Yes, it’s absolutely possible to drive to Costa Rica from the US or any other country in North America. You’ll need a passport, a sense of adventure, the correct paperwork and a decent car to undertake this incredible trip. Using the Pan-American Highway, which is a set of roads linking Alaska in the north of America with Chile in the south, you can undertake this trip in as little as a few days. Assuming you’re starting your trip in the US, you’ll need to drive over 2000 miles through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, which is an arduous task. Therefore it’s worth taking your time and seeing some of the amazing sights along the way on this amazing road trip route.
The route to Costa Rica from the USA is relatively straightforward and follows a southerly trajectory. We’ve assumed a start point of San Antonio, the closest city to the border in the east. From here the route follows the Mexican east coast before passing through Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and finally Costa Rica. Largely following the Pan-American Highway, there’s some excellent roads and places to stop along the way.
It’s a long way from the USA to Costa Rica. Using the city of San Antonio as our starting point, it’s over 2,250 miles to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. This distance increases when we look at cities further north. Here’s a quick summary of the distances from some of the USA’s biggest cities:
Starting City | Destination | Distance |
San Antonio | San Jose | 2251 miles |
New York | San Jose | 3975 miles |
Los Angeles | San Jose | 3416 miles |
Seattle | San Jose | 4395 miles |
Chicago | San Jose | 3428 miles |
San Francisco | San Jose | 3795 miles |
Generally speaking it’s very safe to drive to Costa Rica through Central America. While drug cartel killings grab much of the headlines, the reality on the ground is very different. This doesn’t mean you should be complacent as crimes do occur and overland travellers sometimes suffer car troubles and thefts.
There’s a few simple rules to follow when driving to Costa Rica to minimse any risk:
The route from the USA to San Jose, Costa Rica passes through some of the best sights and attractions in Central America. We’ve picked out a few of the very best that you might want to visit along the way:
Palenque, Mexico – One of if not the finest Mayan ruin in the whole of Mexico. The route travels directly past this wonderful archaeological ancient city site. Covering a huge 15 square kilometres, the site date backs to the 1st century BC. There’s more details plus a possible side trip opportunity in our Yucatan Peninsula guide.
Flores, Guatemala – This wonderful colonial town is a great place to visit for it’s red roofed buildings and cobbled streets. It’s also a great jumping off point for a visit to Tikal, the finest Mayan ruins in the whole of Guatemala. If you’ve not stopped at Palenque, you must stop here. Even if you have visited Palenque, Tikal is well worth a visit.
Copán Ruins Archeological Site – Continuing our Mayan ancient ruins theme, we include Copán Ruins Archeological Site next on our list. Slightly off of the direct route to San Jose, this site is home to an ancient Mayan village. While it doesn’t have the wow factor of Tikal or Palenque, it’s a lot quieter and no less interesting.
Masaya Volcano, Nicaragua – The Masaya Volcano is one of Nicaragua’s premier tourist attractions. The most active volcano in the area, it’s one of the few places in the world where you can see a lava lake inside the cone of the volcano.
Tamarindo, Costa Rica – This beautiful beach town on Costa Rica’s western Pacific coast is a great spot to kick back after a long road trip. Despite being a laid back beach town there’s plenty to do. From surfing the waves to scuba diving the offshore reef, there’s no shortage of water based activities. There’s also plenty of nature to explore with a nearby jungle reserve that’s home to howler monkeys and a leatherhead turtle nesting site on the beach north of town.
Generally speaking the best time to visit Costa Rica is during the dry season, which runs from December to April. Days are typically hot and dry and the country is thronging with visitors. This latter point is the only negative around visiting at this time. Hotel and flight prices can increase significantly during the peak season and some of the countries attractions can also be noticeably busier.
Many seasoned visitors to Costa Rica claim that visiting during the period May to September is the best. The so called ‘green season’ see’s more rainfall, but still plenty of sunny days. The national parks and attractions are also much quieter, while hotel and flight prices come down to a more reasonable level.
The only real season to avoid in Costa Rica is from late September to early December. Rainfall during this wet season can be significant and whole days can be lost to the tropical downpours.
If you’re thinking of continuing your journey south from Costa Rica, there’s only Panama before you hit South America. There’s some complexities with getting to Colombia from Panama, so it’s well worth reading our can you drive to South America blog post.
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