San Jose

Let's put it this way: you probably wouldn't fly thousands of miles just to acquaint yourself with San José, but you'll probably get to know it well if you want anything to do with the rest of the country.

Costa Rica's small capital, situated in the interior amid spectacular jagged mountains, is its transportation hub, so if you plan to travel around a bit you're going to find yourself returning again and again. Which, despite the frazzled centre, is not such a hardship - blessed with year-round spring temperatures, you'll find the city cosmopolitan, energetic and sprinkled with sights.

Culturally, San José's museums are its biggest selling point. The Gold Museum exhibits a grand, pre-Columbian collection of the glittering stuff, while jade artefacts - some dating back 2500 years - get similar treatment in the Jade Museum, and the same goes for Costa Rican history in the National Museum.

When you're museumed out grab a cheap, sizeable and generally very tasty bite at a soda (snack bar), before descending with an eye for bargains on the Mercado Central or the stalls at Plaza de la Democracia.

The balmy evenings are for piling into Pacific shrimp or Caribbean lobster at your pick of the city's restaurants, taking your seat at the Teatro Nacional, or throwing yourself into culture of a rather different variety at the bars, taverns, clubs and chic venues the Joséfinos so enjoy themselves.

It's perhaps worth remembering, however, as you sling back yet another potent guaro, that at dawn you're probably due to head off on a surf safari, climb a volcano, hike through million-year-old rainforests or possibly even try zip-lining - swinging Tarzan-style from tree to tree while suspended from a 100m-high cable. Good luck.