Next, on to Lankester Gardens, known for its orchid collection and tropical plants. Afterwards, we continue on to the town of Turrialba where we will have lunch and tour Tayutic Hacienda of the Ortuño Family where they grow sugarcane, coffee and macadamia nuts. The tour offers a good inside view of how these products were traditionally processed and their historical importance for Costa Rica. On the farm you can see a little church built in the beginning of the 20th Century and beautiful gardens. We will overnight at Casa Turire, a beautiful hotel in Turrialba.

Day 4: Today we visit Solo Rosas, with their great variety of roses and herbs, on the way back to San Jose.  In the afternoon you arrive at  Hotel Bougainvillea in Santo Domingo de Herredia, a town to the east of the San Jose airport where you will have time on your own to enjoy their spectacular flower and sculpture garden, considered one of the best in the country. You have dinner and stay overnight at the hotel.

Day 5: After breakfast, you will transfer to Arenal in northern Costa Rica. Along the way, you will stop at Villa Blanca, an hacienda formerly owned by a president of Costa Rica.  You will have an easy guided walk through El Silencio de los Angeles Cloud Forest and lunch at the villa.  After your arrival in in Arenal, you will relax at Tabacon Hot Springs & Spa. You will enjoy its multiple pools of thermal water heated by Arenal Volcano and its beautiful tropical vegetation and gardens. While at your buffet dinner, you may catch the sight of the smoldering lava flow coming down the distant slopes of the volcano. You will overnight at Casa Luna Lodge, surrounded by farmland, lush forests and great views of the volcano.

Day 6: This morning we join visit our naturalist guide on a rainforest hike at Arenal Hanging Bridges. You will cross the rainforest on trails and suspension bridges while your naturalist guide points out the flora and fauna all around you.  You have a free afternoon, during which you can choose to take optional tours (canopy/zipline, horseback riding) or spa treatments. 

Passenger Comments:

"I loved our trip.  Everything was top notch and Costa Rica is truly inspirational.  I also have to say that you managed to put together a great group and we had a load of fun together. Thanks for all your hard work. "  Cathy J (Master Gardener/ NC)

"The tour was fabulous! Although I wasn't an avid gardener before I left, the enthusiasm of my fellow travelers and the extensive knowledge of the naturalist guide made me one! I learned so much, and the experience made me truly appreciate the beauty of nature. I'd do it again in a heartbeat! Kathy C., business owner/ NC

"I thought the trip was terrific. A friend of mine said before I left that I would fall in love with the country. Was he ever right! I have never had so much fun learning new things and seeing new places. Being a lifelong plantsman and insect fancier I couldn't get enough of either. It was the best tour I've gone on. I have traveled a lot, but this was the first in Latin America. It has spoiled me for other tours." Phil P, Master Gardener/PA

Cost for Land Tour (8D/7N): $1975 in double occupancy. $460 additional for Single Occupancy.  Includes 18 meals (7B,5L,6D); 7 hotel nights at best quality hotels; two airport /hotel transfers and group transportation to multiple locations in Costa Rica with driver and A/C motorcoach, full-time Costa Rican naturalist guide, and U. S. Tour Escort. Does not include International airfare, guide tips, and airport exit tax (currently $26).