Lonely Planet Costa Rica

by Rob Rachowiecki

-- emphasis on Costa Rica's wildlife and other natural splendours
-- insider tips on the best surfing, diving and snorkelling
-- special wildlife section with details on where to find monkeys, sloths, and tapirs

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference, Adventure, Guidebook, American

576 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1997

Reviews

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used this during my travels in Costa Rica and while I appreciated it to get an overall idea of the places I wanted to visit + the history of the country I oftentimes didn't enjoy the recommended sites/restaurants/cities because they were overly touristic. I also missed free activities (like hikes or walks in the area), as most things listed in here cost 20$ and more. The fact that the included bus timetables oftentimes weren't accurate isn't really the book's fault (since they are frequently changed or official timetables exist only by word of mouth) but should still be mentioned. Despite all of this I was really glad to have it with me because it offers valuable basic informations to plan your travels and can be used as basis for further research on places/sites.

[Ștefania Ioana Chiorean · Rating 5 out of 5]

//read before and while on my trip to Costa Rica.

It was helpful to read it ahead about some places - it is a lot to try to have a feel about everything but helped to have it narrowed down to the areas I could go/ be sure I could get to in the amount of time I had.
And after that and almost there I had a good idea of what I could and wanted to visit - funny enough it matched one of their proposed itineraries and from there I just added stuff I read about or on the spot, I chose restaurants, paths, and what to eat.

I really like the guides, but indeed sometimes it might be overwhelming.

[Matt Heavner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great to get excited for spring break!

[Chuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read! This book is a fantastic guide providing general information about traveling to CR along with specific highlights for possible itineraries, must see places and preparing you for your visit. It also has some helpful maps and provided recommendations for hotels, restaurants and personal destinations for each region we plan to visit. I would buy a Lonely Planet guide again in the future after reading this.

[Ginger Hilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just read about the areas I plan to visit. I didn't learn more that what I sort of knew already. It's not a bad Book. I gave it three stars only because I didn't read the entire book. I would look at it again if I travel to another part of Costa Rica. Also I read it online. It would be better with the book in hand as it is intended.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

helpful, but really pretentious

[Melody Lipford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was a helpful book to have before I taught ESL in Costa Rica a few years ago. Told me all about the country, beautiful landscape, things about culture, important towns and the capitol, San Jose, about the vast biodiversity, and more. Def recommend!

[Zardoz · Rating 2 out of 5]

A dated (2016) travel guide which gives some basic knowledge about Costa Rica, but was a disappointment overall. I’m definitely coming back to this place, but I’ll try a different guide book next time.

[Vanessa Petsuch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book in advance of my trip to Costa Rica next month. This is not the typical Lonely Planet format I'm accustomed to (Discover Series), but it was easy to get through and to identify the places and sights I will be seeing while there. Wish they had the lodging section and the pull-out map that I am used to with LP.

[Sis3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can’t read this like a book . Will refer to it the closer we get to traveling there.

[Elizabeth Higginbotham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lonely Planet Costa Rica by Ashley Harrell, Jade Bremmer and Brian Kluepfel is a wonderful guide. I started it before my own trip to Costa Rica, which took me to a few sections, but also our guide took us through towns in the Central Valley. I was in San Jose, but also the Monteverde Cloud Forest and Arenel regions, so I read that material carefully. Once I finished my other reading material on the trip, I did not have any other English books, so I read this book cover to cover. I did not read about every restaurant and hostel, but the details on the regions, their histories, and unique situations. This reading helped provide details on some of the information from the excellent tour guide. This adventure in 2018 was my third trip to Costa Rica, which is becoming more and more eco-friendly and listening to how the laws have shaped this culture was interesting. Costa Rica own history is part of the equation, as while there was exploitation, it was not on the level of other “colonies” and independent nations caught in global politics.

This tiny nation is very complex. It is agricultural: coffee, bananas, pineapples, palm oil, and others along with the more technological and medical innovations. Costa Rica had no standing army, a decision made in 1948, so there are more state resources to address social inequality. Kindergarten is mandatory and they want to make early childhood education beginning with four years olds. There are various ways to secure health insurance. Yet, there is still some poverty, not as much as our nation and now everyone can vote. There is a legacy of mistreatment of the people from Jamaica who came to work. Reading the guide book, helped me put into context so of the decisions the guide made, not just the cloud canopy and rainforest walk—must do events, but some of the towns, churches and squares. I also understand more about my two previous trips, one a tour and the other to visit friends in the region. I also have many ideas for future trips.

[molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't usually review these types of things, but I thought this was worthwhile to mention. I actually wasn't that impressed with the quality of this guide compared to other LP books I've used for Europe. There wasn't a ton of guidance on how to get off the beaten guided tours trail and do some hiking and other adventuring on your own. I found Tripadvisor and most of all speaking to locals the most helpful while I was there, but without being able to speak Spanish I think I would have been frustrated. They just seem to assume that you're going to pay a tour company to take you around, which isn't really my style. They should have listed a lot more outdoorsy stuff for one of the premier outdoorsy destinations in the world.

On another note, I dropped this book in hot springs, waterfalls, and used it to kill several large bugs en route. I've returned library books with a few dings and scratches before, but I'm curious how this return process is going to go down.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I travelled around CR with a tour group, and every single person had a copy of this. I think it is safe to say that this is THE guidebook for the non-package tour traveller in Costa Rica. All the areas I went to were covered well in here, and most of their advice was on target. The places they pick as the most scenic and interesting turned out to be just that. The may have come up a little short with the restaurants - the best one I went to wasn't in the book, and some of the ones they thought were great I had a different opinion of - but this is forgivable because there are a lot of good eating spots in CR that serve the same kinds of dishes within the same price range. LP still makes the most complete and interesting guides for the traveller who enjoys exploring the world, and not just lying around on a beach (altho you can do some of that in Costa Rica if that is your pleasure).

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Planning a trip to Costa Rica? This book from my local library provides the most comprehensive resources to actually plan my itinerary. It provided food, lodging and activities. Other guide books provided food and activities but not lodging (Lonely Planet’s Discover Costa Rica 2016) or they only provided insights to the publisher’s favorite, boutique spots and missed the spots we were likely to visit (“Spotlight Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula” by Christopher Baker and Moon Publishing).

We used this book two years in a row (and the updated version with a scarlet macaw on the cover in lieu of the sloth) to plan two separate trips to CR. It served as our go to resource, overshadowing all other guidebooks.

[Ruthie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first time I have used one of these books. I had an older edition (2002) and my travel companion had the most recent edition. I found that it is quite helpful to have the most current information in this kind of book especially since the world is a changing place and the prices become obsolete pretty quickly. It was helpful for some background and cultural information as well as an overview of places to visit, but the lodging and eating information wasn't too helpful in the older book.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this guide book from cover to cover. At first, I was trying to learn more about the country where I was living, but then it just became an obession -- a need for entertainment. This book is wonderfully written, at times poignant, at others hilarious.

Informative, accurate, and a pleasure to read!

[Gussy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't really get to finish it because I had to return it to the library but it was a good overview of Costa Rica for the budget traveler. I wish that I had more time to follow up on some of the suggestions in the book but I have not yet purchased my ticket so some of the stuff will come later. I would recommend it if you are thinking about traveling to Costa Rica.

[Benjamin Rubenstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Explore a land with a tropical climate teeming with bright flora and fauna, where monkeys scurry about and I can hike or zip-line above the clouds, where my U.S. dollar is accepted and goes farther than it does in the U.S., where my English is responded to and yet I can still try out my pathetic Spanish? Yes please.

[Diane B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful info and tips on places to visit; although I do tend to skip over any advice about accommodations.
Although I had scoured the internet, I hadn't come across a mention that SIM cards weren't available in the San Jose airport and also to be on the lookout for a car rental scam that involved the sudden onset of flat tires.
Print is not dead!

[Elis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, some of the reviews are out of date but that's to be expected for a guidebook. We had about a 70% success rate which is good, culture/health/language sections are fantastic & it's a good source of ideas.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best LP book. Compared to the one I used for Thailand in 2002, it really was lacking information. Costa Rica is a very popular destination for the LP travel set, so I guess I just expected more. I'll have to send some notes to them for the next edition!

[Kim Lanza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lonely Planet is my go-to guide book and had been for 20 years. I felt like I was reading the abridged version. It was more like a highlights of Costa Rica book. Maps were particularly hard to read in the e-reader format. I found Frommer's to be more helpful for this trip.

[Bex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve never read such an accessible travel guide. I enjoyed reading this so much while planning my trip and found it the perfect guide, with beautiful pictures, helpful advice and nice descriptions. I relied heavily on this and was glad I did.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hoping to go to Costa Rica after the pandemic, I am reading up. So I did not read the details of this travel guide, but I did read the sections of history, geography, natural features and so on. I will keep track of the title so I could go back to it. And I think I need to brush up on kayaking.

[Mark Irwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lived off this book; excellent guide!

[Olive · Rating 5 out of 5]

best guide book that i found on costa rica, it provides a lot of helpful budget options (but also includes mid-range and luxury options), helpful tips, all around good guide...

[Tina]

trying to schedule a trip, but i trust lonely planet =)

[tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haven't gone yet.. but hope to real soon.

[Tommy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good organization and insights mixed with some full color photos. As usual, tedious detail at times with a young adventurer's perspective.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all Lonely Planet books, this one has great information and specifics to get you around the country. Thanks, LP!