Activities Attractions Protected Areas
The main entryway to the country, the Central Valley offers a variety of tourist, cultural and natural attractions, including Costa Rica's best museums: the Gold, Jade, National, Costa Rican Art, La Salle Natural Science, University of Costa Rica Insect and Children's Contemporary Art and Design Museums. In addition, this region is home to the architectural jewel of Costa Rica: the National Theater. All of these are located in the country's capital. The national parks located in the Valley—Poás, Braulio Carrillo, Irazú and Turrialba—protect the region's main volcanoes. All have road infrastructure so that visitors can enjoy their birds, natural landscapes, craters and forests.

The country's capital, San José, is the seat of most government services; however, the provincial capitals—Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago—offer a variety of quality commercial and tourism services. As a tourism zone, the Central Valley features two extraordinarily beautiful areas that in and of themselves are true tourist destinations: Turrialba and Valle de los Santos. The rural towns, for their part, are highly picturesque, and offer a glimpse of old Costa Rica, with their houses of bahareque (a building material similar to adobe but made of cattle dung and straw), large coffee plantations, sugar mills and dairies.

ACTIVITIES
Tourist activities abound in this region, and may take in culture, adventure or nature.
HORSEBACK RIDING
HIKING
RECREATIONAL CYCLING
SHOPPING
ART GALLERIES
ARCHITECTURAL AND HISTORIC SITES
SPELUNKING
CUISINE
PLANT AND WILDLIFE OBSERVATION
SUGAR MILLS
MUSEUMS
BIRD-WATCHING
TREETOP AND TRAIL ADVENTURES
PHOTOGRAPHY
LANGUAGE TRAINING
BUTTERFLY AND SNAKE GARDENS
TRAIN RIDE TO THE PACIFIC
CULTURAL ACTIVITIES