Orchid houses
Delicate blooms.
Rquesada — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sairen42 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Franz Xaver — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Franz Xaver — CC BY-SA 3.0
A botanical garden of the University of Costa Rica, first created by the English naturalist Charles Lankester, who lived in the country and loved orchids, and today one of Central America's leading centres for orchid study and conservation, with hundreds of species from Costa Rica and the world. Visitors walk paths through varied sections: orchid houses with tiny delicate blooms and big colourful ones, bromeliad and fern gardens, a garden of cacti and desert plants, secondary forest of native trees and a calm Japanese garden with a pond and wooden bridge. The best time is February to April, when many orchids bloom. The garden also draws hummingbirds and butterflies among the flowers, and guided tours explain the strange world of orchids. It lies on the road to the Orosi Valley, so combine the two in one trip.
Delicate blooms.
Pond and bridge.
Desert plants.
Paraíso near Cartago, about an hour from San José
February to April, when many orchids bloom, though the garden is lovely all year.