Things to do in Monteverde, Costa Rica

Monteverde is small, and almost everything worth doing here is about the forest: walking it by day, walking it at night, and looking closely at what lives in it. This is how we — a local team of certified naturalist guides — would spend a few days in our own town.

Cloud forest reserves and guided walks

Curi-Cancha Reserve
A private reserve with open trails, forest edge and gardens — one of the most reliable places in Monteverde for birds, including the resplendent quetzal in season.
We guide daytime walks and birding here
Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Preserve
The best-known reserve in the area, with mature cloud forest, a suspension bridge and the continental divide.
Included in our guided day tours
Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve
A community-managed reserve on the Atlantic slope, usually quieter and often wetter and windier than the Monteverde side.
Monteverde Wildlife Refuge
A refuge with well-maintained trails used mainly in the evening, when nocturnal wildlife becomes active.
Our night walks run here

After dark

Guided night walk
A guided walk on lit forest trails looking for sleeping birds, tarantulas, katydids, frogs, snakes and small mammals. Sightings are never guaranteed, and a guide is required.
Book a Monteverde night tour with us
Bat Jungle
An indoor exhibit in Santa Elena dedicated to bats, with live colonies behind glass and guided explanations.
Frog pond and serpentarium
Small indoor exhibits in Santa Elena where amphibians and snakes of the region can be seen up close, day or evening.

Birds and wildlife

Birdwatching with a naturalist guide
Monteverde is a classic Costa Rica birding destination: resplendent quetzal, three-wattled bellbird, black guan, trogons and a long list of hummingbirds. A guide with a spotting scope changes what you actually see.
Private and small-group birding tours
Hummingbird gardens
Feeder gardens near the reserve entrances where several cloud-forest hummingbird species come in close.
Butterfly and orchid gardens
Small managed gardens focused on butterflies, insects and the region's orchids — good options for a rainy afternoon or with children.
Sloths
Sloths do occur around Monteverde, though they are far less predictable here than on the Caribbean and Pacific lowlands.
Where sloths fit into a Monteverde visit

Adventure, coffee and village life

Hanging bridges and canopy walkways
Several operators run suspended walkways through the canopy, giving a view of the forest from above rather than from the trail.
Ziplines and canopy tours
Monteverde is where the canopy tour was invented, and several zipline operations work in the area.
Coffee, sugar cane and chocolate tours
Farm visits around Santa Elena that follow coffee from the plant to the cup, usually alongside sugar cane and cacao.
Santa Elena village
The town itself: restaurants, cafés, artisan shops and the Quaker-era dairy tradition that shaped Monteverde.

Attractions without a Nasua Tours link are run by other local businesses. We list them because they are genuinely worth your time — we do not sell them and we do not quote their prices or hours here.

Planning questions

What are the top things to do in Monteverde?: A guided walk in a cloud forest reserve, a guided night walk, and birdwatching with a scope are the three experiences most visitors remember. Hanging bridges, a zipline, a coffee farm tour and the small wildlife exhibits in Santa Elena fill out a two or three day stay.
How many days do you need in Monteverde?: Two full days lets you do one daytime reserve walk, one night walk and one other activity without rushing. Birders usually want a third morning, because the best birding hours are right at reserve opening time.
Do you need a guide in Monteverde?: You can walk most reserves on your own, but a certified naturalist guide finds and explains what you would otherwise walk past, and carries a spotting scope. The night walk at the Wildlife Refuge is only done with a guide.

Want the guided part handled?

Day walks, night walks and birding mornings all run with certified naturalist guides, in shared small groups of no more than 6 guests per guide or fully private.

See all tours Monteverde travel guide