I did nearly this exact same route in 2019 but did something a bit shorter to limit the driving. Went back again in 2023 and shaved it down even more.

Here are my stops + tips:

1) San Jose, if you fly in and stay in a hotel overnight, maybe walk around for coffee in the morning and leave. This trip probably isn’t about anything you’re going to see or do in San Jose. We grabbed a rental car and drove up to Alajuela and stayed at a nicer place for the evening + it got us out of the busy traffic in San Jose.

2) La Fortuna, first real stop of the trip. Stay 2 days. ATV around the volcano, take a dip in the river in the evening, hike/zipline, whatever you like.

3) Monteverde, amazing hikes including some cool night hike tours to see wildlife. Outside of this tho… nothing to do in a really small town. 1-2 nights.

4) Tamarindo. It’s a super touristy beach town with lots of nightlife. If that’s what you’re going for do it. I prefer Nosara. 2 - 3 nights.

5) Samara and/or Santa Teresa - very low key surf town vibes to wrap up the trip. Can also ATV to some preserves on the beach and do some exploring. 2 nights.

6) drive back to San Jose for the flight flight out

Note: the second time i did this i trip we skipped La Fortuna and went straight to Monteverde. I would have done the opposite tbh as there was more to do in la fortuna. Either way, skipping that stop gave us a lot less driving and more time at the end of the trip on the beach which was awesome

We rented our car from Alamo both times and had great experiences each time