Discovering Costa Rica

Page 31

Travel

Getting In

By Plane

Costa Rica currently has two international airports and a main local airport.

Santamaria Airport (SJO)

is the country’s largest international airport, located in the

Central Valley region just north of San José

Daniel Oduber Airport (LIR)

is located in Liberia, Costa Rica

Tobias Bolaños Airport

(local airport)

In addition to international flights, Costa Rica also has two domestic airlines that fly out of

smaller airports.

Nature Air

–

Sansa

–

Getting Around

By Bus

Traveling by bus is a great way to get around Costa Rica – both within, and between cities.

Since the system is government subsidized, fares are usually very cheap – less than $15 to

travel across the country. Keep in mind that not all buses have bells to signal the driver to stop.

When in Costa Rica, do as the Costa Ricans do: let the driver know you’d like them to stop by

yelling “

parada

.” For information on schedules of buses departing from the San José area, visit

By Subway and Train

San José’s urban train, or commuter rail, is a great way for commuters to travel to work, and is

more efficient than taking buses. The train runs Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 9:00

a.m., and 3:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The train offers three basic routes for full or partial trips:

Heredia – San Pedro (via downtown San José)

Cartago – San Pedro – Pavas (Rohrmoser)

San José – Belen de Heredia

Helpful Hint:

In the near future, the train from Cartago will also cover Alajuela.