Costa Rica
All I want for Christmas is a passport stamp
📍 La Fortuna, Costa Rica | ✈️ 5 Days, 4 Nights | 🗓️ December 21st - 25th | 💃 1st Christmas being Married
DAY ONE
What better way to spend our first Christmas as a married couple than going on a crazy adventure?! 🎄✈️
We arrived in Liberia, Costa Rica around 2 PM on Saturday and decided to rent a car and drive the 4 hours to La Fortuna.
BAD. IDEA. 😂
Seriously, DO NOT rent a car and drive yourself to La Fortuna. I regret that decision completely. Hire a transportation service instead! Tourists are constantly leaving the airport for La Fortuna, so there’s really no reason to put yourself through the drive. The roads are washed out, VERY windy, and the drivers are absolutely crazy. After four long hours, we were more than ready to arrive in La Fortuna!
Then came our next adventure... finding our hotel. We stayed at Downtown La Fortuna Boutique Hotel because, thanks to my Southwest Rewards Credit Card, I basically got the room for free and earned some extra points. Win! Except... we couldn't find the hotel. There was no sign on the building, so we ended up going to the restaurant Google Maps told us was the hotel and asking where the heck we were supposed to go. The room itself was clean, but VERY old. The hotel did have a welcome drink, though, so after we got settled, we headed downstairs for our delicious “Welcome to La Fortuna” drink. It was much appreciated after that four-hour drive—and honestly, it was delicious!
After that, we walked down the street for dinner at Restaurante Fortuneno, which ended up being our favorite restaurant of the entire trip. We loved it so much that we went back TWO more times! Their shrimp quesadillas and margaritas were seriously the best known to man. 🌮🍹
Hotel in Arenal Fortuna | Downtown La Fortuna Boutique Hotel
Restaurant: RESTAURANTE FORTUNEÑO, La Fortuna - Restaurant Reviews, Photos & Phone Number - Tripadvisor
DAY TWO
Our hotel included an authentic Costa Rican breakfast buffet with our stay, and it was AMAZING. The food was so good and definitely the perfect way to start the day!
We wanted to kick off our vacation with some adventure, so we booked a tour that included a volcano hike, rain forest hike, authentic Costa Rican lunch, and a stop at the natural hot springs. Unfortunately, it was pretty foggy, so we didn’t get the clearest view of the volcano, but our guide was amazing! He pointed out monkeys and even sloths along the way, which made the hike so much more fun. The rain forest was SO cool—and of course, it started raining while we were there, giving us the most authentic experience possible! 😂 Lunch was incredible, and we even sat with a couple who lives in Austria and got to hear about their life there. But the hot springs were definitely the highlight. There’s something pretty amazing about relaxing in a natural hot spring with a cocktail in hand after a full day of hiking. 🌴🍹 It was the perfect way to end the day!
I definitely recommend the tour that is linked below. They picked us up, brought us back directly to our hotel, and organized everything!
Volcano/rain forest tour: Morning Volcano Hike, Lunch & Hot Springs - Viator
DAY THREE
The Tour I Definitely Did Not Mean to Book 😂
We were HONESTLY not prepared for what this day had in store for us! I’m actually so glad we saved this tour for our last day in La Fortuna because we could have gotten seriously hurt. Nick wanted to do a ziplining tour, so I thought that’s what I booked for us. NOPE. WRONG. Instead, I somehow booked us an insane 3-hour adventure that involved jumping off cliffs, rappelling down waterfalls, and ziplining down a mountain. After the initial fear wore off, it was actually really cool—and definitely an experience we’ll never forget!
That said, if you’re not very athletic or in pretty good shape, I would probably skip this one. It was A LOT more intense than the casual ziplining adventure I thought I signed us up for! 😂
Tour: Arenal Volcano Canyoning and Waterfall Rappelling from La Fortuna (with Reviews)
DAY FOUR
After almost dying, it was definitely time to relax on a beach with a margarita. For our last day, we decided to drive closer to the airport since the drive from Liberia to La Fortuna had been such a long one. We found an all-inclusive adults-only resort right on the ocean in Guanacaste, just 15 minutes from the airport! We’ve stayed at plenty of all-inclusive resorts, but this one had a certain vibe that we absolutely loved. There were monkeys, iguanas, and coatimundis (ant eaters) EVERYWHERE, and they were so, so, so cute! 🐒
The beach was also really cool. It wasn’t the soft, white sand you find in other destinations—instead, it was a rocky beach surrounded by lush green forest, which made it feel completely different and very Costa Rican. Our room had an incredible view, the food was amazing, and our last night in Costa Rica was exactly what we needed: relaxing by the ocean with unlimited food and drinks. 🍹🌴
👇 What Do You Think?
Have you been to Costa Rica? Share your favorite spots or hidden gems in the comment box below for others—I’ll add them to the list for next time!
