🇹🇷 Türkiye or 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Which one, honestly
Türkiye leads on cities, value for money and food. Costa Rica leads on nature.
A normal day costs about $90 in Türkiye and $130 in Costa Rica.
Side by side
- 🇹🇷 Türkiye🇨🇷 Costa Rica
- Apr, May, Sep, OctBest monthsJan, Feb, Mar, Dec
- $90A normal day$130
- 10h 15m to IstanbulNonstop from New York5h 15m to San Jose
- Very goodBeaches and seaVery good
- ExceptionalCities and cultureNot the draw
- ExceptionalFoodGood
- Very goodNature and hikingExceptional
- ExceptionalValue for moneyNot the draw
- Very goodEasy to get aroundGood
- Cheap domestic flights and long distance buses, both goodGetting aroundA hire car with clearance, the distances are short but the roads are slow
- Istanbul in August, and the coast at the peak of the school holidaysWhen to avoidSeptember and October on the Caribbean side, the wettest weeks of the year
Pick by what you want
🇹🇷 Choose Türkiye if
you want a city that has been the centre of everything for two thousand years, with a coastline attached to it, on a small budget.
🇨🇷 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 Türkiye guide →Full Costa Rica guide →
And what the world thinks
🇹🇷 Türkiye leads by 1 vote.
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.