eSIM for San Jose

An underground museum beneath the Plaza de la Cultura housing 1,600 pre-Columbian gold artifacts from Costa Rica's history, displayed across four underground floors. The collection includes figurines, ceremonial objects, and a famous gold frog arrangement.

The largest collection of pre-Columbian jade in the Americas, housed in a modern building near the Plaza de la Democracia. The exhibits trace jade carving traditions from the Olmec civilization through the local Diquis culture of southern Costa Rica.

A former military fort converted to a museum on Calle 17, featuring a butterfly garden, pre-Columbine exhibits, and the famous Diquis stone spheres of Costa Rica's southern Pacific region. The bullet-hole marked walls recall the 1948 civil war.

An edutainment museum in a converted old prison building near the Plaza de la Democracia, with interactive science and culture exhibits aimed at children. The former cell blocks house hands-on displays on Costa Rican history and ecosystems.

A contemporary art museum in a former airport terminal west of the historic center, featuring rotating exhibits of Costa Rican and Central American artists. The mid-century building is a notable example of modernist architecture in San Jose.

The Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, the main institution for contemporary art and graphic design in Costa Rica, located near the National Museum. The small museum focuses on rotating exhibitions of local and international contemporary artists.

An enclosed butterfly garden in the eastern suburbs of San Jose, featuring native Costa Rican butterfly species including the blue morpho. The small reserve has educational exhibits on the local ecosystem and tropical insect life.

A primary rainforest reserve an hour outside San Jose in the Vara Blanca mountains, with five waterfalls, walking trails through the cloud forest, and wildlife exhibits. The site is a popular day trip from the capital.

The Mercado Central on Avenida Central between Calle 6 and Calle 8, a covered market with produce stalls, traditional food counters, and household goods. The market is one of the busiest public spaces in the historic center.

A neoclassical theater on Plaza de la Cultura inaugurated in 1897, considered the finest historic building in San Jose. The lobby features marble statues and the ceiling mural depicts coffee, banana, and sugar harvests of Costa Rican agriculture.