Spotting a male and female Resplendent Quetzal in the same morning. Soaring above the cloud forest canopy on what felt like an endless zipline. Walking through misty, moss-draped trails without another soul around. Monteverde delivered some of the most memorable moments on our two-week trip through Costa Rica.
But here’s what nobody tells you before you go: planning Monteverde is complicated. There are multiple private reserves to choose from, each offering a different experience. There are a half-dozen zipline companies. Some experiences genuinely require a guide and others don’t. If you just start Googling, you’ll end up with a list of 30 things and no idea what to actually do with two days.
Tim and I spent several days here in late February, visiting most of the major reserves, going ziplining, and doing guided wildlife walks with some exceptional naturalist guides. In this guide, we’ll tell you exactly what we did, what we’d do again, and what’s genuinely worth your time and money.
We cover the top things to do in Monteverde, how to get here from La Fortuna and Manuel Antonio, where to eat, and where to stay. If you’re still in the early stages of planning your trip, start with our 10-day Costa Rica itinerary.
Best Things to Do in Monteverde: Quick Picks
BEST OVERALL EXPERIENCE | Selvatura Park
BEST ADVENTURE ACTIVITY | Ziplining at 100% Aventura
BEST WILDLIFE EXPERIENCE | Guided walk at Curi Cancha Reserve
BEST HANGING BRIDGES | Selvatura Park
BEST HIKE | El Tigre Waterfalls
BEST RAINY DAY ACTIVITY | Coffee/chocolate tour
BEST FOR 1 DAY | Ziplining + hanging bridges or El Tigre
BEST FOR 2 DAYS | Curi Cancha, ziplining, El Tigre, night walk
What Makes Monteverde Worth Visiting?
The Monteverde Cloud Forest is a high-altitude rainforest in Costa Rica. Its famous for its misty skies, which blankets the forest, creating a unique environment that supports different flora and fauna than what you will find throughout the rest of Costa Rica. The Resplendent Quetzal is the most sought-after bird sighting in all of Central America.
The cloud forest is home to more than 400 species of birds, plus mammals like spider monkeys, sloths, and coatis. But the wildlife here is genuinely hard to spot on your own becausse the forest is dense and the animals are elusive. A good naturalist guide changes everything. Ours spotted both a male and female Quetzal within the first hour.
Beyond wildlife, Monteverde has some of the best ziplining in Costa Rica, excellent hanging bridge walks, waterfall hikes, night tours, and coffee and chocolate experiences. There’s a reason it shows up on almost every Costa Rica itinerary.
One thing to know before you go: temperatures here average around 19°C/66°F and misty, wet weather is common year-round. We visited in late February, one of the drier months, and while we didn’t get the iconic misty skies, it was cool and very windy. Pack a light layer and a rain jacket regardless of when you visit.
One quick note on the name: when travelers say they’re going to “Monteverde,” they almost always mean the small town of Santa Elena, which is where the hotels, restaurants, and most tour operators are based. The Monteverde name comes from the famous cloud forest reserve nearby, which has become so well-known it’s overtaken Santa Elena as the common shorthand for the whole area. Throughout this guide, we use Monteverde to refer to the broader region and Santa Elena when pointing to a specific business or location in town.
One of many hanging bridges along the El Tigre Waterfall hike
Best Things to Do in Monteverde
Before we jump into the must-have experiences in Monteverde, here are two important things to know:
It’s best to hire a guide when visiting the reserves. The birds and mammals are extremely difficult to spot and the best way to see them is on a guided tour. We’ve done both…guided walks and unguided walks. Having the guide is well worth the additional cost.
Book your tours in advance. This includes guided wildlife walks, ziplining and canyoning, and entrance tickets into the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (there is a limit to the number of people each day, and these tickets can sell out days in advance).
How to Use This Map: Click the icons on the map to get more information about each point of interest. To take this map with you, click the star next to the title of the map which adds it to your Google account. Next, within your Google Maps app, select ‘Saved’ and then select ‘Maps’. This map title will now appear in your list.
1. Take a Canopy Tour (aka…go Ziplining!)
Monteverde is one of the best places to go ziplining in Costa Rica, and there are several companies to choose from.
Our top pick is 100% Aventura. They have the longest zipline in Costa Rica (1.6 km, doable superman-style) and their Mega Tarzan Swing is the best part of the whole experience.
If you want to bundle ziplining with hanging bridges and other activities in one place, look at Selvatura or Treetopia. For the ultimate thrill-seeker experience including bungee jumping, go to Monteverde Extremo Park.
Details on all of them below.
100% Aventura
This is the company we used and overall had a great experience. We picked 100% Aventura because they have the longest zip line in Costa Rica and you can do it superman-style. The Tarzan Swing is awesome, too.
Why Pick This One: To do the longest zip line in Costa Rica (1.6 km). There are 9 regular zip lines, 2 superman zip lines, 1 hammock bridge, 1 rappel, and 1 Mega Tarzan swing (optional…but the best part of the experience 😉)
Our Experience
To get here, it is a 10-minute drive from town, a good chunk of this on a hilly, gravel road. We had an SUV, and in general, we recommend having an SUV for Monteverde, but we did see standard cars on this road.
The group size is rather large. We did this in the early afternoon and there were about 30 people on our tour time, which seemed a bit much. Somehow, we ended up at the front of the group and literally zipped through the entire experience (pun intended!).
The canopy tour starts off with several short zip lines, so you get the hang of braking and positioning. There were guides on each platform and they really move you through the course quickly and efficiently. I wanted to take more photos during the tour, but since the guides moved us from line to line so quickly, I rarely had time to take those photos.
For us, the highlights were the two superman ziplines, which come towards the end of the course. The Tarzan swing is a bit intimidating, and on our tour, most people opted to skip it. You’ll free fall off of an elevated platform, similar to bungee jumping, and then swing back and forth a few times. If you’ve ever done or seen a bungee swing, that’s what to expect here. It is thrilling and tons of fun, and for us, the best part of the experience.
At first, I was concerned about the big tour size, but the guides really moved us along quickly and we did the full course in about an hour and a half. At times, it feels like you are part of an assembly line, but the course is beautiful and the zip lines are thrilling.
Tickets can be purchased on the official website. We purchased ours through GetYourGuide, since it was actually a little bit cheaper, plus you can cancel up to 24 hours in advance and get a full refund.
PRO TRAVEL TIP: GetYourGuide offers free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund for many tours and tickets (it’s a good idea to check the fine print). We booked most of our entry and tour tickets in Costa Rica through GetYourGuide, because we just had to input our credit card information into one website, rather than a long list of websites. Plus, all of your tour tickets are saved in one app, making it easier to keep track of your travel plans.
Monteverde Extremo Park
This is the best adventure park for thrill seekers. Not only can you go ziplining and do a Tarzan Swing, but you can also go bungee jumping.
Why Pick This One: To do the highest bungee jump in Central America and to do the longest canopy tour in Monteverde (4 km total). The course has 11 ziplines, with an aerial superman zipline and a superman zipline that runs through a tunnel. You can also add on the Mega Tarzan swing.
Monteverde Extremo Park looks like tons of fun, and we highly considered it, but we chose 100% Aventura to be able to do the longest zipline in Costa Rica superman-style.
This park is located about 20 minutes from town by car. Learn more about the zipline and the bungee jump on the official website.
On GetYourGuide, you can purchase the ziplining canopy tour (without transportation).
Selvatura Adventure Park
Selvatura Adventure Park offers a little bit of everything: ziplining, hanging bridges, guided nature walks, a sloth habitat, and a butterfly garden. If you only have a day in Monteverde, this is a great park to consider, since you can do so much in one place.
Why Pick This One: The ziplining course has 13 ziplines, with the longest being 1 km and it can be done superman-style. They also offer a Tarzan swing. Plus, you can add on the other experiences listed above and make a full day of it.
We visited Selvatura to walk their hanging bridges, which are awesome, but did not go ziplining here. They get great reviews all around, so I think this one is worth considering. It’s a great option if not everyone in your group wants to go ziplining. The adventure junkies can zipline and Tarzan swing while the others tour the butterfly garden and hanging bridges.
Learn more on the official website.
The Original Canopy Tour
Why Pick This One: This park is located just outside of town, making it one of the easiest to get to. The zipline course has 10 ziplines, 1 rappel, 1 hollow tree climb, 1 small hammock bridge, and 1 Tarzan swing.
This park gets good reviews, but there was nothing special that stood out about their course, which is why we gave more consideration to 100% Aventura, Extremo, and Selvatura.
Learn more on the official website. It is also possible to purchase tickets on GetYourGuide.
Treetopia
Treetopia is similar to Selvatura, as they offer several different types of experiences. Not only can you go ziplining, but you can also walk their hanging bridges, ride the cable way, and do their Challenge Course adventure.
Why Pick This One: The zipline course features 7 ziplines, 1 zipline bike, 4 monkey bridges, and 1 Tarzan swing. Add on the hanging bridges, TreeTram Cableway, and Challenge Course for a full day of adventures.
We did not visit this park, but with everything they offer, I think this would be a great place to take active, adventurous kids and teenagers. Learn more about the park on the official website.
Our Verdict
We really enjoyed our experience with 100% Aventura. Doing the two superman ziplines is awesome and topping it off with their Mega Tarzan Swing is icing on the cake. If you like the idea of bungee jumping, go to Monteverde Extremo Park. And if you like the idea of bundling ziplining with hanging bridges, butterfly gardens, and/or Challenge Courses, take a look at Selvatura or Treetopia.
2. Walk Through the Cloud Forest Canopy on Hanging Bridges
Walking the hanging bridges, which are suspension bridges that run through the cloud forest canopy, is one of the best things to do in Monteverde, and the best place to do it is Selvatura Adventure Park.
Selvatura’s Treetop Walkway is a 1.9-mile trail with eight hanging bridges, ranging from 170 to 560 feet in length. You’re walking at treetop level, which puts you eye level with the canopy, the birds moving through it, and any sloths hanging in the branches above. The longest bridge, swaying slightly in the wind with nothing but forest below you, is one of those moments that makes you stop and just take it in. The full walk takes about 1 to 1.5 hours.
We did the walk unguided and didn’t spot any wildlife, but the trail itself is stunning regardless. If you want a better shot at seeing animals, book the guided version through the official website. You can also add on the ziplining course or a tour of the butterfly garden and sloth habitat to make a full day of it.
Other parks in Monteverde have hanging bridges too, including Treetopia. And if you want hanging bridges woven into a longer hike with waterfalls, the El Tigre trail does exactly that. More on that below.
3. What’s the Best Cloud Forest Reserve to Visit in Monteverde?
There are four private reserves to visit in the Monteverde area, each protecting a different slice of the cloud forest ecosystem. The right one depends on what you’re after.
Curi Cancha is our top pick for wildlife and birdwatching. Its less-dense forest makes animals easier to spot, and it’s where we saw both a male and a female Resplendent Quetzal. Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is the most popular and easiest to get to, with the most guided tour options. Santa Elena is the least crowded and the only one where you don’t need to book in advance. Children’s Eternal Rainforest is worth knowing about if you want a longer, more remote trail system.
The comparison table below lays it out at a glance, and full details on each reserve follow.
| Reserve | Best For | Crowd Level | Hire a Guide? | Book in Advance? |
| Curi Cancha | Wildlife & Quetzal spotting | Low–Medium | Strongly recommended | Yes |
| Monteverde Cloud Forest | Most popular, best amenities | High | Recommended | Yes |
| Santa Elena | Views of Arenal, fewer crowds | Low | Optional | No |
| Children’s Eternal Rainforest | Remote trails, larger reserve | Low | Optional | No |
Before diving into each reserve, a word about the bird everyone comes to Monteverde hoping to see. The Resplendent Quetzal is found only in cloud forests in Central America, It is considered sacred by the Mayans and Aztecs, the national bird of Guatemala, and thought to have inspired the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl.
Resplendent Quetzal | shutterstock.com
Even if you’re not a birdwatcher, seeing one in the wild is something you won’t forget. The males have iridescent emerald and red plumage with elongated tail feathers that can stretch over two feet long. They are genuinely stunning and genuinely difficult to spot without help. Hire a guide. It’s the single most important thing you can do to improve your chances. We saw a male at the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and both a male and female at Curi Cancha, all because our guides knew exactly where to look.
Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
Why Pick This One: This reserve is located just outside of town, making it one of the easier ones to get to. It’s also one of the most popular to visit, so there are quite a few guided tours to choose from. Plus, it has several amenities at the entrance, such as a cafe, restaurant, and gift shop.
What Can You See Here: Spider monkeys, Coati, Tarantulas, Resplendent Quetzals, Crested Guan, Lesson’s Motmot, Violet Sabrewing hummingbird (largest hummingbird in Central America), and other bird and hummingbird species. Our guide also talked about the flora of the cloud forest, including the Ficus Tree / Strangler Fig, avocado trees, and more. There is also a hanging bridge, a waterfall, and a viewpoint of the Continental Divide.
Resplendent Quetzal
Lesson’s Motmot
Blue Eyed Anole
A hummingbird nest with two baby beaks.
Getting here: Park at the Harriet Powell Visitor Center, labeled as Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, Parking Lot on Google Maps. Go inside the visitor center to check in (convert your online ticket purchase to a physical ticket), ask where to meet your guide (if you booked a tour directly with the reserve), and pay for parking (if you didn’t add this option to your online order). A shuttle bus will then take you the 1.4 km (0.9 miles) to the park entrance.
Don’t Miss: The hummingbird feeders at Cafe Colibri, which is located just a couple of steps outside the park’s entrance.
PRO TRAVEL TIP: They limit the number of people that can enter the reserve so be sure to purchase your entrance ticket (Day Pass) online in advance. If you book a guided tour through a 3rd party, then ask the tour operator if you need to purchase the entrance ticket (Day Pass) separately.
What We Did: We purchased the Natural History Walk Tour (which includes the Day Pass) directly through the reserve’s website since the timing worked best for our schedule.
Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve
The Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve (La Reserva Bosque Nuboso Santa Elena) is located farthest from the town of Monteverde, just past Selvatura Adventure Park and Treetopia. Its more remote location keeps crowds low…on our visit here, we saw far fewer people than at the reserves closer to town.
12 km (7.5 miles) of trails run through the reserve, ranging from well-groomed, easy to walk trails to more rugged, remote trails. The reserve offers a variety of guided walks, which you can see on their website. This is also where to get updated pricing and hours.
Why Pick This One: For a view of Arenal volcano; it’s less crowded than other reserves; for self-guided visits you do not need to purchase a ticket in advance; and it is easy to add on to a visit with Selvatura Adventure Park, which is located nearby.
Arenal Volcano
Getting Here: It takes about 20 minutes to drive here from Santa Elena. Much of this is on a rough, gravel road.
What We Did: Since we took guided hikes at other reserves in Monteverde, we chose to visit Santa Elena unguided. The trails here are beautiful and very easy to follow, with the signage and provided map. For us, the highlight was seeing Arenal Volcano from the Observation Tower.
Curi Cancha Reserve
Why Pick This One: The forest is less dense, making it easier to spot birds and other wildlife. For birdwatchers and those who want to see the Resplendent Quetzal, this is the best nature reserve to visit in Monteverde.
What Can You See Here: The Resplendent Quetzal, Orange-bellied Trogon, Bellbird, the Booby, hummingbirds, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, white -faced monkeys, armadillos, agoutis, coatis, the ocelot, and two-toed sloths.
With its less dense forest, this is one of the best places in Monteverde to spot wildlife. To visit this private reserve, you pay an entrance fee, plus have the option to sign up for a guided tour.
There are a series of trails that run through the reserve. With an entrance ticket (unguided), you can spend as long as you like in the reserve, trying your luck at spotting the birds and mammals. Based on our experience here, this is a reserve where it is highly recommended to hire a guide. Without our amazing guide, we would not have seen the male and female Resplendent Quetzals.
Female Resplendent Quetzal
Male Resplendent Quetzal
The long tail feathers of the male Resplendent Quetzal
Another big advantage of having a guide (other than spotting wildlife) is the fact that they can take your smartphone and photograph the animals through their scope. We were taking photos with a Canon R5 Mark ii with a 100 – 500 mm lens, but if you won’t be shooting with that type of gear, you can still get some great photos on your phone. The photo above was taken with Tim’s phone through the guide’s scope.
Brown Jay
The Curi Cancha Reserve offers several different guided tours (get hours and pricing on the official website).
- Birdwatching Tour: 4.5 hours long, offered in the morning
- Natural History Tour: 3 hours, offered twice a day, guided walk to identify birds, mammals, and plantlife
- Night Tour: 2 hours, offered in the evening
What We Did
We wanted to take a tour, with the goal of seeing a Resplendent Quetzal, but didn’t want to dedicate over 4 hours to a birdwatching tour. We took this tour through GetYourGuide, which is a 2.5 hour tour.
This tour started at 7:30 am and ended at 10 am, which meant we still had plenty of time in the day for more activities.
Our guide was amazing and a wealth of knowledge, not just about the birds, but the mammals and plants found in Curi Cancha. He spotted both the male and female quetzal, a jackpot when it comes to bird sightings in Monteverde.
Check the details of the tour when making your booking, but this tour does not include your entrance fee to the reserve. You can pay the entrance fee when you arrive at Curi Cancha.
Children’s Eternal Rainforest
This is Costa Rica’s largest private reserve. It’s technically not a cloud forest, as it has a slightly lower altitude with warmer, drier weather, but since it is a nature reserve located just outside of Monteverde, it is getting a mention here. This reserve has several different locations. Bajo del Tigre is the area located in Monteverde.
You can walk through the reserve unguided or take a guided tour. Learn more about the reserve, get hours, and pricing on the official website.
4. El Tigre Waterfalls: The Best Hike in Monteverde
Of our two weeks in Costa Rica, this was by far our favorite hike. The remote location, the waterfalls, the short suspension bridges, and the birds we spotted along the trail kept this hike fun and very interesting. Plus, you can hire transportation or go horseback riding at the end, to return to the starting point without a massive uphill walk.
El Tigre Waterfall Hiking Stats: The total distance of the route, which is done as a loop, is 8 km. However, you can take a 4×4 or go horseback riding for final 3 km, making the hike just 5 km/3.1 miles. Adding on the horseback riding or 4×4 is well worth it, as this part of the walk is all uphill on a gravel road…you aren’t missing anything by skipping it.
Getting Here: The hike starts at the El Tigre Waterfalls Restaurant, which is located on Monte de los Olivos Road. This gravel road is rough in some spots and a SUV is ideal for getting here. From town, it is a 9.5 km drive which takes about 25 minutes. You can arrange transportation via the official website.
Ticket Options
There are two ways to do this hike. Both of them require an entrance fee of some sort. It is best to purchase your ticket in advance (it’s a long rough, drive to get here and a bit risky to show up without a ticket). Here are the 2 options:
Full Package. Walk 5 km down to the waterfalls and explore the waterfalls (it will be a mostly downhill walk, with a few uphill sections here in there, making it an easy to moderate hike). Return to the restaurant by 4×4 or on horseback. Lunch is included in the ticket price. On average, this takes 3.5 hours (but it can be done much faster).
The Big Hike. Walk the full route, including the 3 km up to the restaurant. This takes about 4 hours total and it will be moderate difficulty. The advantage is that this is half the cost of the Full Package. It does not include lunch.
GetYourGuide offers the Full Package, with the horseback riding, plus transportation from town. It’s done as a small group and the entire experience takes about 5 hours. Last we checked, it could be cancelled up to 24 hours in advance and still get a full refund.
What We Did
We did the full package, starting in the early afternoon. We sat down to lunch, which was good and they give you a lot of food. I ate the casado, which is typical Costa Rican cuisine with rice and beans, chicken, fried plantains, and salad.
The view from the restaurant
After lunch, we hiked the trail. It is a very steep, downhill walk to get to the waterfalls. The trail is very rugged in some spots, with some stairs here and there.
From the trail, Tim spotted two gorgeous birds, an Emerald Toucanet and a Rufous-tailed Jacamar. We also spotted white-faced monkeys towards the end of the hike.
Emerald Toucanet
Rufous-tailed Jacamar
Once at the bottom, the trail runs along the river, running past at least six waterfalls (we lost count along the way). The short, wobbly suspension bridges really keep this trail fun.
There is an optional detour to a more remote waterfall, which we took. It is a steep uphill walk to get to this waterfall, and we thought it was worth it, but if you want to keep the hike easy, you can skip this detour.
This is the “optional” waterfall
The hike ends at a horse shelter. This is where you will wait for the 4×4 (it takes about 15 minutes for the 4×4 to arrive) or start the horseback ride. We took the 4×4, which is well worth it, to skip the boring, uphill walk on the gravel road.
5. Go Canyoning
Canyoning, sometimes also called canyoneering, is rappelling down waterfalls and hiking through a canyon. We did not do this in Monteverde, but we did it La Fortuna and LOVED it. If this is your only chance to go canyoning in Costa Rica (for example, you won’t be visiting La Fortuna) and you want to add some adventure to your trip, put this high on your list.
In Monteverde, the Brenes family runs canyoning tours at Finca Modelo Ecológica. Their canyoning tour features six waterfall rappels and a short hike. They also offer night walks and a tour where you can climb a hollow Ficus tree.
Get the full details on their website.
6. Take a Night Tour and See the Cloud Forest After Dark
After full days of hiking and wildlife walks, we never made it on a night tour. But based on everything we heard from other travelers in Monteverde, it’s genuinely worth adding to your itinerary if you have time. The forest after dark is a completely different experience, with sloths, kinkajous, tarantulas, tree frogs, and snakes all active and easier to spot than during the day. The Wildlife Refuge Monteverde night tour gets consistently strong reviews and includes transportation.
What we did do was visit the Frog Pond Ranario in Santa Elena, a small, walk-through aquarium with dozens of frog species. Even with the frogs in enclosures, they were surprisingly hard to spot, which tells you something about how well camouflaged they are in the wild. Worth an hour if you’re curious about the local amphibian life.
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and Monteverde Finca Lantana both offer night tours.
Fleischman Glass Frog
7. Coffee & Chocolate Tours: A Taste of Costa Rican Culture
Coffee and chocolate tours are popular throughout Costa Rica, and Monteverde has several good options. We didn’t do one here since we’d already done a coffee and chocolate tour earlier on our trip, but if this is your first time in Costa Rica, it’s a genuinely fun and delicious way to spend a few hours.
Don Juan Tours is one of the most popular options in Monteverde, with tours running throughout the day and even in the evening. Their gift shop is worth a stop even if you skip the tour. It’s great for picking up locally made chocolate and coffee to bring home.
Other places to take chocolate and coffee tours include Coffee Tour Café Monteverde and El Trapiche. This tour on GetYourGuide gets excellent reviews and includes your transportation.
8. Visit an Orchid Garden
On night tours, you walk around with a flashlight. On a tour of an orchid garden, you walk around with a magnifying glass. Before visiting Jardín de Orquídeas, we had no idea that orchids could be so tiny. Some are smaller than a fingernail, invisible to the naked eye until the guide positions the glass just right.
Jardín de Orquídeas has more than 450 species on their small property, with around 120 blooming on any given day. The guided tour takes about 45 minutes and is well worth it. Without a guide, you’ll walk right past most of what makes this place remarkable. A self-guided option is available, with a greenhouse displaying the larger species if you prefer to explore on your own.
9. Visit a Butterfly Garden
The Monteverde Butterfly Gardens has 30 species of butterflies across four habitats, plus a variety of insects and arachnids. Tours run throughout the day, or you can walk through on your own.
Honest take: butterfly gardens are common throughout Costa Rica and they’re all fairly similar. The price here is on the higher side for what you get. If you don’t have plans to visit one elsewhere on your trip, it’s worth considering, but if your Monteverde schedule is already full, this is the one to cut.
What We Would Do Again in Monteverde
After spending several days in Monteverde, these are the experiences we’d prioritize on a return trip.
El Tigre Waterfalls would be our first booking. It was the best hike of our entire two-week trip, with waterfalls, suspension bridges, wildlife, and a 4×4 or horseback ride back to the start.
A guided walk at Curi Cancha Reserve would be second. If seeing a Resplendent Quetzal is on your list, this is your best shot. Without our guide, we would have walked right past both the male and female quetzals.
Ziplining at 100% Aventura rounds out the list. Monteverde is one of the best places in Costa Rica to do this, and the superman-style zipline and Mega Tarzan Swing make 100% Aventura our top pick.
What You Can Skip
You do not need to visit every reserve, walk every hanging bridge course, or book multiple ziplining companies. Many activities here overlap significantly, and the best approach for most visitors is to choose one wildlife-focused reserve, one adventure activity, and one scenic hike.
The orchid garden and butterfly garden are the easiest cuts if your schedule is tight. Both are fine for what they are, but butterfly gardens are common throughout Costa Rica and largely the same wherever you go. The orchid garden is more unique, but it’s a 45-minute experience that competes for time with El Tigre and the reserves, and it loses that competition.
If you’re short on time, Selvatura Adventure Park is the most efficient single stop in Monteverde. You can zipline, walk the hanging bridges, and visit the butterfly garden all in one place, which makes most of the standalone options redundant.
How Much Time Do You Need in Monteverde?
Two days is the perfect amount of time to get the full Monteverde experience. This gives you enough time to visit one to two reserves, do a canopy tour (ziplining), walk the hanging bridges, do the El Tigre Waterfalls hike, and do a night tour or tour of a coffee plantation.
What We Did: On the morning of day 1, we drove to Monteverde from Manuel Antonio. In the afternoon, we went ziplining at 100% Aventura. In the evening, we had dinner at Natu Speakeasy and visited Frog Pond Ranario.
On day 2, we took a guided tour of Curi Cancha Reserve. Late morning we walked the hanging bridges at Selvatura Adventure Park. In the afternoon, we had lunch and hiked the El Tigre Waterfalls. That evening, we had dinner at Restaurante El Jardín.
On day 3, we toured the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, checked out of our hotel, and visited Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. In the afternoon, we drove to La Fortuna, where more adventures await!
When is the Best Time to Visit Monteverde?
We visited Monteverde in late February, during the dry season, and had cool, windy days with clear skies. The famous misty cloud-covered skies never materialized during our visit, which was a little disappointing aesthetically, but made for great hiking conditions. No rain, no mud, and comfortable temperatures throughout.
The dry season (December through April) is the most popular time to visit, and for good reason. Trails are in better condition, wildlife walks are more comfortable, and ziplining and outdoor activities are less likely to be affected by weather. That said, Monteverde is busier during this period, so book your reserve tickets and tours well in advance, as the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in particular can sell out days ahead.
The green season (May through November) brings more rain, muddier trails, and fewer crowds. This is when you’re more likely to get the iconic misty, atmospheric skies the cloud forest is known for. Wildlife is still active year-round, and some travelers prefer the quieter, moodier version of Monteverde that the rainy season delivers.
One thing worth noting regardless of season: Monteverde is cooler than the rest of Costa Rica year-round, averaging around 19°C/66°F. Pack a light layer and a rain jacket no matter when you go.
Quick Season Summary
- December–April (Dry Season): Best weather for hiking and outdoor activities; busiest crowds; book everything in advance
- May–November (Green Season): More rain and mud; fewer crowds; best chance for misty, atmospheric cloud forest conditions
- Year-round: Cool temperatures, wildlife active, rain jacket always recommended
How to Get to Monteverde
Getting to and from Monteverde may feel like an adventure, depending on your starting point. The roads that lead to Monteverde are legendary for being rough, potholed, windy, and foggy.
Manuel Antonio to/from Monteverde
This route is very easy to drive. Take Route 606, which is paved the entire way and when we did this drive in 2025, in very good condition. This can easily be done in a standard car.
La Fortuna to/from Monteverde
This is more challenging to drive. From La Fortuna, the best driving route to Monteverde is Route 142 to Route 145 to Route 606. Make sure your GPS routes you through Tilaran and not around it. Have a full tank of gas before you start this drive, as there are not many options along the drive.
Route 606 is the roughest part of the road to drive. This is the section of road closest to Monteverde. There is a short portion of road that is a gravel road, and in our experience, in good condition. However, the paved portions of Route 606 were riddled with potholes, some of them looking more like small craters.
What Type of Vehicle Do You Need? We highly recommend having an SUV for this drive, not only for the unpaved portions and potholes, but also because many roads in Monteverde are unpaved. We did see standard cars in Monteverde, but it is very helpful to have the ground clearance and more rugged tires of an SUV, than a standard car. We cover rental cars in great detail (not only the best company to use, but if you even need on, in this guide ↓
First Trip to Costa Rica: 18 Things to Know Before You Go
This guide focuses quite a bit on how to rent a car, and if you even need one, plus tipping, best time to visit, eSIMs, safety, scams, and money saving tips.PRO TRAVEL TIP: Since you will be driving to and from a cloud forest, it is possible that you will be driving through the fog, as you get closer to Monteverde. To stay safe, do this drive during the daytime. In the evening, it could be very dangerous, especially when it is foggy.
Where to Eat
We were thrilled to learn that Monteverde is home to quite a few fantastic restaurants.
Taco Taco Monteverde. This is the place to go for tacos, burritos, guacamole, and nachos.
Natu Speakeasy. This was by far our favorite dining experience in Monteverde. This gem of a cocktail bar and restaurant is tucked away behind a purple freezer door. Inside is a small bar and restaurant with a modern vibe. They create classic cocktails with a Costa Rican spin plus small plates (tapas) that are excellent. One of the highlights was their version of a night tour…searching for rubber tree frogs with a blacklight flashlight.
Restaurant El Jardín. A pleasant and comfortable setting with indoor and outdoor tables located at the Monteverde Lodge. We had dinner here even though we were not staying at the lodge. They offer a variety of items from steak to seafood to vegetarian. We enjoyed everything we ordered, including the wine, and the presentation of the food.
We could only eat at so many places, but other restaurants that came up in our research are San Lucas Treetop Dining Experience (a unique dining experience in pods in forest canopy), Restaurante Kiré, and Restaurante El Sapo at Senda Monteverde.
Where to Stay
Hotel Belmar
This is where we stayed in Monteverde and we had a fantastic experience. In 2024, Hotel Belmar was at the top of list of best hotels in Central America on both Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast.
This beautiful property offers a wide range of room types. The property sits on a private reserve called SAVIA, where visitors can walk the hanging bridges and take a night tour. Also onsite is a farm, Finca Madre Tierre, which supplies the hotel restaurant with fruits and vegetables. The hotel also offers massages and yoga classes.
They do not offer air conditioning but with cool temperatures at night, it was not necessary, at least in our experience.
Other Hotels in Monteverde
Koora Monteverde, a Cloud Forest Hotel was another property we considered. They get excellent reviews, have air conditioning, an onsite restaurant, and beautifully decorated rooms.
Senda Monteverde Hotel also gets great reviews. They have a private reserve and onsite restaurant.
At Olingo Monteverde, stay in your own private one or two-bedroom house. It has a washing machine, perfect for a longer trip to Costa Rica.
If you are traveling on a budget, Hostel Cattleya is the highest-rated hostel in town.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Monteverde worth visiting?
Yes, Monteverde is worth visiting if you want cloud forest scenery, wildlife, ziplining, hanging bridges, and cooler mountain weather. It is one of Costa Rica’s best destinations for birdwatching and one of the best places to see a Resplendent Quetzal.
What is Monteverde famous for?
Monteverde is famous for its cloud forest, a high-altitude rainforest blanketed in mist that supports wildlife and plant life found nowhere else in Costa Rica. It is one of the best places in the world to see the Resplendent Quetzal, one of Central America’s most spectacular birds, and one of the top destinations in Costa Rica for ziplining, hanging bridges, and guided wildlife walks. Monteverde is also significantly cooler than the rest of the country, which makes it a welcome break from the coastal heat.
What are the best things to do in Monteverde?
The best things to do in Monteverde are hiking El Tigre Waterfalls, ziplining through the cloud forest, taking a guided wildlife walk in Curi Cancha Reserve, walking the hanging bridges at Selvatura Park, visiting Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, and taking a night walk.
Do you need a guide in the Monteverde Cloud Forest?
Yes, hiring a guide is strongly recommended. The wildlife in the cloud forest is genuinely difficult to spot without one. A good naturalist guide knows exactly where to look, can identify birds and mammals by sound, and can photograph animals through their scope using your phone. On our guided walk at Curi Cancha Reserve, we saw both a male and female Resplendent Quetzal.
How many days do you need in Monteverde?
Two days is enough time for the highlights. With one day, choose either a combo adventure park experience or El Tigre Waterfalls. With two days, add a guided wildlife walk, ziplining, hanging bridges, and a night tour. With three days, you can move at a slower pace and add canyoning, a coffee tour, or an additional reserve.
Plan Your Trip to Monteverde and Costa Rica
For help structuring your time across the country, our 10-Day Costa Rica Itinerary covers how to combine Monteverde with Manuel Antonio and La Fortuna, with or without a rental car.
If you’re visiting La Fortuna before or after Monteverde, our Things to Do in La Fortuna guide covers ziplining, canyoning, hot springs, and the Arenal Volcano area in full detail.
For Manuel Antonio, our Things to Do in Manuel Antonio and Manuel Antonio National Park guides cover everything from guided wildlife walks to the best beaches in the park.
For everything else you need to plan your trip, start with our Costa Rica Travel Guide.
If you have any questions about the best things to do in Monteverde, let us know in the comment section below.
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