San Jose has a number of pleasant leafy city parks ideal for escaping the concrete urban environment. They are great places to meet locals or get some fresh air and exercise. Zoo Avenue is the best choice for wildlife, as the city zoo is a disappointment. Football fans may want to see a passionate match played at the national stadium, and outside of the city are dozens of amazing outdoor recreation activities easily organised by tour agencies.

Boat Cruises
A wonderful way to spend the day is on a boat cruise to the nearby island of Tortuga. These popular tours take a full day and include everything you’ll need. The island offers sandy beaches, swimming and canopy tours. Calypso Tours is the original and more dependable operator. 
Phone: +506 256 2727; www.calypsotours.com

Football
San Jose’s residents take their football very seriously, so if you’ve never seen a Latin American football match, this is a good place to start. Costa Rica boasts some of Central America’s best players, and San Jose has a team in the country’s professional league named Saprissa. Home matches happen from September to June on Sunday afternoons at the Tibas Stadium.

Golf and Tennis
There aren’t many recreation choices in San Jose, but if you play golf or tennis there are a handful of venues open to visitors. The city’s best facilities can be found at Valle del Sol Park in the west side of town. Their 18-hole golf course is open to everyone, and their tennis courts are excellent. Be sure and make reservations beforehand. 
Phone: +506 282 9222; www.vallesol.com  

La Sabana Park
What was once San Jose’s main airport has been transformed into an incredible recreation site. This is the city’s hub for outdoor activities, and visitors can see locals from all walks of life enjoying the fresh air here. There are jogging trails, tennis courts, lawns and even a sculpture park. La Sabana offers an ideal place to see the relaxed side of the Ticos who live in the capital. But after dusk, it’s best to avoid the park due to crime.

Out of Town Activities
San Jose is an ideal base for dozens of exciting day trips into the surrounding countryside. The city has plenty of tour operators that can arrange everything from canopy tours and horseback riding to incredible rafting and kayaking trips. The nearby Sarapiqui River is a popular rafting destination. Poas and Irau volcanoes are also easy daytrips from San Jose that should not be missed.

Zoo Avenue
Better than the city zoo, this interesting and well-meaning institute houses only injured or confiscated animals. A network of shady paths leads by monkey, puma, tapir and iguana habitats. There are also dozens of amazing tropical birds here such as scarlet macaws and toucans. 
Phone: +506 433 8989; www.zooave.org

As the capital of Costa Rica, San Jose offers the best cultural institutes this small nation has to offer. A handful of museums present the art and history of this peaceful country, while a number of special sites like the Café Britt Farm demonstrate a working coffee plantation. If you need more excitement, check out San Jose’s rather passive version of bull fighting.

Bullfighting
Costa Rican bullfighting is more of a comedy than a tragedy. It’s incredibly popular with the locals as the matadors tease the bull instead of trying to stab it to death. In the bullring, more than 50 improvised bullfighters test and slap the bull on the backside without getting gored. It’s really quite entertaining and the atmosphere at the stadium is always light-hearted and fun.

Butterfly Farm
Butterflies are a major highlight of Costa Rica, and while San Jose may be a bit lacking in the quantity of these colourful beauties, this farm just outside of town is the place to see them all. There are 80 species of tropical butterfly raised at the farm, including the stunning blue morphos. Your guided tour will show the entire life cycle of a butterfly, and present many of the rarest ones. 
Phone: +506 438 0400; www.butterflyfarm.co.cr

Café Britt Farm
Café Britt happens to be one of Costa Rica’s leading coffee producers and they have created a special demonstration area at its coffee plantation just outside the city. Visitors can see the entire coffee process, from beans on the tree to drying and roasting. It’s a very interesting experience, and can easily be combined with another tourist attraction like Poas Volcano. 
Phone: +506 277 1600; www.coffeetour.com.

Costa Rican Art Museum (Museo de Arte Costarricense)
This small but interesting museum is located in La Sabana Park. It houses a nice collection of Costa Rica’s most famous artists is a variety of media forms. The museum does a good job of showing the evolution of art style in the nation over the decades, and offers rotating temporary exhibits as well. Its setting is another highlight, particularly the outdoor sculpture garden. 
Phone: +506 222 7155

National Centre of Art and Culture (Centro Nacional de Arte y Cultura)
This comprehensive art and culture complex occupies an entire city block. Besides the impressive museum, it is also home to the Cultural Ministry and a number of performing art centres. The art museum focuses on cutting edge Costa Ricans artists, but also features some famous Latin American artists like Jose Cuevas and Oswaldo Guayasamin. 
Phone: +506 257 7202

San Jose’s dining scene is one of the most extensive and diverse in Central America. Most of the restaurants in the capital are reasonably priced and offer tasty simple Tico cuisine. The best place to sample the local style is at a soda, the equivalent of a diner, which serves up filling unpretentious fare. Rice and beans are staple parts of every meal, accompanying whatever meat, seafood or vegetarian dish you want.

Local drinks called frescoes are hugely popular in San Jose and well worth trying. Like an exotic tropical fruit shake, they can be made with milk or water, and since the water can be hit or miss it’s best to go with the pasteurised milk. The neighbourhoods of Santa Ana and Escazu have the most active dining scene, but for a one-stop experience try the Plaza Itskatzu shopping centre. The lively El Pueblo neighbourhood is another great location filled with dozens of restaurants, bars, shops and galleries along its cobblestone streets.

The shopping scene isn’t nearly as interesting as the dining options. Apart from coffee beans, which really are a great buy, San Jose just doesn’t have a thriving arts and crafts scene. You can, however, find plenty of interesting items imported from Ecuador, Guatemala and Panama.

San Jose’s main shopping strip is located between avendida 1 and 2 near Calle 14. The pedestrian Avenida Central is another good shopping street for inexpensive clothes and other sundries. The local markets are probably the most authentic look at San Jose’s shopping life. The largest market is the Mercado Central, which mainly sells food but also has lots of souvenir stalls mixed in. The daily street market at the Plaza de la Democracia is another decent place to look for regional handicrafts and artwork.