🇨🇷 Costa Rica or 🇹🇷 Türkiye
And what the world thinks
🇹🇷 Türkiye leads by 11 votes.
Which one, honestly
Costa Rica leads on nature. Türkiye leads on cities, value for money and food.
A normal day costs about $130 in Costa Rica and $90 in Türkiye.
Side by side
- 🇨🇷 Costa Rica🇹🇷 Türkiye
- Dec to MarBest monthsApr to May, Sep to Oct
- $130A normal day$90
- 5h 15m to San JoseNonstop from New York10h 15m to Istanbul
- Very goodBeaches and seaVery good
- Not the drawCities and cultureExceptional
- GoodFoodExceptional
- ExceptionalNature and hikingVery good
- Not the drawValue for moneyExceptional
- GoodEasy to get aroundVery good
- A hire car with clearance, the distances are short but the roads are slowGetting aroundCheap domestic flights and long distance buses, both good
- September and October on the Caribbean side, the wettest weeks of the yearWhen to avoidIstanbul in August, and the coast at the peak of the school holidays
Pick by what you want
🇨🇷 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.
🇹🇷 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.
Full Costa Rica guide →Full Türkiye guide →
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.