The Real San Jose: Michael Miller's Guide to Downtown San José, Costa Rica

By Michael Miller

This book is your introduction to Downtown San José, the capital city of Costa Rica. Whether you are visiting San Jose for a day or two, or you plan to live here for a year or two, this book will help you make the most of "The Real San José."

"The Real San José, Michael Miller's Guide to Downtown San José, Costa Rica" tells you what you need to know to get your feet on the ground and to start enjoying this exciting city.

It will help you get familiar with the layout of Downtown San José and make it easy to find your way around.

It introduces you to hidden gems of restaurants.

It tells you about the “don't-miss” attractions within walking distance of your hotel.

It informs you about the cultural, historical and religious sites that are an essential part of Downtown San José.

And if you decide to stay a while, it will guide you to basic services like grocery shopping, laundry service, finding a pharmacy, changing money and so much more.

"The Real San José," with 25 photographs and a helpful map of Downtown San José, is your essential tool to get out and start having fun in this wonderful city.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Sep 25, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483539546

Michael Miller

Michael Miller is a prolific and best-selling writer. He has written more than 200 books over the past three decades on a variety of nonfiction topics. He graduated from Indiana University and worked in the publishing business. He lives in Minnesota with his wife Sherry.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Introduction

Who should read this book … and maybe who should not?

This book will help people visiting or considering living in the capital city of San José, Costa Rica … . essentially, what we will call Downtown San José.

Although most of its readers will be North Americans (from the United States of America and from Canada), it is designed for anybody planning to spend time in San José. It will help the short-term visitor who wants to get the most out of a few days in San José. In addition, it will become essential reading for people planning to spend weeks, months or even years in this exciting city.

What this book will NOT do is cover the sex industry. Sex tourism has long been a part of the history of San José. Without passing judgment, there are already many books, web sites and blogs that cover that topic ad nauseum. So, if you are looking for a gentleman’s guide or a bachelor’s guide, this book is not for you.

This book will be your guide to everything else. It will for example:

* Help you get around and get familiar with the layout of Downtown San José.

* Introduce some of the hidden gems of restaurants in the area.

* Describe the tourist attractions of the Downtown area.

* Cover the cultural, historical and religious sites that are an essential part of this city.

* Guide you to basic services like grocery shopping, finding a pharmacy, getting your clothes washed, changing money and much more.

This book will be invaluable to the family visiting San José for two or three days after they have been to a beach resort or to a rainforest adventure elsewhere in Costa Rica.

This book will be an essential guide to international students who spend a few weeks or months in San José learning Spanish or attending one of the many universities in the area.

This book will be a handy reference for business men or women who are looking for an efficient way to get their feet on the ground.

This book will be an easy tool for anyone considering San José as an alternative place to retire.

And yes, this book will be used by the bachelor who wants to do more on his trip to Costa Rica than just … ah, shall we say, pursue the nightlife.

Downtown San José

For the purposes of this book, the definition of Downtown San José is the area that is within easy walking distance of Morazán Park, the two-block-size green space immediately in front of the Holiday Inn.

From Morazán Park north to the Simon Bolivar Zoo. This includes the historic district known as Barrio Amon.

To the south as far as Clinica Biblica, the world-renowned hospital and medical facility located between Avenidas 14 and 16.

To the east up to the train station (Estación Atlantico) that is located between Calles (Streets) 19 and 23.

And to the west along the pulsing Avenida Central, as far as the bus depots, at what is known as the Coca Cola District.

If you don’t know where these places are yet, just relax. You soon will. Using this guide you will become familiar with all of these landmarks. You will quickly become confident enough to get out, go for a walk, find your way around and have fun.

Why Downtown San José?

This book will focus on Downtown San José. I am sometimes asked, Why Downtown?

The foremost reason is that the downtown area, as described above, is where many thousands of international visitors spend at least some of their time while in Costa Rica.

Some are vacationers who use Downtown San José as their base camp from which they venture out to the beaches, the volcanoes, the rainforests and the other adventures that the country has to offer.

Some visitors never leave Downtown. They spend a week, two weeks, or even longer in the downtown area because this is where the action is.

There are also thousands of people who have retired (or have simply left the corporate rat race) and are looking to make San José their home. They like it here.

In every case, new arrivals, whether short-term or long, can spend an inordinate amount of time just trying to figure things out. Here is the help you need to quickly figure out Downtown San José.

The second reason for focusing on Downtown is that this is the economic and historical center of the country. San José is Costa Rica’s capital, its largest city and its financial center. It has a rich history and culture with many museums, cathedrals, universities, theaters, fine public buildings and beautiful homes. The people of Costa Rica are proud of their capital city and this book will help you understand why.

The third reason for focusing on Downtown San José is that no one else is doing it. You can find lots of information about beach resorts, kayak trips and even crocodile tours. Almost everyone visiting Costa Rica will at least pass through San José, and this area deserves attention from visitors. This book will help visitors understand that Downtown San José has a lot to offer. Downtown San José is the real San José.

So if you are coming to San José for a short stay or for an extended visit, or more, this guidebook is for you. I suggest that you sit back, relax and read this book now. Then if you are planning a trip here, put this book in your luggage or save it on your Kindle. If you are already in San José you will find this book a valuable reference tool that you will use often.

As they would say here in Costa Rica … Disfrutar de este libro y disfrutar de esta ciudad maravillosa. Enjoy this book and enjoy this wonderful city.

Chapter 2

What You Can Expect in San José

This chapter will be very helpful for people who are planning their first trip to San José, or who have just arrived for their first time. If you have been in San José a number of times in the recent past, much of this will already be familiar to you.

Many visitors arrive in Costa Rica with visions of beautiful tropical beaches, pristine rainforests, spectacular waterfalls, cute monkeys and amazingly colorful birds. Well, all those things are here in Costa Rica … but not in San José.

Because of that, I believe San José sometimes gets a bad rap.

San José is a big city. Its population within the actual city limits is only about 350,000 people. However, the San José metropolitan area is about 1,500,000, depending on how you measure it. That amounts to about thirty percent of the country’s population.

But no matter how you measure the San José area, it