Alajuela

Introduction

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Alajuela basically is a suburb of San Jose and closer to Poas Volcano and has some nice small B&B's and hotels.

Getting There

This is a good base for getting to the airports or to the rapid highway to the northern and central pacific coasts.

Eat

There are some small 'soda's' in which to get local meals.

Sleep

The Pura Vida B&B whose owner Bernie is a great host, is a good place to stay.

Budget

Keep Connected

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

• The country calling code to Costa Rica is 506.
• To make an international call from Costa Rica, the code is 00.

There are plenty of phone booths around and you will get the best rate using a pre-paid international card (can often be purchased in internet cafés and other small stores). There is usually a connection fee making short calls extra expensive. Those travelling with a mobile phone and willing to pay the roaming costs should ensure it supports 1800 MHz GSM network. You cannot get a prepaid SIM card for Costa Rica.

Post

Correos de Costa Rica (website in Spanish only) is the national postal services of Costa Rica. You can find post offices (correos) in almost any city and town and they are generally open from 7:30am to 5:30pm or 6:00pm Monday to Friday and 7:30am to noon on Saturdays. There are not that many mailboxes, so it's best to ask your hotel or go directly to the post offices. Services tend to be slow but generally reliable and on the whole cheap regarding letters and postcards. It costs about US$0.20 to the USA and Canada (taking about 1 week to 10 days), US$0.25 to Europe (about 2 weeks) and US$0.30 to Asia and Australia (3 weeks or even more). All in all, if you can try and arrange your mail from the capital San José as it's generally quicker from there. Small packages are also no problem, though take them to the post offices unpacked for inspection first! Otherwise, arrange things through private international courier services like UPS, DHL or TNT.