San Jose - capital city of Costa Rica
San Jose is the largest city from Costa Rica and its capital city. This city is really the only big city in Costa Rica. Located in the center of the country, the city has taken a beating over the years from the occasional earthquake. San Jose is surrounded by mountain ranges populated with a number of volcanoes.
For a city in Central America, San Jose is surprisingly organized and lively. You can spend an evening in the cafes or just walking about. Crime isn't much of a problem. There isn't very much to see, but this is the place where most of the international flights land. If you will make a tour of the country, you can expect to pass through San Jose a few times. The metropolitan area of the capital exceeds 2.5 million inhabitants.
The people of the country, Ticos, are exceedingly friendly and you'll find more than a few ex-pats populating the country. Costa Rica has invested heavily in education and has the highest literacy rate in the Americas! Yes, the rate is higher than in the United States!
Interesting history
Until 1824 San Jose was a very small village, without any political or economic importance, but in that year, Costa Rica's first elected head of state, Juan Mora Fernandez, decided to move the government of Costa Rica from the old Spanish colonial capital called Cartago. The new capital grew rapidly, extending into entire Central Valley. Due to its late date of birth, San Jose has little of the Spanish colonial architecture common in most other Latin American capitals. The "University of Santo Tomas", the first university from Costa Rica, was established here in 1843. The city is served nowadays by Juan Santamaria International Airport, located 23 km west of downtown, near Alajuela.
Museums & other places to visit
The most important places to visit during your vacation in San Jose include the builing of the central bank of Costa Rica - Banco Central de Costa Rica, the building of the national bank - Banco Nacional, which is much taller than all buildings nearby, giving the city its particular skyline, the metropolitan park, and Avenida Central, one of the major commercial areas in the city.
Central Park and the Plaza de la Cultura are visited every day not just by vacationers, but by thousands of locals too. The national theater of Costa Rica, named "Melico Salazar Theater", and the Cathedral are other important hot spots in the central area of the city.
San Jose features some coffee shops in the downtown area, where the national coffee is prepared and served in typical Costa Rican ways. There are also many museums and other attractions offering alternative ways of exploring the city. One of these is the Gold Museum, which offers a great and rare look at various gold artifacts of the ancient Latin American civilizations. If you are a anture lover an interesting attraction for your vacation is the Lankester Botanical Gardens, located just outside of San Jose.