Day Trip From San Jose To Irazu Volcano National Park, Cartago City And Orosi Valley

We really enjoyed our tour, walking the playa negra at Irazú was a highlight! The weather is unpredictable so bring a rain jacket/waterproof clothing— it started misty and it cleared up for a bit so we could see the craters. Both experiences were other worldly. The church and botanical gardens were beautiful and lunch was delicious. We did not go to the restaurant on the booking, but likely it was closed because of New Year’s Day. The food was delicious though, and we got to go to a local store, Cholitatica, next door. On the way back to the hotels, our guide stopped for one last view of the Orosi Valley, it was incredible. Our guide was fun, knowledgeable, and the small group setting was ideal. Highly recommend!

The view was amazing. We took a lot of pictures of the Volcano Irazú. Great experience and amazing adventure. I definitely recommend it.

We were lucky to be the only people on this tour so had a very personal tour with our guide Jose who was very friendly and knowledgeable. The tour is good value for money, visiting four places and includes lunch. We were lucky with the weather as the volcano was clear and we had good views from the top. The botanical garden has a wonderful orchid collection.

Iruzu volcano visit was incredible. Enjoyed Cartago and Lancaster Gardens. Our driver and tour guide Augustine was very knowledgeable and went out of his way to make an extra stop for us. Lunch was amazing. Highly recommend this tour.

A great travel day to Irazu volcano, Cartago and Orosi valley. Agustine was very helpful and accommodating. He talked about the history of surrounding areas, respected our need for quiet time. Gave us bottled water. The lunch was great as well. I enjoyed visiting the Basílica in Cartago and Orosi church. I also really enjoyed the Lankester gardens!!! Beautiful treasures!

By accident we ended up being the only people on the tour, so it ended up being a private tour. Ronny was excellent. He provided us with historical information, cultural information and some insights into what was happening regionally. The tour of the volcano was excellent. E we had just the right amount of time to explore the area. We stopped at a botanical garden which was outstanding. Lunch was provided at a local restaurant and was very good.

Cheton and Leo (hope that no spelling mistake) is a very good guide and driver. Such a knowledgeable and informative guide. We are lucky to see the clear crafter and take many good photos in some beautiful places. We can strongly feel that the guide really try to take care each tourist. We love this country because of them. You should not miss this tour, 100% recommend.

Ronnie was are guide and did an outstanding job. He had outstanding knowledge of the area and was very patient in answering our questions. He showed us great restaurants at Barrio Escalante that we ate at later

The Irazu Volcano was very special. Arturo the guide was interesting, and Andreas the driver was superb. However, we signed up for an English tour and we got a mix of English/Spanish guide (there were both English and Spanish speakers and the guide had to repeat everything in both languages). Also, the tour was advertised to last six hours and ended up lasting twelve hours. We were the first to get picked up and the last to be dropped. Extremely frustrating.

I was the only person who had signed up, so it was a private tour. Everything was my own pace and Tour guide was knowledgable

Josè the tour guide was excellent. Always offered to take my picture and always prioritized showing me the best views. Safe driver, knowledgeable, and good English. Could not recommend any more highly! 😎

I do wish we had been able to explore more of Cartago City and it's ruins, but this was still a great tour and lucky me - I got a private guide because I was the only person who signed up from south San Jose that day! Unfortunately the dry season has been so hot and dry that there was no water in the crater, but it's still a beautiful and interesting area. Again, I wish I had been able to go to the viewpoint but the guide's car was not a 4x4. Orosi Valley was the highlight - the beautiful damn, hanging bridge, spectacular views, and gorgeous greenery.

Excellent guide, unforgettable experience, very well organised tour,everything ás previously descrbed and more,definitely recommended!

Ricardo was our amazing host for the Irazu tour. We picked a day with a bad accident in San Jose and traffic was crazy. As a result, the company split our group so as not to delay the tour. Two of us were lucky to get a private tour with Ricardo. We started with a beautiful drive up to the Irazu volcano and National Park through beautiful countryside and farmland (once you escape the city). The park is at high altitude and even in the sun it was cold - definitely requires a sweater/coat and ideally long pants. There is no ‘Green lake’ in the crater these days - just the volcanic ash/rock and grass growing in one of the 3 craters - but great views. The next stop is the old capital city of Cartago with its stunning Catholic church. Spectacular detail inside which is a stark contrast to the clean, white, Byzantine exterior. Lunch was in the Orosi valley which we stopped to take photos of on the way down and on our return. Stunning orange blooms on the poró trees made the views even more beautiful. Great lunch - a very traditional Costa Rican dish of rice, vegetables, and plantains with fish, chicken or steak. The plantain ceviche starter was my favorite part and the Cas fruit juice was really good. Final stop was the Lancaster Botanical Gardens - home to an array of plants including a phenomenal collection of or bids (Which Lancaster devoted his life to study and preserve). A great day trip and you won't go wrong if you get Ricardo - he is a wealth of knowledge on CR history, geology, and plants.…. The list goes on!

Purposely booked on a small tour for a break and wasn't disappointed. 4 other people on the tour along with Alberto our guide. We were lucky with the cloud at the top of Irazu that cleared just after arriving and so had a good time exploring there. There was a lower level of cloud that meant far reaching views weren't possible, but it was still impressive. The basilica at Cartago was interesting, a service was in progress so couldn't explore it too much. The botanical gardens of Lankester were a peaceful stop and some of the orchids were really impressive. Finished with a short trip to Orosi and the church there. All in all a really good day and very well organised.

Such a unique and different side of Costa Rica and I recommend folks take this trip. Loved walking around the volcano crater shrouded in fog and seeing the Orosi valley coffee plantations at a distance and getting to experience small town Costa Rica. Episode have been a 5/5 if it wasn’t raining.

I had a really wonderful time, went alone but met in the trip 2 other ladies traveling solo. We all had a great time, our guide Ricardo was great! He shared with us a lot of knowledge in regards to the places we visited, great sense of humour, friendly, we could not expect more... We went to all these BEAUTIFUL places, learned some of Costa Rica's history, had this delicious healthy lunch, really recommend Destiny Travel

A very enjoyable day with our guide Ricardo who was extremely knowledgeable about all things Costa Rican. We went to the volcano first thing which was great as we had a clear view. We did a short 20 minute trail around the craters. There were plenty of other stops along the way including old church ruins and the basilica. The lunch was also delicious! Would definitely recommend as a day trip out of San Jose (:

A nice trip out of the city. Tour guide has answers to any questions. We didn’t make it into Cartago which was disappointing, but the tour did stop in other places, so we didn’t miss out too much! The lunch was delicious and it was nice to see more of the countryside! I’d recommend for ages 25+ and we were lucky as we had hardly any rain! Would be great if it was an hour or two longer to fit everything in!

This is the first tour I booked in Costa Rica that did not go all day!!! If you are looking for a half day tour book this one. You visit Irazu Volcano, then you go to visit a church in the city, then you head to Cartago for lunch. I felt like I did a lot in a matter of 6-7 hours. This was a good change from the typical 12+ hours tours I’ve been taking. The restaurant we ate at (Cota)was good and cute. Mario was my tour guide and he was awesome!!!

This was a great day trip, not far away from San Jose. Having the ability to visit Irazu volcano from a near distance, enjoy the views from over 3400m, and hear interesting stories from our guide Freddy, you can't ask for more. During the trip, we visited the old cathedral in Cartago and enjoyed lunch next to a lake in Orosi Valley. This was our first tour in Costa Rica, and we were not disappointed. Not to mention how Freddy literally had answers to every question we had. We truly enjoyed this tour and would recommend it to anyone.

We had Oscar as our guide, and he personalized the tour. Highly recommend him and the tour. Absolutely beautiful!

Wonderful experience! Mario, our guide, is a great guy! Enjoyed the conversation. The views were fantastic!

We took this one day tour and loved it! Our guide, Roger, was wonderful! We took three one day tours with Destiny before we began a tour on February. This tour went to the Iruzu Volcano and the surrounding valley. We also went to a lovely restaurant which was an added treat. Very good trip!

Lunch at the coffee plantation restaurant was fantastic as was the scenery throughout the trip. The guide was friendly but clearly inexperienced compared to other tours we took. Two biggest downsides were a) notification at 4:20 a.m. that morning that pickup would be an hour later than originally stated & b) definitely overpriced and poor value for that much $$$. We could have paid a private driver half that & still seen the sites we wanted to visit. There was no added benefit provided by our guide.

We were extremely lucky to have seen the Volcán clear sky’s! The Lunch buffet was amazing and location as well

Such an amazing day! Our tour guide was incredible by providing such a rich history and enthusiasm in both Spanish and English. We were picked up from our hotel at 7am and returned around 5pm. So it was a full day of fun! Our tour guides made sure we saw incredible views throughout the entire trip. We highly recommend!

Excellent tours! Every single activity was good. Of course the Irazu Volcano sit was incredible. The tour guide was fantastic: friendly, nice and knowledgeable.

Dramatic setting, nice walk around the crater. It was a nice surprise as wasn't sure to expect. Unlike Volcano Poas, we did not have a view of the lake inside the crater. But the environment, flora around and the ride up to the volcano made it definitely a nice day excursion from San Jose.

Hummingbirds and the clouds parting in the volcano. Great group of people and excellent driving by Sandra

Private tour, very knowledgeable guide, provided historical background of areas visited, fauna and flora. Personable and fun to spend time with. Flexible at each stop to ensure I had my fill. Excellent driver, felt safe in crazy San Jose traffic at all times.

Nice trip. Oscar is a great guide and driver. We visited the Irazu volcano, we had a great lunch and then we went to Cartago to see the Cathedral.

What an amazing day with an amazing tour company. Oscar our tour guide was the absolute best in all of Costa Rica. From his first warm greeting at your hotel to his knowledge all along the way you cannot help but feel the love of his country, the passion for making your day the absolute best or feeling like family. Sandra our bus driver was amazing. Her skill driving a bus in city traffic, on busy freeways, and down tiny roads with tons of rain was incredible. Her smile lights up your day with love and joy. If you are considering a trip to Costa Rica do not wait. It is the most welcoming and inviting destination. Book with Destiny Travel for all of your adventures. You will be so glad you did. They are truly the best in Costa Rica and you will have adventures filled with memories that will last a lifetime.

The trip to Irazu volcano was breath taking. The drive and guide were very good. I would recommend visiting the volcano.

I was in Costa Rica in January, now I have traveled to Colombia. I have waited several months but I cannot shake how HORRIBLE this tour was. We were supposed to have a tour bus but was instead packed into a sedan. At some point the tour guide was alluding to us going to a nicer restaurant and having us pay for his lunch because the office "did not send the money over" for the included meal. I have been on many tours before and many after but this one was easily the worst. Our tour guide was out taking pictures of his own on every site instead of actually guiding us. What took the cake was when we thought we were going to see a coffee plantation but instead he pulls over on the side of the road to a ditch to show us mounds of dirt that supposedly were growing coffee and he said he couldn't take us to an actual plantation because "The Nicaraguans are harder working and the Costa Rican youth are always on their phones now so it won't be worth it". We paid 100+ dollars EACH for a glorified taxi ride across the country. 0/10 don't recommend

I had a private tour as I was the only person who booked a tour for the day. It was fantastic! Roger, the guide, was super friendly, we spoke in Spanish as much as possible which was very fun. The tour was excellent, lunch at a small "soda" was terrific, I really learned a lot from Roger and got to help him with some English too. Highlight of my visit to Costa Rica

We only had one full day to spend in San Jose/ Central Valley area and chose this tour with Destiny Travel because it covered a good variety of sites and the Orosi Valley appeared to be a beautiful area - we weren't disappointed. We were fortunate to be given a private tour with a great guide, Oscar. After being met at our hotel, we were driven through the city and various landmarks were pointed out,including a brief pause at the National Theatre. We then drove up to Irazu Volcano, a beautiful drive which took us above the clouds. We stopped at a view point which overlooked Cartago (and also the allegedly haunted deserted hospital!) before continuing to Irazu National Park. Oscar dropped us in the main car park and suggested we would need 45 mins - 1 hour to visit the area and he would meet us when we were ready. We spent about 45 mins viewing the craters and the area around them, there was a small lake in the bottom of the crater, pretty flora and an interesting landscape. It was part cloudy, part sunny which was quite atmospheric, whilst still affording good visibility, though not long distance views. Following this, we were driven to the highest point on Irazu from where we could look down on the craters, this was a great view, which came and went with the clouds, but we chatted with Oscar and had a couple of clear spells during the time we were there. As we came back down, we stopped at Linda Vista, the highest restaurant in Costa Rica. It was an interesting place to stop as it had photos of previous eruptions but slightly bizarre, with every vertical surface being covered in business cards! We continued to Cartago where we visited the Basilica of the Angels, which was really pretty. Every surface was beautifully painted and the ceiling was an interesting and attractive structure. We continued on visiting the viewpoint for the Orosi valley, which was a lovely landscaped area with great views of the valley before driving down to the historic ruined church at Ujarras, which was a pretty and quiet sight to walk around. We then crossed the dam over lake Cachi, where Oscar dropped us so that we could take a closer look and then picked us up at the end before driving though the valley to Orosi, where we visited the oldest church in Costa Rica still in public use. It was a beautiful church with a great sense of history. Orosi was a lovely little town and we ate at a restaurant there before returning to our hotel. A full and fabulous day!

Wow, above the clouds, literally you will be short of breath due to the alltitude! Nothing makes you feel more small than looking down into the colourful waters of a volcano crater. Go on a clear sunny day and you will be able to see the ocean too way in the distance

<p>We enjoyed the tour, however it is fast and furious, and thus it seems a bit overpriced at 100/pp tip included. The guide and driver were nice, safe, and knowledgeable, but the vehicle for the 6 guests was way too small and cramped. I wish a little more time had been spent in Cartago and the Orosi Valley we had the time, so I'm not sure what the big hurry was, but in general, a good, safe, and entertaining tour.</p>

The trip we took from our hotel in San Jose (Marriott) on a small bus - the group was mixed but very friendly and animated. While we were traveling to top of Irazu volcano, we passed a bicycle race to the summit - some of these racers were clearly experienced and in great shape. From the top of Irazu, we could see the three main craters (one of them was filled with ash from an eruption of the main crater) - the most refreshing part of being on the summit of Irazu was the temperature - it was 46 deg F (compared to the August temperatures in the lower valleys!. Another unexpected bonus was being high enough to see a mild eruption from the next nearest volcano, Torrealba, which sent up a plume of smoke and ash, while we watched from the summit of Irazu. Some of the pictures you will see of Irazu show a caldera lake - once Torrealba started erupting again, the lake vanished from Irazu, indicating that these two volcanos are linked underground. Once our time on the summit was over, we traveled into Cartago City, and stopped at the major Cathedral in the enter of the city - most notable about this church was that although it looks as if built with marble and stone, it actually fine painted wood - a beautiful church just the same.

<p>Although it was windy and cold this was an amazing tour provided an exceptional experience to the volcano, valley, and Cartago City. The food was amazing.</p>

<p>Our guide called the night before to confirm our pick up time and was right on time- perhaps even a few minutes early. My impression from the description was that it would only be a 20 minute ride from our hotel- the San Jose Marriot. After a 1 1/2 ride through San Jose morning traffic, we got to our destination. Although driving through San Jose and Cartago was very educational and our guides, Edgar and Oscar were very informative- we were surprised by the length of travel time. This was very true at the end of the tour as well. We were supposed to arrive at 3, but we arrived back at our hotel at 5. Despite the longer day than we expected, we still enjoyed our tour. We loved the ride up to the Irazu volcano. Beautiful part of Costa Rica we had not seen yet- an area busting with agriculture. Some great photos. The volcano did not look like the photo, but it was still very cool- there was no water in the crater, but we did see all three craters. Our lunch was great- overlooking a lake and god food. We stopped by a temple and that was super cool with neat plants and birds about. Just think the tour time needs to be better communicated.,</p>

<p>Nice day tour, not too long for seniors or children. Driver/guide was friendly and helpful. Pick up was prompt. Some things not exactly as described: no water bottle provided we did not stop for overview/photo of Orosi Valley. My favorite parts were Irazu Volcano of course, and the oldest Catholic church in Orosi.</p>

Excelente nuestra guía francini. Sabía mucho de la historia y geografía del país. Muy amable y al tanto de todo. El recorrido no fue cansón y las vistas muy bonitas.

It is a mandatory tour to start the walks. The guide, Fran, apart from giving us information about the tourist spots to visit, also tells us about the culture of Costa Rica. The weather on the volcano is extremely changeable, sun upon arrival and 5 minutes later rain and finally the sun again which allows for many photos to be taken. The church of Our Lady of the Angels is very beautiful in addition to being a site frequently visited by tourists. Osori, the place where we ate, is a small and quiet town, next to the mountains, perhaps they need to give us a little information about the place. Also, I thank the guide Fran for recommending us to wear warm clothes, because the climate of the volcano is very cold

Relación calidad precio no buena. Volcán Irazu no es una excursión que te deje sin palabras. Siempre es bueno ver este tipo de paisajes pero no es para nada Algo indispensable. La excursión está bien organizada pero el contenido no es extraordinario.