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Yo! I can get to the airport from the DR but getting to the DR from airport messes me up. Do i get on Ave 10 and then make a left later and then swing back around to head south on Calle 7?

thanks in advance

There are a thousand ways from the airport. I would go to Paseo Colon and turn left on that road. Follow it past San Jaun hospital and swing one block to the right which would put me on Ave 2. I would follow it to Calle 11 and turn left. Go 2 blocks and turn left on Ave 1. The Del Rey is one block on your right.

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it's pretty simple really. You take the road that leads out of the airport straight, once you pass the Hotel Coribici, Paseo Colon will be ahead, turn left and follow it until you are forced to turn right, then follow it around on to Avenida Dos. Follow that down until you get to the Teatro Nacional, turn left, and go about 4 blocks and you're at Parque Morazon, Del Rey is just a block east of there.

I don't understand this question. Is this serious? Or were you just bored and thought you'd throw out a question?

Unless, you're driving yourself, why do you really need to even worry about this. Just tell the taxi driver you're probably using to take you to the Hotel Del Rey and he will definitely know how to get you there. Perhaps you're worried about the taxi driver taking you by some circuitous out of the way route in order to drive up the fare. That does happen in local trips around the city but the route from the airport INTO the city is so straightforward, that is rarely if ever going to happen. They MIGHT take you the way you were suggesting by Ave. 10 perhaps on the pretext that it avoids backed up traffic on Paseo Colon, but if they do go that way it is also possible they're just doing it to "take you for a ride". Basically, the cab should just follow the major flow of traffic (left on Paseo Colon, squiggle on to Ave Dos), and you as passenger need not worry very much about that. I've never had a cab take me any different way up to that point. Actually, it is driving OUT of the city, where they vary their route more because of one way traffic on Ave. 2 and parts of Paseo Colon when you're travelling in the direction of the airport.

Where it gets a little more uncertain driving TO the HDR is when you get pretty close to it. The posters above have presented 2 slightly different routes but at that point you're so close that it really doesn''t make much difference which one you take. Besides that, since you're pretty much on your usual Gulch stomping grounds at that point, you should pretty much already know yourself which streets to take from having walked around that area so many times. The only thing that complicates that is that when you walk an area you don't normally think about which direction vehicle traffic has to move on the one way streets that abound downtown. Unfortunately, at the corner that the HDR is on, traffic on BOTH Ave. 1 and Calle 9 moves in the "wrong" direction for coming from the airport. That is why, if you're driving a car or riding in a cab you need to "overshoot" by going a block further east and turning back as both you and Redman suggested or a block (actually several blocks) further north and turning back as I think TMG meant to suggest. TMG's directions are actually a bit off. If you turn left immediately after you pass the Teatro Nacional (on to Calle 5) and follow it up to Parque Morazon (which is actually only THREE blocks north of Ave. 2) you'll actually be TWO blocks west of the HDR AND a block north. Not only that but, because of the flow of one way traffic around the park, you will not easily be able to DRIVE to the HDR from that corner.

In fact, probably the "simplest" way to DRIVE from that corner of the park to the HDR would be to continue 2 blocks even FURTHER north PAST the Holiday Inn to Ave 7, turn right go 2 blocks over to Parque Espana and then turn right again and return 2 blocks south until you get to the front door of the HDR. Needless to say, because of those one way streets for vehicles, it is a LOT simpler and MUCH more direct to walk the 2 blocks from that corner than it is to drive it. Another problem with TMG's route for VEHICLES is that Calle 5 gets somewhat congested and narrow crossing over the Pedestrian Mall on Avenida Central due to people and parked cars. That is not as much of a problem by the time you get to Calle 11.

Frankly, I like Redman's route much better except for the fact that it lets you out at the BM entrance rather than the lobby side, which is slightly less convenient if you have luggage. If that is an issue, his route is still better only instead of turning left on Ave. 1 you would take Calle 11 1 block further until you have to turn at Parque Espana, then turn left and left again until you arrive at the HDR lobbyside entrance. That would still be slightly less out of the way than how you'd need to drive if you went TMG's route.

BTW, Redman left out mentioning landmarks where they really count. Streets in SJ rarely have street signs so it really helps to know landmarks. The hospital helps but like I said before the traffic pretty much flows any way in the direction you need to go at that point. Where a landmark would have been even more helpful is in knowing where to turn off of Ave. 2. FYI, Calle 11 is the 4th street after the Teatro Nacional (or the one right after the flower stand if you know that). It actually gets its own fair share of cars turning on it (IMHO, more than does Calle 5) but not nearly as much as the other 2-3 turns, so you really need to be on the watch for it.

I don't understand this question. Is this serious? Or were you just bored and thought you'd throw out a question?

I guess i have these weird moments of just wanting to know something.
Might actually rent a vehicle someday and i wanted to know the route. Seems like each cabby takes a different route. The Paseo Colon is what was throwing me. I was looking at the map and going to far on the outer road.

No worries, V. Believe me, I should be the last one to throw any stones when it comes to fixation and fascination with arcana and minutia (as my detailed response to your question clearly indicates). I guess I must have not have had much better things to do at that moment either.

BTW, my advice to you, if you're thinking of renting a car and driving it downtown, is "DON'T". If you want a vehicle for touring around the country, I think it is much wiser to wait and just rent it when you're on your way OUT of the city. There are plenty of rental agencies on Paseo Colon and they will even drop-off your rental car right at your hotel on the morning you're ready to head out from San Jose if that's what you want. Even with the extra $10 you'd have to pay for the shuttle into town, you should still be saving much more than that on the extra day(s) rental fee, gas and possibly parking fees for storing your rental downtown while you're not using it and you'll have less to worry about it getting broken into while parked or involved in an accident while trying to navigate SJ's crazy traffic-clogged streets

Thanks Prolijo for the last bit of info. And thanks to the others as well.
Yes i might just do the car rental thing where they bring it to you. I can get outta town and really didn't want to drive in to town s well.

If you're heading back out towards the airport on your way out of town, it MIGHT even be worth it to you to take a cab to the rental offices on Paseo Colon (for the $1-2 bucks it costs) rather than have them deliver it to your hotel in order to spare yourself a little more city driving, since heading west out of the city from the Paseo Colon area is much more straightforward than it is from say the Barrio Amon/Otoya area hotels. Likewise when you return to SJ and are ready to return your car.

The reason I gave the route I did was because they were easy landmarks. I figured that once he got to Parque Morazon he would be able to figure out the rest himself, which is why I did not complicate matters with the Avenida 7 detour.

You are correct that it is only 3 blocks, but I was really counting Parque Morazon as a block, and because of the layout of the park, i was counting that as a block.

I prefer the route around the park because there is less chance of having a police stop, as happens quite frequently on Calle 11.

I agree with getting to the hotel and renting the car there. That way you can plan your driving days and sporting days.

Next, From experince I can tell you that GPS is very helpfull. like 10.00 a day with a deposit. most of the car companys are reptabile and take credit cards. The GPS can be english also. It was very helpfull for me. Went to la Pas waterfall with not problem. Santa Anna. Cartago. It was very helpfull.

Have a good trip

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Take a walk on the wild side.