Getting Oriented
The metropolitan area holds around 2.2 million residents, but the city proper is small, with some 340,000 people living in its 44 square km (17 square miles). Most sights are concentrated in three downtown neighborhoods—La Soledad, La Merced, and El Carmen—named for their anchor churches. Borders are fuzzy: one barrio (neighborhood) flows into the next, districts overlap, and the city itself melts into its suburbs with nary a sign to denote where one community ends and another begins.
- Downtown. This area holds San José's historic and commercial districts and many top attractions: the Museo del Jade (Jade Museum), Museo del Oro Precolombino (Pre-Columbian Gold Museum), Mercado Central (Central Market), and Teatro Nacional (National Theater).
- West of Downtown. The mostly residential neighborhoods here are anchored by large Parque Metropolitano La Sabana (La Sabana Park) and the Museo de Arte Costarricense (Museum of Costa Rican Art).
- North of Downtown. Historic barrios Amón and Otoya and the Museo de los Niños (Children's Museum) are a few of the attractions to the north.
- East of Downtown. Several good restaurants and hotels and the Universidad de Costa Rica (University of Costa Rica) are ensconced in and on the way to the San Pedro suburb.
