5 Activities not to miss in La Fortuna, Costa Rica!
Arriving in La Fortuna was like a whirlwind. After the rainy Jeep Boat Jeep experience and arriving at my hotel, I was eager to explore all there was to see. Luckily I booked an absolutely stunning villa in a hotel where they were easily able to arrange options for me for the duration of my trip (including a tour same day).
The first thing you want to be sure to check out is the city center. It’s full of amazing Costa Rican restaurants and life. It’s small and walkable but definitely worth seeing the beautiful Parroquia San Juan Bosco Church in the city center and shopping around a bit. You’ll also find tons of restaurants in the city center, with a ton of food options for everyone!
Parroquia San Juan Bosco in the city center.
While I opted for a same day tour upon arriving to my hotel, I ended up doing the city center second (after the tour) and started my day with a cacao and coffee tour. If you go to Monteverde, I’d definitely recommend doing coffee in Monteverde, but I was lucky enough in La Fortuna to tour Don Juan, which had both. I was happy to get coffee since I didn’t have enough time for the coffee tour and the zip lines and hanging bridges in my short 2 nights. It’s so cool to be able to learn the ins and outs of the production of Cacao and coffee and I even got to make my own chocolate bar! The gift shop is not to be missed for souvenirs to take home as well. It’s also set in a lush jungle setting that’s extremely beautiful so I’d personally highly recommend this tour, bc of the stunning surroundings and incredibly friendly and informative guides. I’ve linked the highly rated tour I took here.
Scenes from the Don Juan Coffee Tour
Next up, you won’t want to miss La Fortuna waterfall. It’s stunning and I’d give it a 10/10 even though I went the day after rainy weather. Because of the rain, I wasn’t able to swim directly underneath it but was able to swim pretty closely next to it. It was probably one of the most stunning waterfalls I’ve seen in my life. This is a paid entry (you can get a skip the line ticket here), but my hostel friends I met on the jeep boat jeep found another free waterfall they also enjoyed if you don’t want to opt to spend the cash.
The stunning La Fortuna Waterfall
Arenal National Park/Volcano. This is one of the main attractions in La Fortuna. This was an absolutely stunning hike with another group of people I became fast friends with. It can be hit or miss with the clouds, but if you book a hotel with a view, I’m willing to bet you can see the top from your resort or hotel at some point during your stay. This is a wonderful tour you can take that includes both the Arenal hike, lunch & the hot springs (spoiler alert) !
With my luck, it was cloudy when I did the hike, but I caught some stellar views from my resort.
Hot Springs. La Fortuna is famous for this. There are a variety to choose from and you may opt for an option like the very popular Baldi or stay somewhere like Tabacon (if you have interest in Tabacon, send me a message and I can hook you up!) that has the springs directly on their properties. Regardless of which spot you choose, the hot springs are the PERFECT way to relax after some of the other activities like hiking or swimming in a potentially cold waterfall.
Ended my day relaxing at the hot springs after my Arenal volcano hike.
Lastly, if you don’t have time on your trip to fit in a few days in both La Fortuna & Monteverde, you can do both ziplines and hanging bridges in La Fortuna. In fact, I’ve heard that La Fortuna is pretty incredible for these tours!
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