If you are looking for a kid-friendly international trip to take, let me recommend Costa Rica with kids! We went in February 2024 and it was such an incredible trip and one we would totally do again. It’s a great one to take in the winter because it’s the dry season and warm so nice to get away if you live somewhere cold like us. It was so fun to write up this Costa Rica itinerary and look back at all our pictures and remember all the fun things we got to do as a family.
We ate great food, there were so many incredible beaches and the wildlife is beautiful. Costa Rica is known for its welcoming culture, safety, and a focus on sustainability, which makes it perfect for families. From seeing sloths and monkeys in the wild to zip-lining through lush rainforests, to relaxing on the beach, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Plus, it’s a relatively short flight from the U.S., and you don’t have to deal with a wild time change.
If you just want to read up on The Best Costa Rica Zip Lining for Families, I have all the details in this post! Here is our 7 Days Costa Rica Itinerary
Our 7 Days Costa Rica Itinerary with Kids
Costa Rica Itinerary Day 0 – Tuesday 2/20/2024
I’m calling this day 0 because we took a red eye flight to San Jose. We flew out of Las Vegas because my parents live there and we left our dog, Summit, with them. We got to the airport and our flight got delayed so we hung out in the USO for an hour or so. The USO is a lounge for military members and their dependents.
We boarded a short flight from Las Vegas to Los Angeles around 8:00pm. On the plane we just let the kids watch a movie to keep them awake so they would sleep on the longer flight. We took off for San Jose around 10:30pm. The flight was pretty uneventful. Logan blew up the kids’ foot rest and they fell asleep pretty quickly. I held our 2 year old and actually laid down in the two seats (aisle and middle seat) next to our 4 year old who was in the window. I was almost able to get some sleep haha.
Day 1 – Wednesday 2/21/2024
We landed in San Jose around 7:00am and got through the customs line quickly. In most countries besides the US, they have a special line for families traveling with young kids so that’s always nice.
We went and picked up our rental car which was a pretty long process. They shuttle you from the airport to the car pick up and then there’s a lot of information they go over with you about driving in Costa Rica. Once we got our car, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a random restaurant the rental location recommended. We were all pretty tired but had a 3 hour drive to our airbnb. One thing about Costa Rica, you pretty much have to drive hours to get to where you actually want to stay.
We stayed in La Fortuna for the first part of our trip. It’s a jungle and really beautiful. It’s definitely warm and humid so visiting in February was great. We stopped at a grocery store right before we got to our airbnb called Super El Abuela and grabbed some groceries like milk, bread, eggs, and some fruit.
Once we got to our Airbnb, we unpacked a little and they had a small pool/large hot tub and decided to swim in that for a little bit. Logan took a nap after since he’d been awake the most and the kids and I watched a little show. We weren’t worried about jet lag because Costa Rica is only an hour difference from us in Utah. Then for dinner we went into town and ate at Rainforest Cafe and Restaurants. The food was good and there was a super cute little dog that wandered around looking for scraps. Then we walked around a bit and found a small playground for the kids to play on and I got us a smoothie from a small shop.
We started home and saw a fruit stand and I grabbed a bunch of fruit that only cost a few dollars! It was all delicious. We went home and went straight to bed.
Day 2 – Thursday 2/22/2024
We woke up around 9:00am, ate some cereal, and went to Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal or Arenal Volcano National Park. La Fortuna is a huge attraction because of the incredible volcano. You can see it when you’re driving around and it’s absolutely stunning. You aren’t able to go right up to the base because the volcano is actually still active, but the view is still incredible.
There is one main hike that you get an incredible view of the Volcano We parked near number 4 and then took the Las Coladas trail (yellow). We did not do the El Ceibo (red) but I hear it’s beautiful and worth the detour. You walk through really tall grass and then through lots of trees. Our kids had so much fun watching the lines and lines of leaf cutter ants. You can get a tour guide but it’s a simple hike and easy to follow. But I bet they could point out some good wildlife!
Towards the end, you will hike up a metal stair case, then walk over some lava rock, and then you get the incredible view of the Arenal Volcano. We seriously lucked out with blue skies so we could see the top. We hung out here for a little bit and it’s actually where we left our Ergobaby hiking carrier. Such a bummer.
arenal volcano hike costa rica
We hiked back and then drove to get some lunch. We ate at Soda La Palma. It was the perfect spot for families because it’s outside but completely covered in case it’s raining, and there’s a little play area for kids and some animals you can walk over and see while you are waiting. The chicken and rice was delicious and I also got fresh tamarind juice. It was okay. There was an ice cream shop right next door we of course stopped at after lunch.
It was around 3:00 and we heard about this free, natural hot spring that was on our way home so we decided to try it out. It’s right next to the Tabacon Resort. There isn’t a dedicated place to park, you just park on the side of the road. The best way to find it is to look for the guys in neon vests helping people park. They’re not official, but they would like a tip although it’s not necessary.
We went on the left side of the road (the side the resort is on) and there were a ton of people in the river. It’s very rocky so I highly recommend wearing some kind of water shoe. We walked up the river to get away from the crowds and were lucky enough to find a small pool area to ourselves! We hung out here for a couple of hours and it was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. Being in the warm water, surrounded by the jungle and the sound of the running river was just so fun.
After that we grabbed some food from a grocery store, went home, ate, and went to bed.
Day 3 – Friday 2/23/2024
This was our last full day in La Fortuna, so we decided to visit La Fortuna Waterfall in Costa Rica. This waterfall is absolutely stunning, but we weren’t prepared for how crowded it was going to be. We ate some cereal and fresh mango and drove to the waterfall. We got there around 9:00am but I recommend going as early as you can, it opens at 7:00am. It cost $20 for each adult and kids up to the age of 8 are free.
We went in and there’s a restaurant and gift shop but we walked past and started down the long descent of stairs. There were so many stairs. Down by the waterfall, it was pretty crowded and slippery. We got a few pictures in front of the falls and then tried to find a less busy spot to let the kids swim.
The water was really cold so they weren’t super interested in swimming. Logan and I took turns jumping in the water and then we headed back up. The climb up carrying the kids was a little rough, but nothing too bad. Overall this wasn’t our favorite spot. Maybe if we’d gone earlier it would have been more enjoyable.
After the falls, we went and got Acai bowls in town at Jungle Bowls. The wait was pretty long but the bowls were really good. The owner actually came out and chatted with us for a while. She was so sweet and had a young toddler around the same age as our youngest.
We had a couple hours to kill so we ended up just going for a drive and the kids fell asleep in their car seats. On the drive we saw a few coati off the road so that was fun!
We had booked zip lining reservations with Ecoglide in La Fortuna so we finally made our way over there. The plan was for Logan and our 4 year old to go since we read online you had to be at least 3 years old. However, we went in and just asked if our 2 year old daughter could do it and they said yes, as long as the guides were okay with it. We were stoked!
We went back and the guides were super friendly. They had a short zip line which they had the kids go on to make sure they handled it well and wouldn’t get scared. Both the kids loved it. Our 2 year old just had to go with a guide on every line and our 4 year old needed to go with a guide on the longer lines to make sure he made it across all the way.
We were in a group of about 15 and we all piled into a jeep and drove up to the zip lines. It was so much fun and such a cool experience. Our kids never got scared and were excited to go on every line. The views were incredible and it was definitely another highlight.
I have a detailed post about zip lining in Costa Rica with kids here!
After zip lining, we went back to our airbnb, ate dinner, swam in the little pool, and went to bed.
Day 4 – Saturday 2/24/2024
We didn’t do much our last day in La Fortuna. We finished up all of our cold food for breakfast, packed up, and then went down to the river that was on the property to play and let the kids get their energy out. Then we had a long drive to Jaco beach and then to Manuel Antonio where we were staying.
The drive there was one of the most stressful experiences I’ve ever had on an international trip. We just typed in the address on Google Maps and we ended up on the bumpiest, steep dirt road of my life. We were told Waze was a better way to navigate so maybe it would have taken a different route. But we feel really lucky we didn’t pop a tire or break down on that road. I think we would have felt much better in an SUV or something with a little more clearance.
We made it to a little town and then it was smooth sailing after that. We got some food at a little restaurant, let the kids play at a park, and kept driving.
After a long day of driving, we made it to Jaco beach a little before sunset. It was absolutely insane trying to find parking. Finally a restaurant owner near the beach let us park in his lot. He was super nice and even gave us cold bottles of water. We played on the beach for a good couple of hours. The water felt incredible and it was so nice to be out of the car.
Once the sun went down, we drove about another hour and a half to our airbnb. It was on a super steep driveway and it was a little sketchy in the dark. But we made it, got the kids inside, showered, and went straight to bed.
Day 5 – Sunday 2/25/2024
Since it was Sunday, we decided to go to church. We don’t always go to church on vacation, but we always enjoy it when we’re in another country. So we woke up and ate fresh pineapple on our balcony. Then we went to church, came back, and changed into our swimsuits. We were pretty tired and there was an infinity pool right outside our door so we all swam.
For lunch, we went and ate lunch at Soda Angel. I’m not sure what it was, but those were the best nachos of my life. There was even a toucan right across the street in the trees which was super fun.
After lunch, we went to the beach. I can’t remember the name of it unfortunately, but the parking was terrible and the beach was extremely crowded. We still had fun playing in the water.
For dinner, we went and ate a Falafel Bar. Their food was so delicious and there was a lot of it! I got the chicken shawarma platter and shared it with the kids. The seating was outside but covered, and you sat on these low to the ground couches which we all enjoyed. We made a quick run to a convenient store to get diapers for our daughter and then we went home and went to sleep.
Day 6 – Monday 2/26/2024
This was our last full day in Costa Rica so we wanted to make the most of it! Unfortunately we waited too long to get reservations for the Manuel Antonio National Park. If you’re visiting, book them over a week in advance! We still wanted to see monkeys and other wildlife, so we booked a mangrove tour.
We got the earliest reservation, hoping there wouldn’t be as many people on the tour and we lucked out! There was one other couple from France on our boat and that was it. Our tour guide was great and we saw a lot of wildlife: lots of lizards, turtles, monkeys, and even a sloth. The monkeys were so cute, they jumped on and off our boat, and we even gave fed them some banana. We all had such a fun time relaxing on the little boat and watching the animals.
After the boat tour, we went back to our airbnb we made the kids sandwiches and put our youngest down for a nap. Logan went out and got food from Soda Angel again and I ate nachos on our balcony. Logan took our 4 year old swimming so I could relax. I also did a little packing while our daughter slept.
That afternoon we were worried our son had pink eye. He had fallen asleep after swimming and woke up with it being a little red and goopy. We googled what to do and turns out Costa Rica has physicians in their pharmacies. So we drove to our closest one and sure enough, we met with someone and she prescribed some drops. It was wild how different the healthcare was compared to the US.
After that, we went to Espadilla Beach to watch the sunset. There was hardly anyone there and the kids ran around, playing in the sand and the shallow waves. There was a guy with a few surfboards so Logan asked if we could rent one for just a little while. Neither of us have really surfed (I’ve done it once in California), but we both had fun trying! The water was warm, and to me there is nothing better than swimming and floating in the soft ocean waves.
We stayed until dark and then drove back to our airbnb. We ate whatever food we had left in the fridge, showered, and put the kids to bed. Then Logan and I stayed up packing up to drive back to San Jose the next day.
Day 7 – Tuesday 2/27/2024
We woke up early and packed up the car to drive to San Jose. It was about a 3.5 hour drive and halfway through, we crossed a bridge that we saw a lot of people parking off the side of the road at. We decided to pull over and see what everyone was looking at. Turns out the bridge is called Crocodile Bridge and it’s a place you can almost alway see crocodiles down below! We took the kids on it to look down at them. We held them the whole time because the bridge wasn’t completely enclosed.
Right there was a Pops Ice Cream shop as well as a fresh fruit smoothie stand. We all got a treat and headed on to our hotel in San Jose.
We checked in to the hotel and I had my online sign language class so Logan took the kids to the pool. After that he drove to the airport which was just across the street to check us all in. It wasn’t allowing us to check in online so he did it early to make sure we weren’t delayed the next day since we had such an early flight. He also dropped off our rental car since they wouldn’t be open early enough the next day.
We had fast food for dinner and went to bed.
Costa Rica Itinerary Day 8 – Wednesday 2/28/2024
We had an early flight to catch so we woke up, ate the hotel breakfast, and took the complimentary shuttle to the airport. The San Jose airport was extremely efficient and we had no troubles getting through to our gate. The flight was great because both both Logan and I sat next to a kid in our own row with an empty seat.
The kids listened to their Yoto players, read books, played with small toys, and watched a movie. When we landed in LAX and headed over to the line for those with Global Entry (I highly recommend this if you plan on traveling internationally often). Once we got our bag, we rechecked it and headed over to the USO to relax until our flight to Las Vegas.
We caught that flight and landed in Las Vegas where my dad picked us up! Then we just had our drive home to Salt Lake a couple days later.
Costa Rica was such an incredible trip and a perfect international trip to take kids on. We can’t wait to go back!
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