Hi Allan!

Your trip plan sounds great! 🙂

As for fitting in a day trip to Monteverde, this is almost always possible. The more important question to ask is whether or not you’ll find the day trip to be worth it, since trying to fit in a visit to Monteverde to/from the La Fortuna (Arenal) area doesn’t leave much time to actually enjoy Monteverde.

Deciding whether or not day trips to Monteverde are worth it from La Fortuna (Arenal) depends on several factors, like whether or not the day trip can be fit in at the beginning of your trip (i.e., if it will fall on itinerary Day #1, so only one-way travel to La Fortuna is necessary) or during your time in La Fortuna (i.e., if you’ll be in La Fortuna one day, then want to visit Monteverde to/from La Fortuna the next, then have the third day in La Fortuna again); whether you’ll have a rental car (i.e., to drive yourself to/from La Fortuna and Monteverde) or whether you’ll need to coordinate the day trip around transportation provider schedules; and whether the timing of activities you want to experience in Monteverde fit well with your transportation arrangements to/from the destination. These factors (and others) can help you decide whether you should (or shouldn’t) make the 3-3.5-hour drive to Monteverde from La Fortuna (Arenal) and back in one day.

To confirm, your question is one of the most popular we’re asked by La Fortuna and Monteverde travelers. In fact, we wrote a blog post on this exact topic that explores some of the points we touch on in much more detail:

How To Make A Day Trip To Monteverde From La Fortuna / Arenal Or Vice Versa: https://costaricatravelblog.com/how-to-make-a-day-trip-to-monteverde-from-la-fortuna-arenal-or-vice-versa/

The first part of our blog post linked to above talks about why you might want to consider not trying to squeeze in a day trip to Monteverde. If you’ve considered the downsides and still decide to make the day trip, the second half of our blog post linked to above will teach you three different ways (option A, option B, and option C) to execute it. 🙂

If you forge ahead with the plan to make a day trip to Monteverde from La Fortuna (Arenal), you might also want to read our related blog post about transportation between the two destinations, just so you know what to expect and what types of transportation services are available if you won’t be driving yourself.

Best Ways To Travel Between La Fortuna To Monteverde (Or Vice Versa): https://costaricatravelblog.com/travel-from-arenal-la-fortuna-to-monteverde/

Pura vida! 🙂

Nikki