Things to do in San Jose

Food · East of the centre, beyond Parque Nacional

A residential grid of old houses turned into the country's densest concentration of restaurants, bars and coffee.

Local tip: The Paseo Gastronómico La Luz is the marketed strip; the better places are on the numbered calles either side of it. Come on a Thursday — Friday and Saturday fill with the whole Central Valley and the queues are real. Almost everything here occupies a converted 1940s family house, which is the charm.

Landmark · Central San José

An 1897 opera house built with a coffee-export levy, with a marble foyer and ceiling paintings entirely out of scale with the city outside.

Local tip: The café inside is open to anyone and is the most civilised coffee in central San José. Under the plaza is the Museo del Oro Precolombino, whose collection of pre-Columbian goldwork is world class and consistently the thing visitors remember.

Culture · Immediately north of the centre

The coffee barons' district — wooden and stone mansions from the turn of the twentieth century, now consulates, small hotels and galleries.

Local tip: The best walking in San José, and almost nobody does it. Wander north from the Parque Morazán on foot and read the plaques; several houses are open as hotels and will let you look at the interiors. Do it in daylight and it is a completely different city from the one people describe.

Nature · West of the centre, at the end of Paseo Colón

The city's big park, on the site of the old international airport — lake, running paths, football pitches and the national art museum in the former terminal.

Local tip: The Museo de Arte Costarricense occupies the original airport terminal building and is free. The park fills with families on Sundays and with runners at six in the morning; between those two hours it is the calmest large green space in the Central Valley.

Neighborhood · West of the city, up the valley side

The expatriate and corporate belt — malls, international schools, private hospitals, and hillside views over the whole valley.

Local tip: San Rafael de Escazú is the polished, expensive part; the old town of Escazú centro, a few minutes uphill, is still a Costa Rican village with a church, a soda and a Saturday feria. Living in one and shopping in the other is the trick most long-term residents learn.

Nature · 45 minutes north-east on the Guápiles highway

Primary rainforest and cloud forest, with the road cutting straight through it — 475 square kilometres beginning almost at the edge of the metropolitan area.

Local tip: You can be standing in genuinely primary rainforest less than an hour after leaving downtown San José, which is a claim almost no capital city can make. The Quebrada González sector on the Guápiles side has short marked trails and far fewer visitors than the volcano parks. Go early; the cloud comes in by midday and the road through the park is notorious in bad weather.