Online Travel Guide

Costa Rica is one of the few safe, democratic countries in Central America and is a perfect spot for guided tours.  Much of the country is designated as a national park area and visitors on guided tours can experience the unspoiled and pristine  natural sited the country has to offer.

Most guided tours of Costa Rica begin in San Jose, the largest city in Costa Rica.  From there, you can enjoy several guided tours of your own choosing.  Costa Rica is Spanish-speaking but many tourist areas have those who understand English and the accommodations are generally first-rate. Some guided tours will take you to the Heredia Highlands, the perfect spot to view the huge Poas Volcano and its nearly one mile wide steaming crater—the largest volcanic crater in the world.  Then you’ll spend some time on a naturalist-guided tour of the La Paz Waterfall Gardens with five waterfalls, an aviary and a butterfly garden. 

After an overnight stay in Arena, most guided tours of the area will take you on a hike over the beautiful Arenal Hanging Bridges.  Some visitors may instead elect to take a spa treatment or go on a canopy zipline tour—an adventurous way to spend the morning.  You can also take a walk around the town of La Fortuna and spend the afternoon relaxing at the Tabacon Hot Springs—and, yes, they’re really hot!  If you’re lucky, you can catch a glimpse of the smoldering lava flow of the Arenal Volcano at night. 

Next, you may wish to catch some waves at one of Costa Rica’s beaches.  Many guided tours of the area will allow you the opportunity to stop along the way at the Las Pumas Refuge, a hospital of sorts for injured large cats, monkeys and birds.  Another favorite spot on Costa Rica’s guided tours is the Tamarindo Wildlife Refuge.  This is the natural habitat of many species of birds, waterfowl and the howler monkey.  This is a tour done by boat and you’ll want to have your camera ready. As the refuge is near the beach, you can also schedule a fishing lesson, a surfing lesson or just hang out at the beach, soaking up the Costa Rican sunshine.

From the beach back to San Jose, many guided tours will take you to Guaitil, an artist’s colony of sorts, in which you can watch how the artisans make their distinctive pottery just like their ancestors did a thousand years ago.

 Another fun place is called Sarchi.  This little village is considered the craft capital of Costa Rica.  In Costa Rica, there are guided tours for everyone—not just for the nature minded.  You can take a cooking and spa guided tour that includes a visit to the hacienda of the Ortuno family where you can learn about growing sugar cane, coffee and macadamia nuts.  You can also learn about the medicinal uses for foods in the Latino culture. There are even guided tours of Costa Rica that involve those things related to black history and black heritage. Visitors will learn about their African roots and how Africans first came to Costa Rica in the 1800s to build the railways and to work on banana plantations.

There are truly guided tours for every taste and style in this beautiful country.  Explore the choices on the internet until you find one that fits your interests and fitness level.

Most guided tours of England focus on London and yet miss the beautiful and historic places you can go in the rest of  England.  It’s a lovely country with lots of history and places in which you can truly have an adventure. A favorite place for many guided tours of England is Stratford upon Avon.  Located on the Avon River, it was the birthplace of both William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway.  You may be able to stay in hotels that date back to the time of William Shakespeare, see his place of death and surrounding gardens and the Anne Hathaway House. Guided tours of Stratford upon Avon will take you to Trinity Church where both William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway were buried and you can see the lovely Hathaway Cottage—a must-see on most guided tours.  In addition, Shakespeare’s birthplace has been turned into a showplace of period furniture that takes you back to the time of his birth in a delightful little museum.

You may also wish to travel to Warwick Castle—another must-see destination on many guided tours.  It is perhaps one of the  best preserved old castles in all of England.  Located along the Avon River, your tour guide will tell you that the original  castle was built around the year 900 AD. Gradually, parts of the castle were added onto and fortified until it became the huge and sprawling castle you can see today.

Guided tours of Warwick Castle are available to groups and include the dungeons, the high buttresses, and rooms from various eras, including the Victorian Era.  One of the special features of this castle is that it has been outfitted with wax figures made from Madame Tussaud’s galleries.  There is an entire section of ornately decorated Victorian period rooms, complete  with wax figures.

Often, guided tours will allow you beyond the castle walls and out into the massive gardens and conservatory, where  visitors can have lunch and enjoy the beauty of the gardens.  If the weather is right, you will be able to walk among real peacocks strutting through the gardens.  All in all, it is a day worth remembering. Guided tours that partake of the southern part of England will take you to the famous Stonehenge, built more than two millennia ago and a favorite tourist attraction.  Those who come during the summer or winter solstice should expect that there will be a crowd there at the crack of first daylight.

Fun guided tours of England will take you to Oxford, home of the famous Oxford University and to Christ Church, where some aspects of the Harry Potter movies were filmed, including the scenes in the great hall.  In fact, you can take an entire Harry Potter guided tour that will guide you to as many places as possible that were included in the filming of the movie.  After rolling past the many castle ruins, fabulous gardens and quaint British homes on one of the guided tours of England, you may forget all about London itself.  If not, extend your tour into the big city of London—a city that often offers guided tours involving just those wondrous things you’ll find right there.  Take your time and enjoy all that England has to offer.