Travel to Costa Rica with travel insurance from Essential Travel

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Information on Costa Rica with single trip travel insurance from Essential Travel

One of the most stable and safest destinations in Central America, Costa Rica, shines with its eco-tourism, unspoilt beaches, pristine wilderness and superb infrastructure. This beautiful country is a major international holiday and adventure-travel destination, but remains undamaged, with plenty of natural wonders and biodiversity available for those who want to escape the crowds.

The wonderful capital, San José, is in every way a modern city, with shopping malls and fast-food chains, but it retains a charming element with plenty of low-key sights like good museums and traditional markets. Travellers will find plenty of small but elegant hotels in renovated historic buildings as well as a range of fine international cuisines.

A visit to San Josés Centro Nacional de Arte y Cultura is rewarding. This complex is located in what was once the National Liquor Factory but today contains the offices of the Cultural Ministry, several performing arts centres, and the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design. Museo de Oro Banco Central is an underground museum with massive collections of pre-Columbian gold. La Paz Waterfall Gardens provide a cool escape from the city streets. Here, you can walk along trails through the forest and alongside the La Paz River, with lookouts over a series of waterfalls.

Another town you wont want to miss is Monteverde, in northwestern Costa Rica. This tiny settlement was founded by Quakers in 1951. The Monteverde Biological Cloud Forest Reserve offers incredible, rich biodiversity and is popular among scientific researchers and eco-travellers. Although it covers just 10,400 hectares, there are more than 2,000 species of plants, 400 species of birds, and 100 different species of mammals living here.

Many people come to Costa Rica for its beaches, which alone are worth the trip. The Pacific coast contains an appealing blend of luxury resorts and deserted beaches. Golfito, on the southern Pacific coast, is an important port and good base for exploring the areas beaches.

Alternatively, the Caribbean coast offers more cultural diversity than the Pacific coast. Half of the coastal area is contained within national parks and wildlife refuges, which has slowed development of the area and kept it unspoilt. The main city of this coast is Puerto Limón. Parque Nacional Tortuguero is the most important Caribbean breeding ground of the green sea turtle; while Península de Nicoya contains some of Costa Ricas best and most remote beaches.

Also worth seeing is Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal in the northwest, which is famous for its still active Volcán Arenal (volcano). Meanwhile, Parque Nacional Santa Rosa, on the Península Santa Elena, is the oldest and best developed in the country. Rincón de la Vieja is a volcanic landscape of cones, craters, hot springs, boiling mud pools and lagoons; while the ever favourite Parque Nacional Corcovado is where you can go for excellent hiking and camping.

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