Irazu Volcano Day Tour: Explore Cartago City and Orosi Valley from San Jose

This full-day excursion offers stunning vistas from Irazu Volcano National Park and the Orosi Valley, and includes a visit to the city of Cartago. Irazu, an active stratovolcano, boasts an irregular sub-conical form. It stands 3,432 meters high and spans more than 500 square kilometers, making it the biggest volcano in Costa Rica.

Duration: 8 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Santuario Nacional Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles - At around 11:30am, you will visit Cartago City’s main attractions including the Los Angeles Basilica.
  • Irazu Volcano National Park - You will be picked up from your hotel in San Jose between 7 and 7:30am. You will then travel 12 miles Eeast through the Panamerican Higway to Cartago province….
What's Included
  • Complimentary hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Guidance from a professional
  • Inclusive of all National Park fees
  • No hidden costs - all taxes and fees covered
  • Lunch provided
  • Comfortable transport in an air-conditioned minivan
  • Free Wifi during travel
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Alcoholic drinks (available to purchase)
Additional Information
  • Dress code is smart casual
  • May be operated by a multi-lingual guide
  • Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
Location
Santuario Nacional Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles
Calle 1,
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.5
(42 Ratings)
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Empat
Feb 18, 2025
Best tour guide in Costa Rica - Cheton and Leo (hope that no spelling mistake) is a very good guide and driver. Such a knowledgeable and informative guide. We are lucky to see the clear crafter and take many good photos in some beautiful places. We can strongly feel that the guide really try to take care each tourist. We love this country because of them. You should not miss this tour, 100% recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
James
Jan 30, 2025
Ronnie was are guide and did an outstanding job - Ronnie was are guide and did an outstanding job. He had outstanding knowledge of the area and was very patient in answering our questions. He showed us great restaurants at Barrio Escalante that we ate at later
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Xavier_a
Jun 10, 2024
Worth the Money - I was the only person who had signed up, so it was a private tour. Everything was my own pace and Tour guide was knowledgable
Review provided by Viator
Traveler57669061669
May 3, 2024
On an adventure with friendly people - Josè the tour guide was excellent. Always offered to take my picture and always prioritized showing me the best views. Safe driver, knowledgeable, and good English. Could not recommend any more highly! 😎
Review provided by Tripadvisor
359b_lav
Feb 9, 2024
Irazu Volcano,Orosi Valley Tour - Excellent guide, unforgettable experience, very well organised tour,everything ás previously descrbed and more,definitely recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Susie_s
Feb 1, 2024
Perfect day trip from San Jose with a lot of variety!! - Ricardo was our amazing host for the Irazu tour. We picked a day with a bad accident in San Jose and traffic was crazy. As a result, the company split our group so as not to delay the tour. Two of us were lucky to get a private tour with Ricardo. We started with a beautiful drive up to the Irazu volcano and National Park through beautiful countryside and farmland (once you escape the city). The park is at high altitude and even in the sun it was cold - definitely requires a sweater/coat and ideally long pants. There is no ‘Green lake’ in the crater these days - just the volcanic ash/rock and grass growing in one of the 3 craters - but great views. The next stop is the old capital city of Cartago with its stunning Catholic church. Spectacular detail inside which is a stark contrast to the clean, white, Byzantine exterior. Lunch was in the Orosi valley which we stopped to take photos of on the way down and on our return. Stunning orange blooms on the poró trees made the views even more beautiful. Great lunch - a very traditional Costa Rican dish of rice, vegetables, and plantains with fish, chicken or steak. The plantain ceviche starter was my favorite part and the Cas fruit juice was really good. Final stop was the Lancaster Botanical Gardens - home to an array of plants including a phenomenal collection of or bids (Which Lancaster devoted his life to study and preserve). A great day trip and you won't go wrong if you get Ricardo - he is a wealth of knowledge on CR history, geology, and plants.…. The list goes on!
Review provided by Viator
Jcawte
Jan 29, 2024
A great small group tour - Purposely booked on a small tour for a break and wasn't disappointed. 4 other people on the tour along with Alberto our guide. We were lucky with the cloud at the top of Irazu that cleared just after arriving and so had a good time exploring there. There was a lower level of cloud that meant far reaching views weren't possible, but it was still impressive. The basilica at Cartago was interesting, a service was in progress so couldn't explore it too much. The botanical gardens of Lankester were a peaceful stop and some of the orchids were really impressive. Finished with a short trip to Orosi and the church there. All in all a really good day and very well organised.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Donna_s
Mar 17, 2024
Beautiful Orosi and awe-inspiring Irazu - I do wish we had been able to explore more of Cartago City and it's ruins, but this was still a great tour and lucky me - I got a private guide because I was the only person who signed up from south San Jose that day! Unfortunately the dry season has been so hot and dry that there was no water in the crater, but it's still a beautiful and interesting area. Again, I wish I had been able to go to the viewpoint but the guide's car was not a 4x4. Orosi Valley was the highlight - the beautiful damn, hanging bridge, spectacular views, and gorgeous greenery.
Review provided by Viator
Tara_y
Nov 24, 2023
Very good tour of small town Costa Rica and the volcano - Such a unique and different side of Costa Rica and I recommend folks take this trip. Loved walking around the volcano crater shrouded in fog and seeing the Orosi valley coffee plantations at a distance and getting to experience small town Costa Rica. Episode have been a 5/5 if it wasn’t raining.
Review provided by Viator
Zeevm2022
Dec 18, 2024
Decidedly mixed - The Irazu Volcano was very special. Arturo the guide was interesting, and Andreas the driver was superb. However, we signed up for an English tour and we got a mix of English/Spanish guide (there were both English and Spanish speakers and the guide had to repeat everything in both languages). Also, the tour was advertised to last six hours and ended up lasting twelve hours. We were the first to get picked up and the last to be dropped. Extremely frustrating.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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March 2025
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