Heredia is a university town in Costa Rica in the San Jose metro area. The town itself is unexceptional but friendly.

Travel to Heredia - Visa Requirements

Tours and Getting around Heredia

Heredia tourist attractions and sightseeing

The town's central square (parque central) is adorable and charming, and contains most of the city's landmarks. Many shops and restaurants line this square, as well as many college students and romantics.

  • The Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción, built in 1797, is the focal point.
  • To the north, El Fortín is the last remaining tower of a Spanish fortress and the symbol of Heredia, though it is closed to the public.
  • The old Post Office,Palacio Municipal, and Argentine School give a glimpse of how the city looked back in its heyday.
  • The historic Casa de la Culture, once home of Costa Rican president Alfredo Gonzáles Flores, give periodic rotations of art and music.
  • To the east, the freestanding facade of a demolished building stands in front of what is apparently a parking lot.
  • A block south-east of the park is the Iglesia del Carmen.

Heredia city tours

Buses from Heredia go out to all sorts of small nearby mountain towns. In particular there is a bus to the town of Barva, ten minutes north. Barva is small and cute, but it has a river with gorgeous waterfalls and swimming holes. The bus route to Barva ends at the central plaza facing the church. If you face the church you will see one street running directly in front of the church. Walk to the left of the church and follow the first road to the left after the one that runs in front of the church. Follow this road for a quarter of mile and you will run into a playground, to the left of it there will be a trail going down to the river, follow this trail upstream for half a mile and you will find a eight foot waterfall with a nice swimming hole and rocks that get great sun. There are more waterfalls and beautiful swimming holes further up the river, but the trail only goes so far. Enjoy

  • Quality Hotel(Monte Campana), Birri, Santa Barbara(1.8 km in Barrio Jesus there is sign turn left, toward Birri. Turn Left again at traffic signal in Birri. Make the next 2 left turns and you will come to the hotel), ☎ 50622698724, [1]. 6am-10pm. Beautiful Hotel, situated in the mountains overlooking the central valley of Costa Rica. Just 20 minutes from the San Jose airport. There are all types of rooms to choose from, hostel to cabins with private kitchen and bathroom. The property has the Diligencia restaurant, and a gorgeous swimming pool with slide and jacuzzi. Also just walking distance from waterfalls, and rainforest. The Hotel offers discounted tours to Volcan Poas, and much more!www.qualitycostarica.com35$.  

Heredia souvenirs and shopping

Heredia Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

  • Restaurante Fresas 100 meters West from Universidad Nacional. Costa Rican food.
  • Caribbean Food, 200 Meters from Casa de la Cultura Downtown Heredia.
  • Bistro de Chamonix, at Hotel Chalet Tirol 6 km north of San Rafael, Ph#506 22676222.

Japanese Food

  • Sushi Nippon
  • Goyi
  • Ichiban
  • Saisaki

Heredia nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

  • Complejo Turistico Sherekan. Bar, pool tables, karaoke, restaurant, in San Rafael de Heredia.
  • Green Dragon Pub & Grill, at Hotel Chalet Tirol. 6 km north of San Rafael de Heredia, ph (506)22676222.

Heredia cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels and lodging

Heredia offers hotels at several different price levels including the backpacker variety. Local buses ply the route between Heredia and San Jose, taking about twenty minutes to reach San Jose's main tourist areas.

  • ...La Condesa Hotel..., atop the mountains of Heredia offers a great view of the city and the central valley, aprox. 30 minutes from airport or center of San Jose.
  • Hotel Chalet Tirol, San Rafael de Heredia 6 km north, Ph# (506)22676222.

Get out

This page was last edited by Colin Jensen. Based on work by David, Tom Holland, Ravikiran Rao and Ian Kirk, Wikitravel user(s) Jonboy and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license

Didn't find what you were looking for?
Submit your question to the Heredia travel forum
Subject
Question / Comment
Note: HTML tags will be removed.
Your Name (required)
Your Email (will not be published) (required)
Website (Optional)

Note: Hitting submit you grant Traveltips24 the right to edit, display and store the content you provide.