7 of the Best Wheelchair Accessible Things to Do in San Jose Costa Rica

A few months ago, I visited the beautiful country of Costa Rica for the first time with Il Viaggio Travel. Il Viaggio is a tour company that specializes in wheelchair accessible Costa Rica tours and while planning the trip with them, I put a huge emphasis on exploring the rainforest, but I didn’t care a whole lot about seeing the capital city of San Jose to be completely honest.

While in Costa Rica, I wanted to see sloths, roll through the rainforest, and swim in hot springs (I did all of these things and you can read about them right here), but I didn’t know a lot about San Jose or what all it had to offer. Luckily, the experts at Il Viaggio Travel scheduled a few days in San Jose and the surrounding area for my mom and I at the beginning of our trip, so we had a chance to see the city’s highlights.

I’m so glad that we did because it turns out that while the rainforest and the La Fortuna area is more of a must-do on most traveler’s itineraries, the city of San Jose is spectacular as well and definitely worth a visit.

During my time in the capital city, I uncovered some of the best wheelchair accessible things to do in San Jose Costa Rica. From seeing crocodiles up-close to rolling on a “universal trail” in a national park, San Jose tremendously impressed me with its variety of accessible activities. Here are 7 awesome things to do in San Jose Costa Rica for any traveler –

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The Best Accessible Things to Do in San Jose Costa Rica

Irazu Volcano

Just an hour outside of San Jose is Costa Rica’s tallest volcano, Irazu. At 11,260 feet tall, it’s a steep trek to the top, but nothing that our driver from Il Viaggio Travel couldn’t handle. It was really interesting to see the change in landscape and vegetation as we drove to the top.

Irazu is still an active volcano, but it hasn’t erupted since 1994. It’s completely safe to visit right now, so don’t be worried. When Il Viaggio said that we’d be visiting a volcano, I was a bit nervous and had flashbacks of the 90’s movie, Dante’s Peak. Remember that movie? However, I had a very peaceful and nice visit at Irazu with no eruptions. Hallelujah!

Once we arrived to the top, I noticed a huge change in temperature. Since it’s over 11,000 feet high, it stays much colder year-round. The average is about 40-50° Fahrenheit, so definitely layer up before visiting.

From the parking lot, there was a great paved trail to some of Irazu’s craters. There are two craters that you can see from the trail, the main crater and the smaller Diego de la Haya Crater.

The Diego de la Haya Crater came up first and it was rather dry when I visited, but the Main Crater was impressive and worth seeing.

At 900 feet deep, the Main Crater had bright blue water in it and we were able to catch a glimpse of it before the clouds overtook the view. Irazu tends to be cloudy, but the clouds do move every now and then, so if it’s too cloudy when you first get there, just wait for a little while.

We stayed at Irazu Volcano for about 30 minutes, but since it was so cold, we got back in the van and decided to try to find a place to eat lunch at.

Not too far from Irazu Volcano was Mi Tierra Restaurant, an authentic Costa Rican restaurant in the city of Cartago. It was wheelchair accessible and even had an accessible companion care restroom inside.

The food was delicious as well! I had grilled fish, which was seasoned and cooked perfectly, with fries and black beans. It was one of my favorite meals during my time in Costa Rica, so I would definitely recommend getting a bite to eat here either before or after your visit to Irazu.

Lankester Botanical Garden

On the way back to San Jose from Irazu Volcano, we stopped at a second must-see attraction, Lankester Botanical Garden. The botanical garden spans 27 acres and has more than 3,000 species of plants, with nearly a thousand of those being native and exotic orchids.

Lankester Botanical Garden was extremely easy to get around in with a wheelchair. There were paths throughout the gardens and access really couldn’t have been better. There are even wheelchairs available at the front desk in case you need to borrow one for your visit.

It was heavily raining during my visit, but I still enjoyed rolling around the gardens for a little over an hour (with an umbrella, of course). As they say in Costa Rica, “Without the rain, there would be no rainforest,” so I’m thankful for every drop.

Lankester offers guided walks every 30-60 minutes, but we opted to do a somewhat self-guided tour with our guide, Diego, from Il Viaggio Travel. He did a great job of pointing out interesting things to see and I was constantly in awe of the beauty in the botanical garden. Many of the flowers and plants were new to me, and this was a fantastic introduction to the flora and fauna of Costa Rica.

Jungle Crocodile Safari

On every trip, I like to experience some adventure. What better way to have an adventure than on a crocodile safari in Costa Rica?! Jungle Crocodile Safari offers wheelchair accessible crocodile safari cruises on the Tárcoles River and this was such an amazing experience. About an hour from San Jose, this was perfect for a day trip.

There was a pretty steep ramp to get to the boat and a small step at the bottom of it, but it wasn’t a big issue with my powered wheelchair. The staff at Jungle Crocodile Safari made it a seamless experience and with their help, I was quickly on the boat and ready to explore.

During our cruise along the Tárcoles River, we saw lots of birds, unique plants, and the highlight of the tour, loads of crocodiles! Our boat could get super close to some of the crocodiles and since I had plenty of space to maneuver my wheelchair on board, I had some awesome views of the crocodiles.

Most of the crocodiles were just chilling out and having a rather lazy day, but it was still really exciting to see them up-close in their natural habitat. And to see the many birds, binoculars were available. As an animal lover, I absolutely loved this experience and it felt somewhat surreal that I was actually in Costa Rica doing this. Just incredible…

The crocodile safari was about two hours long and afterward, the kind people at Jungle Crocodile Safari prepared a delicious lunch for us. I had grilled fish, rice, vegetables, mashed potatoes, and fruit for dessert. It was a tasty ending to a phenomenal adventure.

Carara National Park

Out of all of the things that I did in, and near, San Jose, this was my very favorite! Carara National Park is just a short distance from the Jungle Crocodile Safari, so it’s perfect to do these activities back-to-back. At Carara, you’ll get a wonderful introduction to Costa Rica’s rainforests.

Carara National Park has multiple hiking trails, but what makes this park so special for people with disabilities is the fact that they have a Universal Trail as well. Carara’s Universal Trail is paved, so it’s easy for wheelchairs to roll on, and there are even statues of different animals and signs in Braille for people that are blind. A companion care restroom is on the trail as well.

As soon as I arrived at Carara, I noticed dozens of huge iguanas near the parking lot. I have never seen so many iguanas in one place, so it was quite a sight! Without getting too close to them, we took some photos (some of the iguanas really liked to pose too!) and then headed over to the Universal Trail.

The Universal Trail is 3/4 of a mile long, but since we were going slow and taking photos along the way, it took about an hour total to do the trail. I’d recommend slowing down and fully taking in the experience. You never know what you’ll see in Carara.

We were lucky enough to see a variety of different birds, poisonous dart frogs (don’t touch these or you will be spending your vacation in the hospital), and a plethora of insects. In addition to all of the creatures, I liked just looking around and seeing all of the greenery. The rainforest is truly an amazing place in this big, beautiful world of ours.

Britt Coffee Tour

Are you a coffee lover?? That’s probably a stupid question because who doesn’t love a hot cup of coffee in the morning, right? If you are a coffee drinker, you can’t miss out on the Britt Coffee Tour near San Jose. And if for some reason you don’t like coffee, you should still do this tour. By the end of it, you’ll be a coffee fan, I’m sure.

In 1985, Cafe Britt was founded as the first gourmet coffee roaster in all of Costa Rica, so this is hands-down the most reputable coffee tour in the country. Tours last an hour and a half and are at specific times throughout the day. You can book your spot in advance online here or have Il Viaggio Travel take care of it.

Our tour was led by two guys from Britt Coffee and they were very comedic. They made the tour fun, but also made sure that we learned a lot about how Costa Rican coffee is made. I’ve never been on a coffee tour before, so it was interesting to learn about.

Most of the tour took place outdoors and there were paths all throughout the coffee plantation. My wheelchair handled most of them very well, but there were some bumpier areas. The tour leaders did a good job of keeping the group together and not going too fast though, so I was easily able to keep up with everyone the entire tour.

We started the tour in the nursery, where we learned about the growing cycle of coffee beans, and we finished in the factory, where we learned how the coffee is roasted. During that time, we were given some coffee to try. That was naturally the best part of the tour, but I enjoyed the whole tour and would certainly recommend it if you’ll be in the San Jose area.

Downtown San Jose

You can’t visit San Jose without rolling through its downtown area. There are a variety of shops, restaurants, and museums. While the actual city of San Jose is often overlooked on Costa Rica itineraries, it shouldn’t be. I had a blast in downtown San Jose at a few different points of interest.

Just rolling down the sidewalks and pedestrian streets of downtown San Jose is an experience in itself. When I visited in May 2019, giant marble and bronze sculptures by Costa Rican artist Jorge Jimenez Deredia were on display in the streets. They were amazing to see, but unfortunately, the exhibit ended in July 2019. However, San Jose is eclectic, so there’s no telling what will be on display when you visit.

My first stop while rolling through downtown was Central Market. This is San Jose’s largest market, with over 200 vendors selling everything from souvenirs to fresh fruit and authentic Costa Rican meals. The market is fully wheelchair accessible and I had no problem rolling down the somewhat narrow aisles.

I bought a few too many souvenirs, but the highlight of Central Market was La Sorbetera de Lolo Mora. It’s a legendary ice cream shop that has been around since 1901 and their cinnamon-laced frozen custard is a favorite of locals and visitors alike. It was delicious and the reason why they’ve been operating for more than a century. You have to try it!

The second stop on my roll through downtown San Jose was at the Teatro Nacional, AKA the National Theater. It’s one of the capital city’s most notable buildings, as it was constructed in 1897 and is beautifully designed. While in-depth tours of the National Theater are available, I only popped in and looked around the lobby. Next time, I would love to actually see a show in the theater.

The last, but certainly not least special, stop on my roll through downtown was the Jade Museum. San Jose’s Jade Museum has the largest collection of American jade in the entire world. There are nearly 7,000 pieces on display in the fully wheelchair accessible museum. I loved learning more about jade and I thought the museum did a great job of making it intriguing for everyone. The exhibits were modern and interesting, and whether you know anything about jade or not before going, it’s worthy of a visit while downtown.

Oxcart Factory Tour

The last item on my list of wheelchair accessible things to do in San Jose Costa Rica is to visit an oxcart factory! I know, I know… you’re probably thinking “Why in the world would I want to visit an oxcart factory?!” and I’ll admit, I thought the same thing before going. However, I had a fun time and this was one of the most unique things that I did during my trip.

Just 30-45 minutes from San Jose, the town of Sarchi is Costa Rica’s oxcart production capital. The world’s biggest oxcart is in Sarchi’s Central Park, which makes for a perfect photo op. After seeing the giant oxcart, we headed to the oxcart factory Fabrica de Carretas Eloy Alfaro to learn more about how the beautiful oxcarts are made.

Our guide showed us each step that goes into making an oxcart, including the waterwheel, which they still use today to power the machinery. We also learned how the wheels are made and let me tell you, it’s not as simple as you’d think. A lot of work goes into each oxcart and by the end of our tour, I gained a whole new appreciation for oxcarts.

The coolest thing about the oxcarts, in my opinion, are the intricate designs on them. At Fabrica de Carretas Eloy Alfaro, we were able to see the talented artists as they painted new oxcarts. Each design is completely by hand and after seeing how talented the artists were, I half-jokingly asked one of them if he wanted to paint my wheelchair. To my surprise, he immediately said yes and within 30 seconds, he was putting a unique design on my wheelchair. I love how it turned out and think that it’s the best souvenir I could’ve gotten in Costa Rica! Here it is –

It’s a pretty epic souvenir, right?! In case you want other souvenirs as well, there is a huge gift shop on-site. It was the biggest gift shop that I saw during my time in Costa Rica and it literally had everything that you can imagine. I would suggest waiting to do your souvenir shopping until you come here because chances are that you’ll be able to knock it all out in this one place.

Il Viaggio’s accessible transportation

San Jose and it’s surrounding areas were absolutely phenomenal and full of wheelchair friendly things to do. While these 7 options are in no way the only accessible things to do in, and near, San Jose, they’re a good starting point when planning your own trip!

From getting a “tattoo” painted on my wheelchair in an oxcart factory to chugging delicious Costa Rican coffee and much more, I’ll never forget my time in the stunning city of San Jose, Costa Rica. I’m already counting down the days to my return to San Jose in April 2020! Pura vida!

*Thank you to Il Viaggio Travel for showing me the best things to do in San Jose Costa Rica! While my experiences were complimentary or discounted, all opinions expressed are authentic and my own.

7 of the Best Wheelchair Accessible Things to Do in San Jose, Costa Rica

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The Best Accessible Things to Do in San Jose Costa Rica

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