13 Best Sights in Monteverde Cloud Forest and Santa Elena, Arenal, Monteverde, and the Northern Lowlands

Two-hour tours departing at 10 am and 3 pm guide you from the bean to the cup at this coffee plantation and old-fashioned trapiche (sugarcane mill) where you can sample liquor, java, and other locally made products. The hands-on tour includes a ride on an oxcart and some sweet treats made from homegrown coffee beans, sugarcane, and cacao.

One of Costa Rica's best-kept reserves has 13 km (8 miles) of well-marked trails, lush vegetation, and a cool, damp climate. The collision of moist winds with the Continental Divide here creates a constant mist whose particles provide nutrients for plants growing at the upper layers of the forest. Giant trees are enshrouded in a cascade of orchids, bromeliads, mosses, and ferns, and in those patches where sunlight penetrates, brilliantly colored flowers flourish. The sheer size of everything, especially the leaves of the trees, is striking. No less astounding is the variety: more than 3,000 plant species, 500 species of birds, 500 types of butterflies, and 130 different mammals have so far been cataloged at Monteverde. A damp and exotic mixture of shades, smells, and sounds, the cloud forest is also famous for its population of resplendent quetzals, which can be spotted feeding on the aguacatillo (similar to avocado) trees; best viewing times are early mornings from January until September, and especially during the mating season of April and May. Other forest-dwelling inhabitants include hummingbirds and multicolor frogs.

For those who don't have a lucky eye, a short-stay aquarium is in the field station; captive amphibians stay here just a week before being released back into the wild. Although the reserve limits visitors to 250 people at a time, Monteverde is one of the country's most popular destinations. We do hear complaints (and agree with them) that the reserve gets too crowded with visitors at times. Early visitors have the best chance at spotting wildlife in the protected reserve.

Allow a generous slice of time for leisurely hiking to see the forest's flora and fauna; longer hikes are made possible by some strategically placed overnight refuges along the way. At the gift shop you can buy self-guide pamphlets and books; a map is provided when you pay the entrance fee. You can navigate the reserve on your own, but the 2½-hour guided Natural History Walk (7:30 am, 11:30 am, and 1:30 pm) is invaluable for getting the most out of your visit. You may also take advantage of two-hour guided night tours starting each evening at 5:45 (reservations required). The reserve provides transport from area hotels for an extra $5. Guided walking bird-watching tours up to the reserve leave from the park entrance daily at 6 am for groups of four to six people. Advance reservations are required.

If you'd like to stay in the reserve itself, you'll find six rooms of lodging at the site's La Casona. Rates of $90 per person include three meals and entrance to all park trails.

If your time in Monteverde is limited, consider spending it at Selvatura, a kind of nature-themed adventure park—complete with a canopy tour and hanging bridges—just outside the Santa Elena Reserve. A 100-bird hummingbird garden, an enclosed 20-species mariposario (butterfly garden), a sloth sanctuary, a herpetario (frog and reptile house), and insect exhibition sit near the visitor center. The only zipline tour built entirely inside the Monteverde Cloud Forest has 12 lines and 18 platforms, with an optional Tarzan swing at the end to round out the excursion. The Tree Top Walkway takes you to heights ranging from 36 feet up to 180 feet on a 3-km (2-mile) walk. These are some of the longest and strongest bridges in the country and run through the same canopy terrain as the zipline tour, which sometimes makes for a not-so-quiet walk.

You can choose from numerous mix-and-match packages, depending on which activities interest you, or take it all in, with lunch included, for $169. Most visitors get by for much less, given that one day isn't enough for all there is to do here.

Thirty species of butterflies flit about in four enclosed botanical gardens, and you'll learn about a variety of other insects and arachnids. Morning visits are best, since the butterflies are most active early in the day. Your entrance ticket includes an hour-long guided tour under tin roofs, meaning you won't get wet on rainy days. Be sure to visit the nonprofit gift shop benefiting the local community.

Bite your tongue before requesting Costa Rica's ubiquitous Café Britt up here. Export-quality Café Monteverde is the local, sustainably grown product, and the tour lets you see the process up close from start to finish from the area's Turín plantation, 3 km (2 miles) north of Santa Elena, where the plants are grown in the shade; transported to the beneficio, the processing mill where the beans are washed and dried; and finally to the roaster. Reservations are required, and pickup from area hotels is available. They also operate the Monteverde Coffee Center (coffee shop) in town next to CASEM and the Café Monteverde in Santa Elena.

The 54,000-acre rain forest dwarfs the Monteverde and Santa Elena reserves. It began life as a school project in Sweden among children interested in saving a piece of the rain forest, and blossomed into a fund-raising effort among students from 44 countries. The reserve's Bajo del Tigre trail makes for a gentle self-guided 3½-km (2-mile) hike through secondary forest. Along the trail are 27 stations at which to stop and learn about the reserve, many with lessons geared toward kids. A separate guided twilight walk with a knowledgable guide ($25) begins at 5:30 pm and lasts two hours, affording the chance to see the nocturnal side of the cloud forest; reservations are required. Much of the rest of the reserve is not open to the public, but the Monteverde Conservation League offers stays at San Gerardo and Poco Sol, two remote field stations within the forest. The $79 packages include dormitory accommodation and meals.

Small groups are the hallmark of these tours that last about two hours and let you see the coffee process from start to finish at the plantation of Don Juan Cruz, one of the original settlers in the area. You can also learn about chocolate and sugarcane. Transportation can be arranged from all Monteverde-area lodgings. To get a taste without the tour, you can visit their café and gift store next to the post office in Santa Elena.

If you or your kids love creepy, crawly, slithery things, head here. Operated by Sky Adventures, this herpetarium holds more than 50 species of reptiles and amphibians, such as native frogs, toads, turtles, lizards, and snakes in terrariums. Some of the more impressive species are the colorful poison arrow frog, the Jesus Christ lizard, snapping turtles, tarantulas, and the red-eyed tree frog. Animals are most active around 6 pm. Admission includes guided tours in English or Spanish.

This family-run, 52-acre wildlife refuge is laced with four trails and houses birds, sloths, agoutis, and coatimundis. They focus on small group tours, including a coffee tour, cooking classes, and day hikes, where you'll come upon two waterfalls and a coffee plantation. If you can't make it all the way up to the Monteverde Reserve for the day hike, there's a two-hour guided twilight walk that begins each evening at 5:30 and 7:30. Reservations are required.

More than 460 species of orchids, one of which is the world's smallest, are on display. The workers' passion for orchids is contagious and you might find yourself inspired to create a garden of your own. Admission includes a 30-minute tour.

Several conservation areas near Monteverde are attractive day-trip destinations, especially when the Monteverde Reserve is too busy. The 765-acre Santa Elena Reserve just west of Monteverde is a project of the Santa Elena high school, and has a series of trails of varying length and difficulty that can be walked alone or with a guide on tours that depart daily at 7:30, 9:15, and 11:30 am, and 1 pm. The 1½-km (1-mile) Youth Challenge trail takes about 45 minutes to negotiate and includes an observation platform with views that extend as far as the Arenal Volcano—that is, if the clouds clear. If you're feeling hardy, try the 5-km (3-mile) Caño Negro trail. There's a shuttle service to the reserve with fixed departures and returns; reservations are required, and the cost is $3 each way.

Butterflies, frogs, and snakes have their own Monteverde-area exhibits, and bats get equal time with guided tours that provide insight into the life of one of the planet's most misunderstood mammals. If you've had an aversion to bats in the past, be prepared to start loving them. Admission includes a 45-minute guided tour through a small exhibit and glass enclosure housing nearly 100 live bats. You can watch them fly, eat, and even give birth. Reservations are recommended.