Noob2010 wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions, HikerTom. I'll start looking into those combined tour options, but those might wear a person down if there's gonna be a 10 hour trip with 4 miles of hiking. I don't know if I'll have any strength left at the end of the day for anything else I want to do. So maybe just 3 full tour days over many days with these professional tour operators. I think the schedule is going to be in a three-day cycle... looking something like this after I get settled in:
Day 2: Full day tour from 6am - 6pm, with standard evening activities after 6pm
Day 3: Late to rise, MP surfing and one museum/local attraction from 12 - 7pm, with standard evening activities after 6pm
Day 4: Late to rise, MP surfing and one museum/local attraction from 12 - 7pm, with shortened evening activities 'til 10pm
Day 5: Full day tour from 6am - 6pm, with standard evening activities after 6pm
Day 6: Rinse, lather, repeat
Maybe once I get settled in, perhaps Bag10Bids and I can arrange an Eco-tour before Aug 8, and a waterfall/hotsprings/volcano tour after the 7th with Jtona...
Am I planning too much? My itinerary is going to be a complete mess once I arrive, isn't it? Any advice from those with more wisdom on these matters than I?
Yeah, if your main goal is banging lots of chcas, then you're planning too much.

But if you do want to take some breaks and get outside the city (always a good thing), then a half-day tour to a coffee plantation-Poas Volcano/Cartago cathedral-Irazu volcano, or the Rain Forest Aerial Tram is the best thing. None involves strenuous walking, and the Tram is a cable-car ride through the rain forest canopy. These can be arranged through your hotel at any time, or if you're going with someone then you can hire a driver to take you where you want (you also have to pay the entrance fees). The volcanoes though frequently get clouded-up, but many times the clouds will clear out for a brief time, though not always. Just be aware that youi might not actually see the volcanoes.
If you want, all-day trips include whitewater rafting on the Pacuare river, Poas-La Paz Gardens-Sarapiqui river boat trip, and Irazu-Cartago cathedral-Orosi Valley-Lankester Gardens. These leave real early (don't drink too much the night before) and get back in the early evening. The waterfalls trail at La Paz does involve some moderately-strenuous walking (not for me though

) when going up and down the steep staircases. You can also do zip-line trips if you REALLY want to get a workout!
As for the museums, the Gold Museum is the quickest one to see. It's located in a basement vault of a bank in the Plaza de la Cultura, a block west of the Hotel Presidente on Ave. Central. Depending on your interest level in tiny gold pre-Columbian figurines (this isn't Incan-level stuff), you can whiz through it in as little as 15 minutes. The Teatro Nacional is located in the same area, you can view it from outside and you can take a tour inside. The main art museum is in Parque Sabana to to west of downtown, take a bus or taxi. I've never been inside it, don't much care for art.

There is also the National Museum, also good for an hour or two.