If you have a free day in San Jose and want to see a volcano, Irazu Volcano is an excellent option as it’s just a 1.5 hour drive from the capital city. If you don’t have a rental car and don’t want to deal with taking the public bus, many tour companies offers Irazu Volcano tours from San Jose.
This is one of the best day tours from San Jose to see a volcano. Additionally, many tour companies will combine Irazu Volcano with another place such as Cartago or Orosi which I’ll talk about below.
Interested in booking a day tour from San Jose? Get our discount for San Jose day tours, including Irazu Volcano in the link!
Irazu Volcano Tours from San Jose (Half Day)
This tour goes only to Irazu Volcano National Park and is considered a half day tour. It includes roundtrip transportation from San Jose, national park fee and bilingual guide. The guide will share interesting facts about the volcano as you exit the city and start climbing up higher to the volcano summit. You’ll spend some time at the national park to walk to the crater viewpoints and enjoy the view.
After the volcano part, the tour stops in Cartago to see the famous Virgin of the Angels Basilica. Once you have seen the Basilica, you will be dropped back at your hotel around 12-1 PM.
This tour is only to Irazu Volcano National Park. Below are some other tours they offer that go to more places.
Irazu Volcano, Orosi Valley and Lankester Itinerary
This full day Cartago and Irazu Volcano tour goes to: Irazu Volcano National Park, Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels, Orosi Valley and Lankester Botanical Garden.
Drive time from San Jose to Irazu is about 1 hour 45 minutes depending on traffic. Irazu to Cartago is about 45 minutes and the gardens is 10 minutes.
Irazu Volcano National Park
The first stop on the tour is Irazu Volcano National Park. The guide will take you to the first viewpoint and then to the national park to walk to the crater viewpoint.
We spent about 1 hour at the national park.
Cartago Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels
Our next stop was at the city of Cartago to see the most important Catholic church in Costa Rica, the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels. This church is home to the sacred rock relic and the statue of the Black Madonna.
This is a beautiful church and anyone who is Catholic or interested in churches will love seeing it.
We had about 30 minutes to see the church and walk around.
Our next stop was to the botanical garden, a short 15 drive away.
Lankester Botanical Garden
The Lankester Botanical garden is very important for the research and study of orchids but they also have a variety of other plants, flowers and trees. If you love flowers, particularly orchids, you will love this garden.
They even had the smallest orchid in the world in their collection!
We spent a little over an hour at the garden and then headed to lunch which was at a nearby coffee plantation.
Lunch
Lunch was in a very beautiful coffee plantation and they served traditional Costa Rican food. They do offer vegetarian options which is nice. They also include coffee and dessert. On the way to lunch, we drove through the Orosi Valley to make a very quick stop at one of the churches and take pictures. After lunch, you will be dropped back off at your hotel.
Irazu Volcano and Hacienda Orosi
This tour goes to Irazu Volcano National Park and Hacienda Orosi. Hacienda Orosi is a hot spring resort, located up in the Orosi Valley with stunning views of the surrounding rainforest and city. It’s a 9 hour tour.
You stay at Hacienda Orosi for most of the afternoon and it includes the hot springs entrance fee and lunch. The property also has some short trails with giant sized fun Costa Rican cultural statues, great spot for photos.
Video
Here is a short video of one of the Irazu Volcano tours from San Jose. We visited Irazu Volcano, Lankester Garden and Hacienda Orosi (different days).
Irazu Volcano Tours from San Jose Discount
If you’re interested in booking any of these Irazu Volcano tours, or any other tour from San Jose, get our discounts for these tours!
Read about other things to do from San Jose below!
Tortuga Island Day Cruise: Cruise through the Nicoya Peninsula to Tortuga Island to spend 5 hours on the beautiful white sand beach. Get $10 USD off!
Pacuare River White Water Rafting: Raft Class 3 4 and 4+ rapids on the scenic Pacuare river, one of the best rivers in the world for rafting. Get $5 USD off!
Rainforest Adventures: Eco adventure park on the Caribbean coast, about 45 minutes from San Jose. Has ziplining, walking trails and aerial tram. Get our 10% discount in the post.
Doka Coffee Tour: Learn about the Costa Rican coffee process at one of the best coffee plantations in the country
Hacienda La Chimba: A private hacienda 30 minutes from downtown San Jose with hiking trails, coffee tours, museum, ziplining and high rope course
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