Written by Nikki Solano

Nikki is the CEO of Pura Vida! eh? Inc. (Costa Rica Discounts), and the author of the guidebooks Moon Costa Rica (2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025 editions) and Moon Best of Costa Rica (2022 edition) from Moon Travel Guides. Together with her Costa Rican husband, Ricky, she operates the Costa Rica Travel Blog, created the online community DIY Costa Rica, built the Costa Rica Destination Tool, oversees the brand-new (summer 2023) Costa Rica Travel Shop, and designed the Costa Rica Trip Planning 101 E-Course. Also, Nikki wrote the Costa Rica cover feature for Wanderlust Magazine's sustainability-focused Travel Green List issue, showcased Costa Rica destinations and experiences on Rick Steves' Monday Night Travel show and podcast/radio show, and served as the Costa Rica Destination Editor for Essentialist, a luxury travel brand. Want to show your appreciation for her free article below? Thank Nikki here. ❤️️

You asked…

We have 10 days to see Monteverde, Arenal, and Manuel Antonio; is it better to fly into Liberia and out of San Jose?

We answered…

That depends on whether there is any advantage to you flying into Liberia. If flights from your hometown to Liberia are less expensive than flights to San Jose, if flying into Liberia offers your preferred flight schedule, or if there’s a particular Liberia-area sight or activity you wish to experience, then yes, it would be best to fly into Liberia and out of San Jose.

Alternatively, you could fly into and out of Liberia, however, given that Manuel Antonio–the last Costa Rica destination you plan to visit–sits closer to San Jose than Liberia, it would be slightly better to fly out of San Jose. Note our use of the word “slightly” here. Since the difference in drive time between Manuel Antonio and the SJO Airport (approximately 3 hours) and Manuel Antonio and the LIR Airport (approximately 4 hours and 45 minutes) is only 1 hour and 45 minutes, you may find you’d prefer to put up with the extra drive time to Liberia in order to book a round-trip flight, especially if the cost of flying into and out of Liberia is significantly less than the cost of flying into Liberia and out of San Jose. Since one-way flights to and from different airports typically cost more than a round-trip flight (into and out of the same airport), if this is the case for the flights you are looking at, you may find that saving yourselves the extra 1-hour-and-45-minute drive is not worth the added flight expense.

If you feel there is no advantage to flying into Liberia, or, if there is a particular advantage to you flying into San Jose, we would recommend planning to fly into and out of the SJO Airport. Why? Because drive times between both Monteverde and Arenal are roughly the same from the SJO Airport as they are from the LIR Airport. If you plan to visit Monteverde first as your question suggests, the drive will take approximately 3 hours to get to Monteverde from the airport in Liberia, versus approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes to get to Monteverde from the airport in San Jose. In this case, we bet you would agree that flying into and out of San Jose would be the smartest option. As an added bonus, if you opt to fly into San Jose and travel to Monteverde from there, although you will still encounter some bumpy roads as you enter the Monteverde region from this direction, you will avoid the worst/slowest/bumpiest section of road that falls along the route between Monteverde and Liberia.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

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RELATED TOPICS

Read our related blog post: Driving Directions To The SJO Airport / Driving Directions From The SJO Airport

Read our related blog post: Driving Directions To The LIR Airport / Driving Directions From The LIR Airport

Read our related blog post: Which Costa Rica Airport Is The Best? Comparing Costa Rica’s San Jose (SJO) Airport And Liberia (LIR) Airport

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