🇮🇹 Italy or 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Which one, honestly
Italy leads on cities, food and getting around. Costa Rica leads on nature and the sea.
A normal day costs about $165 in Italy and $130 in Costa Rica.
Side by side
- 🇮🇹 Italy🇨🇷 Costa Rica
- Apr, May, Sep, OctBest monthsJan, Feb, Mar, Dec
- $165A normal day$130
- 8h 45m to RomeNonstop from New York5h 15m to San Jose
- GoodBeaches and seaVery good
- ExceptionalCities and cultureNot the draw
- ExceptionalFoodGood
- Very goodNature and hikingExceptional
- GoodValue for moneyNot the draw
- Very goodEasy to get aroundGood
- Fast trains, genuinely excellent, book in advanceGetting aroundA hire car with clearance, the distances are short but the roads are slow
- The middle of August, when the cities empty and half the good places shutWhen to avoidSeptember and October on the Caribbean side, the wettest weeks of the year
Pick by what you want
🇮🇹 Choose Italy if
you want three cities in ten days, you care about food and museums, and you would rather take a train than a ferry.
🇨🇷 Choose Costa Rica if
you want wildlife above everything else, cloud forest and two oceans in one small country, and you accept it costs more than its neighbours.
Full Italy guide →Full Costa Rica guide →
And what the world thinks
Dead even. The next vote breaks the tie.
Compare something else
Written and checked by hand. Nothing here about visas or entry rules: those change often and depend on your passport, so check an official source.