Coffee, strawberries
and farms

How to use this guide

For anyone going up Poás who wants to fill the rest of the day with coffee and strawberries, or who is after a coffee tour near the airport. The places fall into three areas. On the slopes of Poás are the Coffee tour at Hacienda Doka, Hacienda Alsacia, the Starbucks coffee farm, and the Poasito strawberry farms, along Route 120. In Heredia, on the road to Barva, is the Britt coffee tour, about 25 minutes from the airport. The CATIE Botanical Garden stands apart, 3 km east of Turrialba.

For the Poás slopes, go up the volcano in the morning and come down Route 120, stopping at the strawberry stalls in Poasito and Fraijanes. Then pick a single coffee tour: both in the area follow the process from field to tasting. Hacienda Alsacia runs 90-minute tours daily from 8:00 to 16:00, so it fits well in the afternoon. Doka sells combos with Poás and La Paz Waterfall Gardens, handy if you want the whole day in one package.

The Britt tour works best on the first or last day of your trip, given how close it is to the airport, or if you are not going to Poás. CATIE is a different outing, towards Turrialba: about 45 ha of garden with some 4,000 species of tropical plants and good birdwatching, for those who prefer plants to coffee. If money or time is short, stick to the strawberry stalls and one coffee tour.

Tips

• At Hacienda Alsacia, tours run in English on the hour and in Spanish on the half hour. Adults pay $35, seniors and students $30, and under-6s go free.
• In Poasito, a family farm offers a guided tour of hydroponic strawberries with an oxcart ride. Stalls on the same road sell cheese and strawberries with cream.
• CATIE opens Monday to Friday 7:00 to 16:00 and at weekends 8:00 to 15:00. There are self-guided visits, for about $11, and guided ones, for about $26.
• The classic Britt tour, tasting included, sells from about $30 on booking platforms.