Experience in San Jose, Costa Rica by Natalie

What is it like to live in San Jose? Would you recommend it? What is the city like?

San Jose is one of the seven provinces that Costa Rica has, so there are many different places to live and San José city (downtown) is the capital of Costa Rica and it is definititely NOT a place to live. Near districts like Barrio Escalante, Los Yoses, San Pedro, Curridabat, Guadalupe, Moravia, Escazu, Santa Ana, Sabana, etc, are nice places to live in San José.

What is the student lifestyle like in San Jose?

Nice, most of the universities have a campus in San José, the biggest one is Universidad de Costa Rica, which has a lot of libraries and different places for students.

How much does it cost to live in San Jose?

It is expensive compared with many other Latin American countries.

Is it difficult to find accommodation in San Jose? Is there any advice you can give?

I don't know, I am a local and I have never needed to find a place, but I've heard my friends and it is not that difficult.

What is the food like? What are your favourite dishes?

I really like it, normally we have balanced dishes called casados with rice some kind of meat, beans, other things and salad. I'm a vegetarian and it's very easy to buy lots of vegetables and fruits.

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What places would you recommend visiting in San Jose?

All different museums in San Jose City, going to the movies, especially at Cine Magaly or Sala Garbo. Going to a mall. I really recommend going to other places outside San José, volcanoes in Alajuela ( Poas Volcano) and Cartago (Irazu Volcano), beaches in Limón, especially puerto viejo.

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Cahuita, punta uva, manzanillo, in Puntarenas like Manuel Antonio, Santa Teresa, Malpais, Montesuma, in Guanacaste like Conchal, Tamarindo, Flamingo, other beaches in south pacific like Marino Ballena.

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Going to Arenal volcano and la Fortuna, etc.

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Is it good to eat out in San Jose? Can you tell us your favourite spots?

Yes, there are a lot of diferent places all over San José with a variety of food choices. My favorite spots are vegetarian, Ravi, Neshuma, Veggie house, and other places where they do offer meat, like Gobi, Kampai, Cosi, etc.

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Is the nightlife good in San Jose? Where is good to go?

Yes, there are many places to go for different tastes especially in La California and Barrio Escalante. There are pubs like Craig, Stiefel Pub, Central Pub, etc, places to go and dance like La concha de la lora, bahamas, Rapsodia, tipical places like Morazan, Buenos Aires, etc.

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Places to drink craft beer like El Gaff, the beer factory, etc. And there's a street in front of the Universidad de Costa Rica called calle de la Amargura with a lot of bars.

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What advice would you give future students heading to San Jose?

Be patient with public transportation, it's a mess. Try to live in a place close to the university and that will be close enough to everything else.