Hello Roz!

That sounds great! 8-day Costa Rica vacations tend to be the norm, and La Fortuna and Manuel Antonio tend to be the most visited destinations with this amount of time to spend in the country. So, you’re definitely on the right track! 🙂

As far as whether or not you should visit Monteverde, this is one of the most common questions we’re asked. It’s tough for us to say whether Monteverde is “worth it” since that evaluation truly varies from person to person. Since you mentioned that you know we don’t usually recommend 1-day trips to Monteverde, you may have already read the following article on our blog, but in case not, I’ll forward you the link as it’s a great place to start when trying to determine Monteverde’s worth:

How To Decide Between La Fortuna / Arenal And Monteverde (Or Why You Should Visit Both): https://costaricatravelblog.com/la-fortuna-arenal-or-monteverde/

I’d also recommend taking a peek at our Monteverde Tour Discounts page (https://puravidaeh.ca/product-category/destinations/monteverde-tours/) to get an idea of the tours and activities that the Monteverde area has to offer. Depending on whether there are many (or not many) experiences that interest you at that destination, you may find it easier to commit to planning (or skipping) a trip there.

To help you envision what your itinerary will look like, you may find our following blog post helpful:

Costa Rica Itinerary: 8 Days In Costa Rica; Sample Itineraries, How Many Places To Visit, How Many Activities To Do, And More! https://costaricatravelblog.com/costa-rica-itinerary-8-days-in-costa-rica/

Pay special attention to the “with 8 days in Costa Rica, here’s how many places you should visit” section. It should help you understand why sticking to 2 destinations is typically best, and what to expect if you opt to add in a 3rd destination.

If you’re leaning towards adding in Monteverde, check out our 10-day Costa Rica itinerary article: https://costaricatravelblog.com/costa-rica-itinerary-10-days-in-costa-rica/ Though you’ll only be in the country for 8 days (you can simply remove two days/nights from the itineraries we suggest in that article), the blog post will give you an idea of how a La Fortuna-> Monteverde-> Manuel Antonio trip should be framed.

Overall, both our 8-day and 10-day itinerary articles will inform you of how many days we recommend spending in each place. Keep in mind that our recommendations are general, as each traveler is different (some people want to be active and others want to relax on a beach). You can also check out our La Fortuna / Arenal Tour Discounts page (https://puravidaeh.ca/product-category/destinations/la-fortuna-tours/) and our Manuel Antonio Tour Discounts page (https://puravidaeh.ca/product-category/destinations/manuel-antonio-tours/) to find out which tours and activities appeal to you at those destinations. This point may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised to learn how often travelers overlook the following: whichever destinations have the most tours and activities that interest you should be the destinations you plan to spend the most time in. Our tour description pages offer the start time and approximate duration of each tour/activity to help you determine exactly how much time you need in each place to do, see, and experience everything you want.

Pura vida! 🙂