RBC100 wrote:
Just to add a bit for the seasoned tourist there are many day trips you can take on the express bus system to almost any town of any size.I do that a lot and just wander explore and enjoy the culture.It costs you just a few dollars plus what you spend on the trip and the buses are quite efficient.rbc100
Thats certainly can be true for the seasoned tourist, but the sense I got from this first time poster was that he was not a seasoned traveler to CR (probably his first trip to CR and probably not a lot of travel to similar countries either). Unless one has traveled like that in other foreign countries, or has been to CR enough to feel pretty comfortable in the CR environment, it is probably too adventurous for most travelers. How many regular visitors to CR here have made any real use of the public bus system?
One also has to know the schedules so they get to station in time to get out early enough to make it a full day and how late they can return and not miss the last bus. They have to know which station or bus stop to go to for different destinations, which bus to get on and which place to get off. And you won't have a tourguide to explain what you're seeing whereever you end up. These things are not hard if one knows where to look it up and a good guidebook (or tagging along behind another tour) will help explain what you are seeing. But you will not be spoonfed and handheld like you would if you just booked the trip at the tourdesk in your hotel lobby and picked up and dropped off at your hotel
Using buses for day trips works well for certain trips, like visiting the nearby provincial capitals of Cartago, Alajuela, Heredia and surrounding towns like Grecia, Saarchi, Zarcero etc. But many of the principle places of interest to the typical tourist just can't be done easily if at all independently by bus. Some examples:
1) You can take a bus to Turrialba and try to book a raft trip when you get there, but I'm betting the river put ins are not on the bus route and even if you just showed up there there would be no guarantee you'd get a spot or save much money if you did. Its probably a hell of a lot easier just to have them pick you up in SJ and take you directly out to the river.
2) I never tried the rafting trip that way, but I did try to do the Aerial Tram independently and it was a disaster. We had to ask the bus to drop us off there. Then we were told by a unbelievably hostile tico attendant at the front gate that they were sold out for spaces due to the large tour buses that came in from SJ. We were sent to the side of the road to flag down a returning bus on our own (that came by an hour later).
3) Theres no scheduled bus service to Poas Volcano, except for a special all day excursion bus that runs on Sundays. I don't know about you but I think Poas is interesting but not enough to spend all day there.
4) The weekend bus to Irazu is a little better as it leaves at 8 and returns at 12:15. During the week, there is no direct bus to Irazu. You have to change buses in Cartago and will still end up having to hike the last few kms.
5) Some buses leave regularly, some just once an hour and some just a couple of times a day. If you have to change buses and you leave at the wrong time, you might end up having to wait a long time for your connection. The Orosi Valley also requires a change of buses in Cartago and due to scheduling is not easy to see by public bus. If you get out anywhere along the way to look around, you'll have to wait a while to catch the next one (if there is a next one)
6) Direct buses to the La Gaucima Butterfly Farm leave at 11 and 2, take an hour to get there with stops along the way, drops you a 400m from the place and gets you there just after the start of each tour, meaning you might have to wait for the next one. The only direct bus back leaves at 3:15 meaning you'll probably have to catch a bus to Alajuela and change there, meaning further waiting time at the bus station there.
All these places may not be ones that you'd want to see, but their common scenarios and you get the general idea
Sangram has just a couple of days and wants to see as much as he can and all the best spots. He doesn't have time for any the potential time snafus of the public buses. Buses work great to take you to the various population centers (AKA towns) where one can stop to absorb the local atmosphere one town at a time, but they are not so great for the more traditional attractions that most tourist come to CR to see such as the volcanoes, forests and countryside.