Last Updated on August 27, 2021 by Leslie Stroud
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When you think of Costa Rica you probably have a few expectations: beautiful beaches, wildlife, and misty rainforests.
Monteverde, meaning Green Mountain, checks off the “misty rainforest” box to the extreme. This mountain town teeters on edges at every turn and feels like a tropical ski town in the sky.
I loved this little town in Costa Rica. It might be my favorite spot of our 10-days trip. I felt like it was the closest thing to what I expected from Costa Rica.
Table of Contents
Getting To Monteverde
We drove from La Fortuna. The distance is not very many kilometers, but the roads make it about a 2-3 hour drive. The roads are steep, windy, and not all paved. Plan for some extra time to get there.
If it’s rainy season, you must have a 4×4 car. The roads are not in the best condition and you might get stuck.
While in Monteverde, you’ll want your own car with kids. Walking is not a great idea as there are not many sidewalks and you’ll be sharing the road with cars. There are taxis avaiable as well, but with kids, I would not want to depend on these.
What To Do in Monteverde With Kids
Hanging Bridges in The Cloud Forest
You’ve probably seen these iconic cloud forest photos in your Costa Rica planning and you don’t want to miss these. There are several options for hanging bridges and we used this one, which includes eight hanging bridges over 1.9 miles, a sloth park, butterfly park, and more. I read this one has the most options and since we had one day, I thought this was best.
Animal Parks and Butterfly Parks
Butterfly parks pop up all over Costa Rica and Monteverde has some great options. Learn about the life of the butterfly, from caterpillar to butterfly, and see all stages in real-time. Butterfly parks are so much work to maintain it requires full-time staff! They must pull caterpillars out each day so as to not destroy the plants.
Additionally, there are many animal parks, like this one, in Monteverde. You can see monkeys, sloths and more! We tried to spot sloths in the wild, but without a guide it’s nearly impossible. I loved seeing the rescue park and watching them eat lunch.
Sky Tram
Take a tram across the cloud forest instead of walking over bridges at this location. They also have zip-lining options.
Zip-Lining
Zip-lining might be the most popular tourist activity in Costa Rica and literally can be done anywhere in the country. Monteverde is no different! My friend Laura posted about her experience with young kids here. Since we’ve already zip-lined with the kids in various tropical locations, we skipped this activity in Costa Rica.
Chocolate and Animal Night Tour
Chocolate and coffee tours are popular in various parts of Costa Rica. Both crops are grown in Costa Rica and it’s magical to see the process in person.
We loved our tour at night with Don Juan Tours. Our guide was incredible with kids and we all loved seeing, smelling, tasting, and making chocolate together!
We then headed outside to find nocturnal animals in the dark (with provided flashlights). My young kids are way too loud to see much, but it was super fun. We found huge ant trails, frogs, spiders and some monkeys in the trees.
Where to Stay in Monteverde with Kids
We love Airbnb for our family while we travel and have stayed at over 50 Airbnb homes in the last three years! We always will recommend it for many reasons you can find in this post. New to Airbnb? Use this link for up to $60 off your first stay!
We stayed in this Airbnb in Monteverde and it was completely magical. The host was incredibly kind and patient. The owner couple owns the sushi restaurant in town and has created a truly magical space!
If hotels are your thing, there are several boutique hotels in Monteverde. I recommend Booking.com for exploring your options.
Our Favorite Eats in Monteverde With Kids
Stella’s Bakery
This gem happened to be down the driveway from our Airbnb, but it is famous in Monteverde and for good reason! This bakery was so good we came back twice more. The food is amazing and delicious. You can enjoy the garden area, which often gets monkey visitors. I also recommend getting some pastries to-go!
Tico Y Rico’s
Recommended to us by a tour guide, this is a wonderful option for authentic Costa Rican food. We loved the casados, of course, as well as the grill plates to share.
Other Things To Know About Monteverde
- Toilet paper shouldn’t be flushed here. It’s gross and reminds us of Thailand, but it’s expected that you will throw away your used toilet paper in the trash can instead of in the toilet. This is probably due to sensitive septic systems.
- If you experience car sickness, pull out the medicine when driving to or within Monteverde. The drive is also best during the day, but we did it at night.
- This area is quite touristy and I found it to be the most built out for tourism. This was comforting for us, in a way.
- It can be quite a bit cooler here! We needed our pants and jackets.
- Wildlife is plentiful and you’ll want bug spray.
Additional Reading
VISITING MANUEL ANTONIO NATIONAL PARK WITH KIDS IN COSTA RICA
10 THINGS YOU MUST KNOW BEFORE DRIVING IN COSTA RICA
Costa Rica
RESOURCES-
FLIGHTS:
- Skyscanner. We love the “anywhere” feature to see where it is cheap to fly to.
- Kiwi.com. They will arrange the cheapest connection, which may mean a few different airlines. However, if flights change, they will find you a solution!
- Expedia. Since we fly so many different airlines, we love the Expedia points we can earn. We also get better deals the more we book through them.
- Other platforms we like: Priceline, Aviasales, Hopper, and Travelocity.
ACCOMODATIONS:
- Airbnb. Our most common go-to, especially internationally. Book over a month and save a ton!
- VRBO and Homeaway. Similar to Airbnb and great for a short-term rental.
- For hotels, we love Expedia and Booking.com. Booking.com offers a combo of hotels and Airbnb to find what fits your family best.
- We also like: TripAdvisor or Hotels.com
ACTIVITIES:
- Airbnb Experiences
- Viator
- Get Your Guide
- These platforms allow you to put in the dates and location and will give you the option to book top activities in the area, straight from the site.
TRAVEL INSURANCE:
As a large, full-time traveling family, travel insurance is a must for us. It’s always a good idea to have travel insurance in case something goes wrong. With the unpredictable state of the world, it is more important now than ever.
We love World Nomads for our travel insurance. They provide travel insurance to travelers from over 130 countries and have many policy options to fit your needs. (Coverage may not be available for residents of all countries, states, or provinces. Be sure to carefully read your policy wording for a full description of coverage)
TRAVEL NECESSITIES:
For a comprehensive list of all the 7 Wayfinders Travel Must-Haves, Click Here.
Tip: If you are making an online purchase (airline tickets, hotels, clothing…basically anything you can imagine) be sure you are using Rakuten! You can either download the app if you are shopping on mobile, or open a browser on a desktop. You then type in the store you are looking to shop at (ie: hotels.com, amazon.com) and shop like normal. The only catch…you get money back! Each store is different, but you can get anywhere from 2%-35% cashback on every purchase! For us, it’s a no-brainer. We are shopping anyways, might as well get some money back!
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