One of the most popular routes for tourists is from San Jose to La Fortuna. Many visitors go to La Fortuna as their first destination in their Costa Rica itinerary. If you plan to rent a car and drive to La Fortuna from San Jose, here is our guide to help you have a fun and safe drive and to make the most out of this road trip.
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How Far is La Fortuna from San Jose?
The distance between San Jose and La Fortuna is about 130 kilometers or 80 miles. The distance between San Jose International Airport and La Fortuna is about 115 kilometers or 72 miles.
The drive time from San Jose to La Fortuna is about 3 hours. The drive from San Jose International Airport to La Fortuna is about 2.5 hours.
These are times without any traffic or stops. We always recommend to estimate at least 1 hour more, to account for traffic, stops and delays.
Is a 4×4 Required?
No, a 4×4 is not required for La Fortuna. However, we recommend a high clearance SUV for the most comfort, as there may be some big pot holes and poor sections in the remote part of the drive.
Furthermore, if you take the routes to stop at Poas Volcano National Park , Catarata del Toro and/or La Paz Waterfall Gardens, it is extremely curvy and steep.
You will need to have a stronger engine, in case you are traveling with a fully loaded car with lots of luggage. In the rainy season, a 4wd will be the best option.
Even if you are only two or three adults, a high clearance SUV will be much better in case each person is bringing a full 50 lb check in, backpacks, purses and carry ons. If you are only one or two adults traveling light with just carry on, a sedan can work, in the drier months like February and March.
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San Jose to La Fortuna Routes
There are a few routes from San Jose to La Fortuna and there are many different places to stop at. Below are some of the most popular routes and stops.
Please click here to go to our map of the routes mentioned in this blog post, as well as places of interest, food, gas and more.
Most Common Direct Route: Route 1 and Route 702
This is the most common route that Google Maps and Waze will show you. Route 1 and Route 702 is the direct route from San Jose to La Fortuna.
If you do not want to make any long stops or detours and just want to get to La Fortuna right away, you should take this route. This route takes around 2.5 hours or 2 hours and 40 minutes, without traffic and stops.
**Sometimes Waze and Google Map will take you via Route 1, Route 702 and Route 141 through Santa Clara, depending on your final destination in La Fortuna, which you should enter as your hotel. This is pretty much the same as Route 1 and Route 702 as it takes the same time, give or take a few minutes. The road is in good condition and you will arrive La Fortuna from the east, as opposed to the south.**
There are a couple of toll booths you need to go through as you leave San Jose/San Jose International Airport. They are small amounts, like 200-800 Costa Rican colones (20 cents to $1.50 USD). You can pay in Costa Rican colones, credit card or small bills USD.
Road Conditions
The Route 1 and Route 702 San Jose to La Fortuna road conditions are in good shape. You’ll start off on the highway and then it goes through San Ramon and several small towns up in the cloud forest.
It is paved nearly the entire way, save for some pot holes here and there and a section up in the cloud forest that is in poor condition.
IMPORTANT. There is a section of this route after you exit San Ramon that is up the mountains, through cloud forest and goes through some tiny rural towns.
This is from around Angeles Sur to Bajo Rodriguez. It can get VERY foggy up here so please drive slowly, carefully and cautiously with low beam lights.
Along this section, there are some road side restaurants and mini markets. The views are beautiful here, and many of the restaurants have a nice view.
If you see a sign that says MIRADOR, that means there is a nice view and that establishment has a sort of lookout point.
This route has a lot of these small, one lane bridges. When you approach this, if you see the triangular sign that says CEDA el Paso on it, then that means yield. You are required to yield to oncoming traffic.
This drive is very beautiful and is not terribly difficult. It takes around 2 hours and 40 minutes, but if you include a couple of stops and run into a bit of traffic, plan for at least 3.5 hours, especially if you are driving during the day on a long weekend or holiday.
La Fortuna to San Jose Route Video
Here is a video of us driving from Arenal to San Jose on this route.
See what the road is like and some places we stopped.
Can I Drive to La Fortuna at Night?
Yes, but we say this with lots of caution. Even though the roads are paved, it is recommended not to drive from San Jose to La Fortuna late at night due to lack of street lights, no side walks, the curviness of the road and extreme fog in the section up by the cloud forest.
Furthermore, many restaurants on this route close by around 8-9 PM. Additionally, if you are arriving late at night, many hotels in La Fortuna do not have reception open that late. Sometimes reception is only open until 10 PM. You will have to contact your hotel to see if late check in is possible.
It gets dark at 6 PM every day in Costa Rica so if your flight gets in late, I recommend staying the night in San Jose and leaving early the next morning. You can make it a longer road trip and take your time to enjoy.
Check our post for recommended hotels near SJO Airport. We have a 10% discount for Adventure Inn which includes a free airport shuttle and hot breakfast.
It is much nicer and easier to drive in the day light, especially if you are visiting during the rainy season (May through December).
Typical rainy season weather are clear and dry mornings, and then it will start raining in the early afternoon.
Learn more about driving to La Fortuna after landing and read our recommendations for all different scenarios (time of visit, flight arrival time, etc.).
If you are landing in the morning, before noon or early afternoon, you can drive to La Fortuna right after landing.
Alternative Route to Stop at Poas Volcano National Park
If you leave the next morning, you have a full day to make this drive from San Jose to La Fortuna. You are able to stop at some places along the way if you wish. One popular stop is Poas Volcano National Park.
This national park is home to one of the world’s largest crater lakes. The park has an easy and a couple moderate hiking trails to view points of the crater lake, an inactive lake and through the cloud forest.
If you visit this national park, I would plan for at least 1 hour to the view point below. If you want to continue to Lake Botos, that would add another 45 minutes at least.
IMPORTANT. You must purchase park tickets on the SINAC website beforehand to visit Poas Volcano National Park. They do NOT sell tickets at the door. Each park ticket is valid for an allotted time slot. If you miss your entry time, they usually do not let you go in.
The extra time if you stop at Poas Volcano National Park brings the total drive time to around 3 hours and 15 minutes. If you stay around 1.5 hours at the park, your entire drive will take at least 4.5 hours depending on if you leave from downtown San Jose or the airport area.
Enter your route in Google Maps as “Poas Volcano Parking Lot” for the national park destination. The national park has a secure parking lot with a guard.
We still recommend to bring your valuables with you (passport/wallet/etc) and try to hide/cover as much of your stuff as possible in the car. Do not leave any valuables visible in the car.
Alternative Route to La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park
If you don’t want to stop at Poas Volcano National Park, another popular stop is the La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park. This nature park has a large animal sanctuary and five waterfalls with a 3 kilometer trail and view points.
It is a gorgeous park with beautiful views of the forest. The waterfalls are absolutely spectacular to see!
The park has their own restaurant so you can get lunch there. If you stop at the park, we recommend at least 3 hours for the park if you get lunch included. Your entire drive with the visit to the La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park can take you around 6 hours.
We offer a small discount for La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park tickets. Click the link to get your entrance ticket with or without lunch included.
The park has their own parking lot and many tourism vans and tours stop here. Take your valuables with you and do not leave any valuables visible in the car.
On a budget? Then skip the park and stop by the free view point of La Paz Waterfall! It is called “La Paz Waterfall” on Google Maps. There is a pull out spot by the bridge and you can walk down to take photos and see this waterfall.
Poas Volcano National Park and La Paz in One Day?
It is possible to visit both places on your way to La Fortuna but you will need to leave early. We recommend to get to Poas Volcano National Park at 8 AM and arrive at La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park by 11 AM.
That way, if you leave La Paz Waterfall Gardens around 2-3 PM, you can still make it to La Fortuna before it gets dark.
Alternative Route to Catarata del Toro
The third alternative route in this post will be a stop at Catarata del Toro in Bajos del Toro. This is one of the tallest waterfalls in Costa Rica, inside an extinct volcano crater. You can just stay by the view point or you can walk down a trail and some steps to the bottom of the waterfall. No swimming.
This is one of our favorite places in Costa Rica, this waterfall is truly impressive!
If you stop here, the entire drive will be around 3 hours. We recommend at least 1 hour at Catarata del Toro because the walk down is SO worth it!
You should rent a 4wd if you plan to visit Catarata del Toro, due to the roads in and around Bajos del Toro.
Driving from Guanacaste (Guanacaste Airport)
Driving from Guanacaste? (Liberia, Tamarindo, Playas del Coco, Flamingo, Brasilito) Check out our guide to driving to Arenal from Guanacaste!
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Simone Bernard says
Any good spots to stop just for coffee? We are leaving SJO and headed to La Fortuna at around 7am.
Sammi says
San Ramon is a cute town where you can find some local restaurants for food and coffee/drinks.
Amy says
We are coming into CR on Saturday night and staying near SJO that night. The next morning we are heading to La Fortuna. I was reading your route info and it sounded like you could stop at La Paz on the way but it looks like it is on a different route than Sarchi, San Ramon etc, that you also mentioned…am I misunderstanding. We would love to stop and see some waterfalls (not picky which) get some local food, and probably pick up some souveniers. Bonus if we could do a coffee tour but not needed….do you have a route recommendation that could make those things happen?
Sammi says
You could stop by Doka (Coffee) and La Paz waterfall gardens on your way to La Fortuna from San Jose. And I recommend to go as early as possible because we’re in rainy season
Sammi says
Hello Morena, thousands of tourists rent a car and drive in Costa Rica every year, the only things would be to definitely get a GPS or international data/Wifi Router/prepaid SIM card to use Google Maps or Waze, plan out your drives beforehand (download them offline on Google Maps and check out routes before you leave) and make sure to drive long routes during the day, not at night. Drive slowly and check with your hosts if you need a 4×4. You can read more tips for driving in Costa Rica and our Costa Rica car rental tips.
Morena says
Cont… How safe are the places and the roads for the following and what are the best/safest routes:
While at Arenal we want to hit Monteverde and Tabacon.
From Arenal we will drive out to playa del coco and we’re thinking of driving back and forth from playa del coco to el Rincon de la vieja and from playa del coco to tamarindo.
From Playa del coco we will be driving to Jaco and will drive to Manuel Antonio national park.
From Jaco we’ll be driving to San Jose to take flight from there. How early would you suggest we leave Jaco to get to San Jose by 11am? Keeping in mind we have to get a covid test, return the car rental, and check-in on time.
Thank you in advance and sorry for the many questions.
Sammi says
If your flight is at 11 AM and you need to take a COVID test at the airport with Lab Echandi, they require you to be at the airport 4 hours before your flight so you’d need to be there by 7 AM. I’d leave no later than 4 AM from Jaco to have time to return the car and get to the testing site because there is a TON of traffic in San Jose and around the airport.
Morena says
Thank you for your prompt response and all the info! Is it safe to drive from Jaco to San Jose airport at 4am? Given that we’ve heard the street lighting isn’t so great in Costa Rica?
Sammi says
This route goes to the highway for pretty much most of it so put on your GPS and it should be fine (drive carefully of course).
Morena says
Cont….. We’re flying into San Jose and then going to Arenal from there. Do you think the road to Arenal is doable for “newbies” or would you recommend getting a taxi/tour company to take us there?
Sammi says
Hi Morena, this is a super common route, you can read this post to see what it’s like.
Morena says
Hello,
Thank you for sharing so much great info! This will be our first time visiting Costa Rica and we’re really excited! We’re renting a car but would like to know how dangerous you would say it is to drive out there?We’ve heard mixed reviews but we want to hit a lot of places so we figured it’d be easiest to rent a car. Though they do say it can be a hassle to rent one.
Benny Marcel says
Hi, We are traveling to Costa Rica in late May. our 1st full morning starts early at the Tucan rescue ranch. from there we are driving with 4×4 to La Fortuna. Are there any interesting “quick” stops along 126 on the way up besides La Paz? we will not have the time to visit the park unfortunately. Also we will have a car full of belongings for 4 and do not feel comfortable leaving it for long. Any recommendations are appreciated.
love your web site. extremely helpful.
Benny
Sammi says
Along the way to La Paz, there are some cute souvenir stores and stands on the side of the road in the small towns of Poasito.
Robert says
Thanks for this very helpful post Sammi. I love your website in general. We are heading to La Fortuna from Tambor in the Southern Nicoya Peninsula. What route would you say is the easiest? I assume it’s best to take the ferry from Paquera to Puntarenas instead of driving around? From there what would you suggest? We are driving with young kids and have had our fill of bad roads here near Montezuma and Santa Teresa so really just looking for the quickest/easiest route. Thanks in advance!
Sammi says
I would take the ferry since it’s more fun!
Jen says
Hi Sammi
We are arriving in San Jose at 12:30 pm and heading up to La Fortuna. I was thinking of stopping at Parque Francisco Alvarado and taking 141. What are your thoughts about that route?
Thank you!
Sammi says
You can do that, Zarcero is beautiful.
Melanie says
Great post! We like the idea of stopping at Blue Falls befor egoing to La Fortuna. Where do you suggest we stop for lunch? We are arriving at SJO at 11:00 am and would probably be hungry driving to La Fortuna and before going on the hikes to Blue Falls.
Sammi says
You can find a place by the airport, there are a lot of options there. Or you can have lunch in Zarcero, the town about 30 minutes before Bajos and they have lots of local restaurants there.