puerto rico/costa rica, helsinki/reykjavik?

[ashlee]

what are your experiences in puerto rico and costa rica? i'm finding that airfare from eastern canada is *really* affordable, much more affordable than going to europe.

however, i did find some reasonable flights to helsinki and reykjavik. share your stories - even if they are horror stories!

[augentier]

I loved Costa Rica..we flew into San Juan and rented a car, drove to the Pacific coast to a small surf town called Jaco. I thought the people were helpful and friendly but many did NOT speak English. The food is amazing and everything is really cheap compared to home (U.S.)

My only gripe is not being able to flush the toilet but that's expected in central america...

But the highlights of Costa Rica were definitely the tranny hookers and great beaches near Jaco for beginner surfers :D

[AKguacamole]

Costa Rica is an awesome place to travel, and it's true you can find some really cheap tickets! I got down there for around $600 RT. But Costa Rica is filling up with travelers, and depending on your style of travel, try to shoot for some small towns a little off the map. Dominical (central pacific side) is supposed to be wonderful, but quite the bumpy road to get there. The Nicoya penninsula coast towns are wonderful with some good surf spots, but can also be very touristy. There are tons of waterfalls more inland that make good hikes, and the south carribean side is awesome. We rented bikes in Puerto Viejo, and rode them down to Manzanillo, the last sleepy town before the Panama border. From there we hiked down the coastline for miles, checking out tidepools and all sorts of cool things. That meant we had to ride the 12 or so miles back to PV in the dark, which was quite scary, but that was the best little excursion of the whole trip.

[mbo108]

I've been to both Helsinki and Reykjavik in the past year and loved both of them.

Iceland is great because you can really get a sense of the capital and even the whole country in 3/4 days there due to its relatively small size. Its definitely a great time to go because the Canadian Dollar is now worth twice what is was in Iceland this time last year. I heard it referred to as a national-wide 50% sale and thats basically what it is now. The only drawback before was how expensive it could get but that has been taken care of. I might wait until the spring or summer though because right now they're getting just a few short hours of sunlight. I wrote up my whole journey in this thread and at this blog post.

I never got around to writing up my trip to Helsinki and we were only there for 2 days as part of a larger trip but I did like what I saw. So no horror stories but there we just did the Rick Steves little self-guided tour, grabbed beers and dinner, sat out watching the sun set at 1 am (it was height of summer) and took the ferry to Tallinn, Estonia the next day. I do have pictures posted here.

Let me know if you have any specific questions. Good luck deciding between your trip very different locations!