Costa Rica is a great destination to travel with minis! The beaches are beautiful, the rainforest is lush and adventurous, the country is family friendly. I packed up my three year old and our passports and took off for our first international destination of his little life. Check out my instagram for more photos and be sure to watch the Costa Rica highlight on my stories!

Flying There..

I’m a solo mama and a teacher, so that means I’m living off zero child support and a single income of a low salary, but I have the summers to adventure with my mini. I used credit card points to pay for our flights and our rental car. I have a Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card and I LOVE IT. I put all of my expenses on the card throughout the year and pay them off immediately. Then each summer, I use those points to pay for part of our travel expenses. We flew American Airlines, all expenses paid and it included a carry on + personal item. Car seats always fly free! Since I used points for our flights, we ended up getting routed through Mexico City for a layover on either side, but it made for a fun extra stop along the way! Apply for your own card and get 60,000 bonus points by using this link!

Getting a three year old through the airport..

Man, they are SO cute with those little legs but those little legs don’t move as quickly or for as long as mine. Between two carry on items, two personal items, a car seat, and a toddler, I was weighted down. I always check my car seat prior to going to security, but it can be a struggle getting everything from the car to up to the desk. My son, B, attends Montesorri school so he is good about carrying his own backpack, but that’s still quite a bit of things to keep track of on top of keeping your baby safe in the airport. That’s where the dump truck enters the chat.. This suitcase is a game changer! It is his carry on suitcase and his ride through the airport. It has an extendable handle for when we want to pull it like a suitcase, but mostly he sits on the top wearing his backpack and I pull him through the airport. It’s a HIT with the other kids in the airport too! I have so much peace of mind knowing he’s right with me and I can move seamlessly through the airport at a quicker speed than if he was walking.

Renting a car in San Jose..

We landed in the morning in San Jose and rented a car from Alamo car rentals at the airport. There was a quick shuttle when we landed and the rental car process didn’t take long at all. We rented the car with our credit card points so it was all set up through the Chase app before we arrived. We did opt for the four wheel drive, and I CANNOT recommend that enough! I swear we wouldn’t have made it through one piece of our drive if we hadn’t had four wheel drive. Pro tip, if the map looks like the orange part, find an alternate route! Most of our drive was perfectly safe, but this section was through the rainforest on a very broken and bumpy road the width of one lane. So do yourself a favor and get a four wheel drive SUV, just in case!

Glamping Dome: De Este a Oeste Glamping..

We drove from San Jose out to the most gorgeous glamping dome in Atenas on a coffee and citrus farm I found on AirBnB. It is the most relaxing start to our trip. Since it’s just my three year old son and I, we shared the one bed/one bath dome no problem. *Families with lots of kids might want to find a bigger spot.* Our host, Atleya, was so welcoming and kind. Breakfast was included on the balcony each morning overlooking the rainforest and farm land below. We stayed there for two nights at $117 per night. I dream of returning here often! Flocks of parrots and toucans flew by. We read books and walked around the farm. The owners lets us pick bananas and dragon fruit. B loved seeing their baby cow.

We had lunch at a pizza spot in town called Parrillada Androvetto and I got a local beer brewed by Suizy Tico in the cutest toucan bottle! I loved it so much, I brought it home to keep on my bar cart. Closer to the glamping dome is the La Casita del Cafe. It has the most beautiful views from the wrap around windows of the cafe and their coffee was fantastic. The grocery store in town is MaxiPali, not far from the pizza place. We stocked up on snacks, wine, and they had the cutest pair of pajamas for B! It was the most relaxing way to start our trip, but after two days, we were ready for some adventure so we got in our car and headed off on the sketchiest drive of my life from the Glamping Dome to La Fortuna.. We made a pit stop at Mariposario Vida De Colores, a hummingbird and butterfly sanctuary. They had found a hercules beetle in the garden that morning. Our favorite impromptu spot! Check out my reel on the Glamping Dome here.

La Fortuna..

La Fortuna is much more touristy than the secluded glamping dome on a coffee farm, but has lots of activities for families! Our AirBnb was right outside of town on a Sloth Reservation. B is animal obsessed so this was an obvious choice when choosing a spot to stay for four days. On the reservation was a little cafe with coffee, smoothies, breakfast, and lunch sandwiches. They aren’t open for dinner though, so we ventured out to what was my favorite food on the entire trip. A Peruvian restaurant on Via 142 called Los Anticuchos. It was all outdoors with a covered patio and a trampoline for kids! I was floored at how kid friendly the restaurants were in Costa Rica. I was eating amazing food and B was running around having fun enjoying his vacation how kids should. There were a few stray cats around, but we love animals so it made the experience better for us.

When I was planning our trip, I showed B a few videos on Costa Rica with different activities. His choice was ziplining through the rainforest. We booked with Ecoglide Tours because they would allow B to zipline at three years old. He was attached to a guide. Kids must go with a guide and cannot be hooked to their parents. The guided were amazing! They didn’t even give him a chance to get nervous. They hooked in so quickly and down he went, all smiles and giggles! They took pictures for us, since you need your hands to zipline, and we purchased them for a small fee at the end of the trip. It was exciting but also incredibly beautiful to fly through the canopies and see the natural beauty of the rainforest.

The next day, we went down to the La Fortuna Waterfall in our swim suits and hiking boots. We got there right as they opened and beat the rush of the tour buses that arrive throughout the day. It’s a long trek of steps down to the waterfall, but absolutely worth it! The view is to die for and on the opposite side is a swimming hole with the water from the falls. It is chilly plunge! Be sure to use only natural sunscreen since you are in a protected area. Our favorites are linked here.

We had the view of the volcano from our window at the AirBnB and it’s the focal point of the town, so naturally we had to go to the National Park to see it up close! You aren’t allowed on the actual volcano but can drive up to the lookout point and hike around. It was a gorgeous view and fun hike!

Our last big activity was an animal tour with Arenal Natura Ecological Park. We saw crocodiles, leaf cutter ants, shampoo flowers, red eyed tree frogs, and so much more! It was an animal lovers dream.

La Fortuna was a fun town filled with good food, fun activities, and little shops. I love splitting our time between a few relaxing days and then days filled with activities and exploration. It made for a well rounded and restorative trip. Aside from one power outage from the rainy season storms, the trip was without a hiccup!