Region Guide
Monteverde
A misty cloud-forest highland of quetzals, ziplines and hanging bridges — cooler and quieter than the coast.
- Cloud forest3 reserves
- ZiplinesLatin America's longest
- Cool highlands1,200 – 1,800 m
- Quetzals& night wildlife
About Monteverde
Life in the clouds
Monteverde exists because 11 Quaker families, around 44 people, refused to fight in the Korean War, left Alabama in 1951, and picked Costa Rica specifically because it had abolished its army three years earlier in 1948. They named their new home “Green Mountain” and started a dairy farm. Scientists who visited in the 1960s convinced them to protect the forest around it instead of clearing it, and that decision is why you can now walk through six life zones and 2,500 plant species on a ridge that sees fewer visitors than La Fortuna but arguably richer biodiversity.
The planning problem here isn’t a shortage of things to do, it’s the opposite: three overlapping cloud forest reserves, at least three zipline parks, two competing hanging-bridge parks, and night walks that all claim to be the best way to see a quetzal or a sloth. Almost nothing in Monteverde is a bad choice, but a lot of it is redundant with something else on the list.
We break down which reserve, which zipline, which bridges, and which night walk actually differ in the guides below.
Walk into the clouds and the forest reveals itself slowly — a quetzal here, a sloth there, all of it wrapped in mist.
Top experiences in Monteverde
Featured guides for Monteverde
- Best Monteverde Night Walk ToursOperators say most of Monteverde's wildlife is active only after dark. Here's how the main night-walk tours differ, and why this is the one activity we'd call unmissable.
- Best Monteverde Zipline Tours: Selvatura vs 100% Aventura vs ExtremoLongest cable in Latin America, or the park inside the cloud forest itself, or the one with a bungee jump? Here's how Monteverde's three main zipline parks actually differ.
- Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve vs Santa Elena vs Curi-CanchaThree reserves, three price points, three very different vibes. Here's what actually separates Monteverde Reserve, Santa Elena, and Curi-Cancha, and which one gets you a quetzal.
- Monteverde Hanging Bridges: Selvatura vs Sky Walk (Treetopia)More bridges at a lower price, or the country's longest hanging bridge with smaller crowds? Here's the real difference between Monteverde's two hanging-bridge parks.
Not sure where to start?
Browse live, bookable Monteverde tours and check current prices below.