Costa Rica '99: The Complete Guide With Beaches, Wildlife, Cloud Forests, Volcanoes and Trips to Panama

by Fodor's Travel Publications Inc.

Experienced and first-time travelers alike rely on Fodor's Gold Guides for rich, reliable coverage the world over. Updated each year and containing a full-color, foldout Rand McNally map, a Fodor's Gold Guide is an essential tool for any kind of traveler. Smart travel tips and important contact info make planning your trip a breeze and detailed coverage of sights, accommodations, and restaurants give you the info you need to make your experience enriching and hassle-free. If you only have room for one guide, this is the one for you.

The best guide to Costa Rica, updated every year
Sensational walking and driving tours to rugged mountains, Indian villages, and ancient ruins
A guide to the rain forests, cloud forests, and dry forests
Where to shop for handicrafts--from jade and silver jewelry and bright textiles to fine leather goods and pottery
All the sports--from windsurfing on Costa Rica's Lake Arenal to diving in Panama's Bocas del Toro Archipelago

Where to stay and eat, no matter what your budget
Lavish hotels, sun-drenched beach resorts, and nature lodges
Great meals--dine on exotic seafood on a veranda or savory Creole fare in a cabantilde

Fresh, thorough, practical--from writers you can trust
Costs, hours, descriptions, and tips by the thousands
All reviews based on visits by writer-residents

12 pages of maps, vacation itineraries, and more
Important Contacts
Smart Travel Tips A to Z
Fodor's Choice
What's Where in the area
Pleasures & Pastimes
Festivals
Fact-filled chapter on national parks and wildlife reserves
How to be an eco-savvy traveler
Complete index

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference

232 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 1987

About the author

Fodor's Travel Publications is a United States-based producer of English-language travel guides and online tourism information. It was founded by Hungarian Eugene Fodor in 1936.
Fodor’s was acquired by Random House in 1986 and sold to Internet Brands in 2016.

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐ I have the 2015 edition, with the tree frog on the cover. I found it to be more detailed and useful than later editions i.e. Foder's Essential Costa Rica 2019. I thought there were more and better illustrations and more detail on attractions. By now hotel and restaurant listings may be dated in some cases. Both editions cover the basics, though.

[Julesy · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading excerpts of this book, I decided I didn't want to take a trip to Costa Rica. Maybe sometime in the future.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, I'm so confused. Another wonderful, detailed look at Costa Rica with plenty of maps and a few photos. But how do I know unless I visit? Sigh.

[Jennifer Vieira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool tips for traveling in Costa Rica

[Karissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a copy of this book to review through the Amazon Vine program. This is a great book with a lot of wonderful information on Costa Rica. Most of the information is focused on eco-tourism and adventure travel; although there are some pointers for family travel as well they are infrequent.

My family and I were considering taking a trip to Costa Rica this spring so I was very excited to be offered this book through the Amazon Vine program. The book comes with a very nice full size map that is easily removed from the book. The first section of the book does an excellent overview of the region and suggests some iteneraries for various lenghts of stays.

The second chapter focuses on the biodiversity of the region and tells what you can expect when visiting rain forests, volcanoes, cloud forests, dry forests, wetlands, and shoreline areas. After that the book is broken down by region. There are chapters focusing on: San Jose', the Central Valley, the Northern Plains, the North Pacific, the Central Pacific, the South Pacific, and the Caribbean. The chapters start out with a map and then talk about the top things to see in that region. This is followed by more detailed information by city on where to stay, eat, etc (normal travel guide stuff).

Overall it is a very informative travel guide with nice pictures and a lot of great information. The only thing I noticed is that this book is pretty focused on eco-tourism and adventure travel. There is a little information here and there about traveling with kids, but it is definitely not the focus of the book. I think I tagged maybe three or four places in the book where there were mentions of good activities to do with kids.

There are also a number of comments throughout that hint that you have to be cautious traveling to Costa Rica and also many mentions of how few short hikes there are (most are all day activities). This, combined with the lack of things to do with small children, made us decide to hold off for a few years until my son is older for this trip (he is five now and many of the activities mentioned required an age of 8 or older). I think when we do plan our trip to Costa Rica we will find this book useful, but we will also have to get a more family focused guide that helps us find activities the whole family will enjoy. If my husband and I were going by ourselves this would be an excellent guide.

In general this is an excellent guide; but if you are traveling with children I would supplement it with something more family friendly as well.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like that there is a suggested walking tour of San Jose, but more importantly, sprinkled throughout the book are little "Need a break?" sections letting you know where you can stop and rest and perhaps get some refreshments. Very necessary for someone like me who gets very tired from all-day touring. Plus, there are big orange arrows referring one to other pages for hot springs, hanging bridges, canopy tours, and other activities that they know you want to know about. Finally, it separates the restaurants (at least those in San Jose) by food type (e.g. American, Italian, Eclectic, Cafes).

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is organized by region and then by a specific park, city or other such location. The information presented is extremely useful. Personally I found it a bit hard to use at first because I was looking for activities first and locations second. All of the information I needed was buried within so we'll see if that approach changes as I continue planning. Also, some smaller beaches were not talked about. This is a great travel resource for major locations that I would recommend to others if asked.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found the 2014 edition of this book at the library just a few days before our Costa Rica trip. Although I'd done extensive internet research on Costa Rica and the places we were to visit, the book had several pieces of advice and wisdom that I hadn't found online. Really liked the Local Do's and Taboos, the Vocabulary section as well as the packing advice. Worth a look in addition to internet research.

[Allie Jo Arendell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty great guide- although hotel info needs to be redirected to Booking.com (best site to book in Costa Rica- most hotels/hostels drop their prices by 30-50% the day of so wait to book in some places. Booking also tags on an extra 10% fee to the reservation, so if you happen to be close to the area sometimes it is actually better to book direct with the hotel if enough availability).

I tend to prefer Fodor's guides over Lonely Planet, but I am not quite sure why as of yet....

[Sheri-lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm used to the Lonely Planet layouts and they just seem to make more sense to me. There is a lot of repetition from the general intros in each section and when they are discussed in more detail. There are less itineraries and less town maps with restaurant and accommodation locations. It still will be helpful, of course.

[Gussy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked it as far as travel books are concerned. It had a lot of really useful information about how to get around Costa Rica and it had budget options as well as other options and really the best information about the less traveled areas of the Eastern Coast which is where we are planning on going.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent guide, as, generally, are the Fodor's guides - and I don't say that just because I've worked for them on and off - but, I've worked for them on and off because I've always been impressed by the care and quality that goes into them, and particularly that they make use of "feet on the ground" - locally based writers who really know their stuff rather than an outside viewpoint.

[Alex]

Fodor's Costa Rica 2005 (Fodor's Gold Guides) by Fodor's (2004)

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This really helped in giving us some great ideas for our trip!

[Jenn Duffy]

Researching for graduation trip in December with the fam!! Looks BEAUTIFUL!!

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had lots of hotels and restaurants, but lacked info on sights, activities, or transportation help.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una guía de viajes muy bien

[Benjamin Plume · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this guide indispensable for travel in Costa Rica. Not only does it provide tips like "where to go" and "what to see," it also preps you on "how to behave."

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fodors; what else is there to say

[Bonnie White · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent guide to the different regions in Costa Rica. What to do, where to eat, and stay. Can't wait until my trip in a few months! :)

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very helpful for my purposes. I didn't read any other guides so can't compare it, but it had plenty of information for what I needed for my visit.

[Marilee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent travel guide, well illustrated and thorough. I just returned from two weeks in CR and found this book a great introduction to a wonderful, beautiful country.

[Marla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to go look at the birds in CR. May have to time it for next year's dry season.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

solid as always (although I do resent being in the Fodor's age bracket for travel now.)

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have for my trip next spring.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful while travelling, but a little heavy on the ziplining end of things.