Costa Rica has prepared a series of cultural tourism guides to promote travel during the upcoming Easter Holy Week (Semana Santa).
The guides, which are unfortunately only available in Spanish, are accessible for free here.
Costa Rica’s cultural treasures
The area offers an active volcano, clean and challenging rivers, one of the most important archaeological heritages of the country, beautiful landscapes and pastures of a variety of wonderful greens, agricultural plantations, and delicious Costa Rican cuisine, which includes the renowned Turrialba cheese.
Turrialba is a town whose origin goes back to the Cabécar indigenous people, with their ancestral songs and dances, as well as the basketry trade.
An important part of Turrialba’s cuisine is based on cheese. Due to the influence of the Caribbean, rice and beans are served and in indigenous cuisine, the “jaba-jaba” stands out.
Monteverde is a paradisiacal cloud forest, in which appreciating the natural wonders is a delight and a way of life. By virtue of its attractions, activities are developed around natural history and adventure, as well as the realization of tourist activities.
Among these can are birdwatching, flora and fauna, hikes, canopy, hanging bridges, rappelling, frog tours and others.
There is also a cultural component that can be appreciated due to the influence of the Quaker community that is still in Monteverde, which, through a great effort, achieved a very important conservation of the area.
Guanacaste is an area with a great natural and cultural wealth. In it stand out its paradisiacal beaches, beautiful landscapes, and the magical nature of its protected areas, which can be complemented by the observation of flora and fauna — especially the arrival of sea turtles.
The region maintains many expressions or cultural practices particular to Guanacaste. Among these, there is the symbolic character of the sabanero, and the mixture of indigenous and Catholic traditions.
Guanacaste is recognized for various elements, such as its music and dance; customs such as the guanacasteco cry; parties and processions; traditional crafts; and corn-based gastronomy.
The presence in the Osa Peninsula and the Golfo Dulce allows the region to have coastal landscapes of calm waters, beaches, mangroves, primary forests, dolphins, whales, turtles and abundant marine life. The region of Golfito and Jiménez is also known for its biological diversity, natural beauty and rich landscape.
Add its various tourist products such as ecotourism, rural tourism activities and microenterprises, as well as the heritage architecture of the town of Golfito that is combined with the cultural richness present in indigenous territories and the uniqueness of the attractiveness of Pavones beach with the second longest left wave in the world.
The Brunca Region has the greatest diversity of indigenous cultures and communities in the country. According to the 2011 population census, 3,569 indigenous people live in the cantons of Osa and Golfito. The Ngobe indigenous territory of Alto Laguna in the Osa Peninsula of about 3,000 hectares, is covered in 70% forest and connects with Corcovado National Park, the Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve and Piedras Blancas National Park. In some of these territories, cultural tourism tours are offered.
Located in a farming area in the middle of the rurality of the capital province, framed by charming landscapes adorned by coffee and fruit plantations typical of the region that give it a picturesque and unique nuance.
The Los Santos area offers the opportunity to live an unforgettable vacation enjoying its natural beauties in leisure walks and recreation among rivers, trails and mountains, which will show the abundance of its flora and fauna.
Cultural richness is enjoyed through local folklore, crafts and artistic expressions of music and dance, traditional faring methods, and a gastronomy centered on some of the world’s best coffee.
Sarapiqueña culture is made up of migrations from various parts of the country and the world. In its territory is the Sarapiquí River, which is of historical importance for the country, since it was part of the first transport route between Costa Rica and Europe and, in addition, played a fundamental role in the defense of national sovereignty against filibusters.
Both in the battles of Sardinal and in La Trinidad, you can find the historical milestones that commemorate the fighting fought in that area, which can be seen during a boat trip on the Sarapiquí River.
Its gastronomy is based on products that are sown in its territory: heart of palm, bananas, tubers, and tropical fruits.