If you’re planning on driving to Arenal from Guanacaste, we’ll show you what it’s like in this post. We’ve driven this exact route quite a few times and it is one of our favorite drives in the country with beautiful views and fresh weather.
You can watch our video below or read on to find out if what kind of car you need, see what the road is like and why it’s such a beautiful drive! Don’t forget we also have a Costa Rica car rental discount which you can get below.
Click here to get your Costa Rica car rental discount
- Driving to Arenal from Guanacaste
- Arenal to Guanacaste Driving Time and Route
- Driving Directions to Arenal from Liberia
- Tips for Driving to Arenal from Guanacaste
- Points of Interest on the Way
- Alternative Routes
*This post was updated Sept 2019.*
Driving to Arenal from Guanacaste
Whether you are staying in Gulf of Papagayo (Playas del Coco, Hermosa, Ocotal, etc.), the Riu Guanacaste or coming from Tamarindo/Conchal/Flamingo, the route is about the same.
You need to go to Liberia, get on the Interamericana highway 1, exit at Cañas, drive to Tilaran, go around Nuevo Arenal and the lake and finally reach La Fortuna. The distance is about 130 kilometers or 80 miles.
Arenal to Guanacaste Driving Time and Route
Here is the route on Google Maps. From Coco and Liberia Airport to Arenal drive time takes around 3 hours. If you’re coming from Tamarindo, it is around 4 hours.
The entire route is on well paved roads, however, once you start going around Nuevo Arenal and Tilaran, watch out for some pot holes. Additionally, once you start going around the lake, the road gets very curvy so you have to go slow.
Driving Directions to Arenal from Liberia
When you arrive in Liberia city with the Mcdonalds in front of you and gas station on your right, turn right onto the Interamericana highway 1. You will drive on the highway for about 47 kilometers (29 miles), exit (you will see a sign for Cañas) and at the roundabout, take the 3rd exit to enter the town.
Then you will continue on this road for 1.5 kilometers past the park and then turn left. Go for about 60 kilometers (37 miles) on this road and follow the signs to Tilaran, Nuevo Arenal and La Fortuna. Once past Tilaran, you will start going around Lake Arenal which you will see on your right hand side.
There are many signs for Lake Arenal/Nuevo Arenal so keep an eye out.
Eventually after all the curves and turns, the volcano finally appears and you’ll start noticing signs for resorts like the Springs and Nayara. You will know when you are close to La Fortuna when you arrive at a bridge and the hydroelectric plant where you will see people going on boat rides, kayaking or stand up paddling. There is a view of Arenal Volcano right in front of you on the bridge to the left.
Keep going on this road, driving past the many luxury hotels and resorts in the area, passing the Arenal Volcano National Park entrance on your right and eventually ending up in La Fortuna, the main town and tourism hub.
Points of Interest on the Way
In Liberia, you can stop at Catarata Llanos de Cortes. It’s technically in Bagaces, about a 15-20 minute drive from Liberia and right off the highway before Cañas so you won’t be taking a big detour. This waterfall is definitely worth a stop!
There are three towns where you can stop after Liberia: Cañas, Tilaran and Nuevo Arenal.
Lake Arenal Brewery, Los Heroes and Cafe y Macademia are three really nice spots around Lake Arenal to stop. Lake Arenal Brewery has food and craft beer, Los Heroes has a restaurant and a train station (nice for kids) and Cafe y Macademia has coffee, pastries and food. All three places have really nice views of the lake. There is also a good German bakery in Tilaran. If you don’t mind stopping somewhere not right off the main road, Tinajas Arenal is a nice restaurant with a beautiful view.
You will also see several signs after Cañas that say something like “view point” or “tourist coffee stop” before it starts getting curvy. We stopped by one viewpoint (turn to the left from Liberia) that led us to a beautiful view of Tilaran and close to the windmills. There is also a sign when you are driving around the lake to see a very old and big Ceiba tree (turn to the left) which is cool.
Another neat stop is Centro de Rescate Las Pumas in Cañas. You can take a short tour of the rescue center to learn about their work and see their animals. If you want to visit a less touristy spot, stop by Restaurante Mimis in Cañas. It’s a local restaurant and no tour buses or shuttles stop there and is a fun way to experience a very local and popular restaurant.
Below is a map with most of the points of interest I mentioned.
Video
Once you get around the lake, you can stop by the dam for a nice view of the volcano and lake. You can watch our video of our road trip from Guanacaste to Arenal in the video below to see where we stopped. **In Sept 2019, last time we drove this route, they had closed the area by the dam so you can’t stop there anymore.*
Tips for Driving to Arenal from Guanacaste
- If you get carsick, bring anti-nausea medicine. The road gets quite curvy. Be very careful if it’s raining!
- It’s not advised to drive this route late at night, especially in rainy season. This is because of the curvy roads and lack of good signage. Remember it gets dark by 6 PM and it tends to start raining in late afternoon.
- If your flight arrives late like 7 or 8 PM, we recommend to stay a night in Liberia and then leave early the next day instead.
- If you don’t rent a GPS, use Waze, a GPS app. Download it on your phone and you can use it if you get a Costa Rica pre paid sim card or have data.
- The road is nicely paved so you won’t need a 4X4. But there are a lot of potholes once you start going around the lake. Go slow!
- There are gas stations in Liberia, Canas, Tilaran and La Fortuna. Read more about Costa Rica gas stations here.
You can watch our video below of us driving from Liberia to Arenal. We included the major turns and towns.
Alternative Route (Via Bijagua and Rio Celeste)
There is an alternative route you can take from Guanacaste to La Fortuna and it allows you to see one of the most beautiful places in Costa Rica. You can drive from Liberia to Bijagua, hike Rio Celeste and then continue to La Fortuna.
The drive from Liberia to Rio Celeste is about 1.5 hours and Rio Celeste to La Fortuna is about 1.5 hours. If you are coming from Tamarindo, it is 2.5 hours to Rio Celeste. This road is completely paved the whole route.
You can read more about getting to Rio Celeste in this post here.
Are you coming from San Jose instead of Liberia? Check out our post driving from San Jose to La Fortuna to see what it’s like.
Looking for some activities? Find out what are the topthings to do in La Fortuna/Arenal!
Cor says
Hello, Thank you for all of the great tips. You mention motion sickness and curvy roads on the trip from Liberia to Arenal. Last year I experienced some new challenges in Atenas and surrounding areas with the mountain driving, steep hills with no guard rails and blind corners. Will the trip be similar from Liberia or is it just a curvy drive?
Thanks again
Sammi says
It’s not as steep as Atenas because it doesn’t go through mountains like that area thankfully, just a super duper windy curvy narrow road around the lake.
Lynda says
Hi I will be arriving in Liberia 3 pm solo and have a private driver to take me to Arenal Observatory lodge which I think I will.get there by 7 pm. Should I pick up.snacks etc in Liberia before I start my trip to the lodge? Thanks for the tip about the curvy roads to take gravol. Thanks.for all your blogging information .
Sammi says
Hi Lynda, if you booked a private driver, they should let you stop along the way to La Fortuna. There are also a couple of cafes and restaurants in Lake Arenal on the way you can ask them to stop at and there are supermarkets in Liberia.
Penny says
Hi Sammi,
Is it okay to drive from Arenal to SJO at 5PM in the evening after a day-trip in Arenal? I wanted to know about the timing and the drive conditions. If we pass the La Fortuna area before sunset, Are we okay for the rest of the drive to reach town Alajuela?
We are flying to LIR, staying in Guanacaste for 4 days and on the last day of our trip – we are driving to SJO with a stop in Arenal to see the Volcano and the La Fortuna waterfall (if time permits).
Day Trip Itinerary: Check-out hotel in Guanacaste by 8am – Reach Arenal before noon – Spend 4-5 hours in Arenal – then drive to a closest hotel in SJO by that night. Flight leaves at noon the following day.
Does that sound reasonable?
Sammi says
If you’re not visiting during peak rainy season months like August, Sept, Oct, Nov, usually it is fine because it will rain pretty hard late afternoon and evenings and I don’t recommend to drive that route if it’s pouring out. I would also make sure you get a GPS as signage is not good on that route.
That is a ton of driving (around 8-9 hours)in one day and I personally wouldn’t recommend it. I don’t like to be in the car for that long during my vacation but that is just me and I get very tired from driving long distances.
Amanda says
Hi Sammi,
This will be our first time to Costa Rica and your blog has been incredibly helpful. I was just curious, I see there are some shuttle services from Tamarindo to Arenal. Have you ever had experience with these shuttles? What are your thoughts on them?
Thank you!
Sammi says
Hi Amanda! Yes there are several shared shuttle companies like Interbus, Easy Ride, Caribe Shuttle and Ride CR. Very common route and those are well known shuttle companies.
Aubrey says
So I know you’ve answered this question like 10 times, but we are arriving into LIB at 9pm and need to drive to the Tabacon Resort. We’re renting a car with WiFi in it so we can use Waze. We are very used to driving in the mountain areas in the US at night(windy roads, no railing, sometimes fog), but I’m still a little nervous. Will the WiFi work the whole drive? Is it safe, as in there’s not a lot of crime towards people driving? We know we’ll have to go slow and don’t plan on getting there till 1am-2am.
Sammi says
Hi Aubrey, if you are used to that type of driving and will have a navigation, you can drive that route. There are generally not that many people on the route and it is safe as it’s a very popular tourist route. My main concern would be just in case you get lost or something happens because there are some small towns along that route but for a good part of it, there’s not much so in case something happens and you don’t have a local phone, it would be very bad to be stranded there in the middle of the night. I would definitely not recommend it if you are visiting during rainy season because it tends to rain pretty hard at night, especially August-November.
Aubrey says
Thank you so much for the quick reply. I can’t say enough amazing things about your site, it has been SO incredibly helpful. I will most likely be asking/commenting on other pages to get your wisdom!
Last question about the car, after making the reservation through your site, will I need to contact Adobe at the airport to make sure they will still be open at that time? We probably won’t clear customs until at least 9:30pm so I’m sure they will be closed. How do we get out car?
Sammi says
Hi Aubrey!
If you’re flying into San Jose Airport, they have an Adobe agent stationed there the whole day so there will be someone waiting for you when you exit the airport and you can still pick up the car when you land at night as the airport office will be open at that time. On the reservation sheet, just put in the time you are landing and your flight information.
Ravi says
We are debating whether to rent a car, hire a shuttle, or a personal driver from Tamarindo to Arenal for a day trip on a Saturday. Our plan was to then go to San Jose that night or the next morning since we have flights back to the US around 12pm Sunday. When would you recommend leaving for San Jose? Do you need a car to get around Arenal? Thanks! Love the site and recs!
Sammi says
Hi Ravi, I would personally rent a car because it gives you more flexibility and the cost will be less than hiring a private shuttle (it’s around $200 one way from Tamarindo to La fortuna and one way from La Fortuna to San Jose). A car is helpful in La Fortuna because many attractions are spread out so if you want to go to the national park, it’s about a 20 minute drive from La Fortuna town.
I would leave no later than 530 – 6 AM on Sunday to be at the airport by 10 AM, it’s about a 3 hour drive from La Fortuna to San Jose but there’s usually a lot of traffic in the city so you will want to make sure you give yourself extra time. Personally we recommend to stay in San Jose the night before instead of driving a long distance early in the morning to be on the safe side.
Melissa says
Has anyone recently driven from Liberia (LIR) to the arenal volcano area? I’d like to know if it requires a 4×4 or if a mid-size car rental will suffice. Also, we plan to visit the sites around La Fortuna – La Fortuna waterfall, hanging bridges, Arenal Volcano hike, etc so not sure if a 4×4 is required to get to those areas too. Thanks for your advice!
Sammi says
Hi Melissa, you don’t need a 4×4 to any of those places. All paved roads, except for the road to the national park but it is just unpaved, nothing bad so a sedan will be fine.
Paula says
Hello, we arrive at SJO ar 2:30 pm on January 2. Do we have time to drive to Monteverde before dark. If not, do you have any recommendation for a place to stay along the way. Regards, Paula
Sammi says
Hi Paula, you will be able to still have light because you’ll probably go through immigration and pick up your car by around 330 PM or so. Hopefully traffic in San Jose is not too bad but sometimes it can take around 30 minutes to an hour in rush hour to get out of the city. It gets dark by 6 PM everyday and it is about a 3 hour drive to Monteverde and not recommended to drive in the dark because that route is quite narrow and steep. You could stay a night in San Jose, or you can drive to Puntarenas and stay the night there. (Here is a map so you can see: https://goo.gl/maps/5aR8dXySVWq)
Ben says
Hi, We will be arriving in Liberia just after 1 (over this coming Spring Break). We are staying at one of the resorts between Tabacon and La Fortuna for a few days and then back to Playa Flamingo for a few more days. I think I would like to rent a car, at least until we get back to Playa Flamingo. Do you think we can make it to the resort near La Fortuna before it gets dark? If not, how much should we expect to pay a private driver? Also, can we rent a car in La Fortuna and drop it off in Playa Flamingo? Love the site. Thanks.
Sammi says
Hi Ben, you can definitely drive between La Fortuna and Flamingo, it’s a very easy and common route for tourists as you can see in the post. It will take about 4 hours from Flamingo to La Fortuna.
And you can rent a car in la Fortuna and drop it off in Flamingo, but there will be an extra fee for different pick up and drop off locations for most car rental companies.
The company we work with for private transfers charges $220 for La Fortuna – Flamingo.
Let me know if you have other questions!
Isaac Garcia says
Hi, we are staying bahia Potrero for 4 days at the end of October. What Tours do you recommend in this area ? Are there any local River Boat Tours ? How far is potrero from rincon de la vieja?
Thank you.
Sammi says
Hi Isaac, there is a Palo Verde National Park river tour that is nice, you can read more about it here: Palo Verde National Park
Rincon de la Vieja is about 1.5 hours from Potrero, it has very nice hiking there. You can read more about it here: Rincon de la Vieja National Park
Debra says
Do you recommend driving from Tamarindo to Arenal in one day? We would spend two days in Arenal. We are traveling 12/22-12/31/18.
We will be renting a car. Debra
yeison says
Hello Debra, we drive all the time to Arenal from Tamarindo in one day, we usually leave around 7 AM in order to be there around 11 AM. Please let us know if you have further questions and thank you for reading Mytanfeet.
Sammi says
Hi Debra, yes definitely. It’s about a 3.5 – 4 hour drive so totally doable in one day and is worth staying overnight in Arenal.
Erica says
This is very helpful, thank you. We’re traveling with children who get motion sick in the car very easily. Do you know about how far it is into the drive from Liberia where the road becomes curvy and windy? And about how long does the curvy road last before arriving at the Springs Resort & Spa in Arenal?
Sammi says
Hi Erica, it is right after you leave Canas and head towards Tilaran and start going around Lake Arenal. It gets quite curvy when you go around the lake and it continues until you get into La Fortuna.
Lil says
My family and I arrive in Liberia at 330 headed to La Fortuna. In order to avoid driving in the dark, wanted to stay within a place thats fun and within a reasonable time before nightfall. Can you recommend someplace good?
Sammi says
Hi Lil, the Gulf of Papagayo beaches are only about a 20 minute drive from the airport so you can stay there that night. The beaches to stay in that area are Playas del Coco, Hermosa, Ocotal and Panama. Coco is the most accessible one since that is the main town so you can find restaurants, markets, banks, etc. and there is a nice park, basketball court, small boardwalk, children’s playground and skatepark at the beach. I wrote a guide to Coco you can read here: Playas del Coco
Jim says
Does Waze work in CR? We were thinking about off line maps.me. What would you recommend as a map system? Thanks!
Jim and Debbie Heal
Sammi says
Hi Jim, yes Waze works great in CR. You can also download maps on Google Maps to use them offline.
Ade Fidler says
Hi,
I’ll be arriving Liberia Airport at 3pm and I’ll like to drive to Nuevo Arenal after picking up the hire car as I don’t want to spend the night in Liberia and so its easy for me to get to Fortuna the following day and continue my travels. I’m a single female in my 30s, do you think this is advisable or safe? Will it also be dark by the time I get to Nuevo Arenal?
Sammi says
Hi Ade, it’s about a 3 hour drive from Liberia to Nuevo Arenal. Just be very careful and go slow because the road gets super windy and curvy past Tilaran and there are some bigggg pot holes where people got flat tires so just be very careful. You should make it around 630-7 and it gets dark by 6 PM here every day depending on how long it takes for you to get the car. I recommend using Waze, the GPS app because signage is not great around Canas and Tilaran.
Joelle says
Hello,
I’m arriving at Liberia Airport around 2:15pm, would I be able to make it to Nuevo Arenal before dark?
Thank you
Sammi says
You will probably get there right when it’s dark, it’s about a 3 hour drive and add another hour to pick up your car and get some food and you’ll probably get there around 6-630 PM.
Priya says
Hi- we will be landing at the Liberia airport around 3pm and will be renting a car and diving to Nuevo Arenal ( Villa Decary). What tips can you provide us to drive in dark, place to stop to get some dinner and if it rains, should we stop somewhere until it stops or keep driving?
Sammi says
Hi, right now we are transitioning to dry season so rainy season is pretty much over and ending very soon so if you are visiting from now until end of April, you won’t run into any rain. When you get to Tilaran and start driving around the lake, the road gets VERY curvy and there are some BIG potholes so go slow and be very careful. We know some people who got flat tires from accidentally driving over the potholes, they are that big. There are restaurants in Tilaran or another nice stop along the lake is the Lake ARenal Brewery or Cafe y Macademia.
Sammi says
You can do a day trip but it will be very tiring for the driving so you should get a 2nd driver so you can switch (we offer a free 2nd driver with our car rental discount Costa Rica car rental discount) . It’s worth staying a night in Arenal since it’s such a vast and beautiful area but if you are only in Costa Rica for a week, a day trip is more practical for time. Definitely leave around 5 AM so you can get there by 9-930 AM. Yyou can hike the national park in a couple hours, visit La Fortuna waterfall for a couple hours and spend another couple hours at a hot spring. There are a lot of hot springs in Arenal, Tabacon is the most popular and famous but most expensive. Baldi is a fun one with waterslides, or Ecotermales/Paradise are also very nice ones. On your way back to Tamarindo, it will probably get dark so just go very slow around the lake as it’s a super curvy route.
Melissa Denning says
My husband and I and my two brothers and their wives are coming to Costa Rica on February 11. We fly into Liberia and are renting a car and driving to Tamarindo where we Will be staying for the week. My big question is do you recommend driving from Tamarindo to La Fortuna/Arenal for a day trip? How long of a drive would you say it is? We were thinking of leaving at 5 AM. While in that area my top picks are To see The volcano, the waterfall in La Fortuna ( in your opinion what is the best waterfall in Costa Rica to see ?) and the hot springs ( where is the best place to swim in the springs?)
Sorry those are some loaded questions. Thanks for any help you can give!
Sammi says
There’s not too many places, but there is this very nice waterfall near Bagaces, about 20 minutes from Liberia on the Highway 1 that is definitely worth a stop! You can read about it here: Catarata Llanos de Cortes
Then from there it’s just small local towns. You can maybe eat lunch or dinner around Tilaran, there’s a few good restaurants there and then once you get to Lake Arenal, you can stop at some of the souvenir stores or cafes along the road for some great views until you get to Fortuna.
Mark Purnell says
any interesting places in between that would be worthwhile to visit? We will have the full day to drive from Fortuna to Liberia and are looking for any pit stops of interest…
Anu says
We are arriving in Liberia at 2pm. Do you think it would be okay to drive to the Tabacon Resort in Arenal the same day? I’ve been reading about how it is a more difficult drive later in the day. I’m pretty comfortable driving in other countries. Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi Anu, it’s about a 4 hour drive to Arenal so you would definitely get there past dark since you’ll probably leave Liberia around 3 after customs, immigration and getting your car. You can definitely drive it, but get a GPS and be very very careful because there’s a lot of construction going on at the InterAmericana highway and the turn into Tilaran off the highway is pretty hard to see when it’s dark since all the construction going on there and the sign is not very well placed. Then the road starting from Nuevo Arenal is super windy without any street lights so be super careful if you decide to drive.
Mariska says
Aaaahhhhh! This video makes me homesick for that place! Thank you! 🙂
Sammi says
Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Diane Byrd says
This blog is so informative. Loved it. My family and I are so excited about our trip in April. Your blog gave me some good ideas for sightseeing. It was also helpful about traveling around in CR.
Thank you,
Diane Byrd
Sammi says
Hi Diane, I’m glad to hear that! We hope you have a great time here and thank you for reading our blog!