Location

San Isidro (full name: San Isidro del General Perez Zeledon) is located in the Valley of El General, a fertile valley at about 600 meters above sea level. San Isidro is one of the most important cities in Costa Rica outside the Central Valley. Driving there from San Jose is about 150 kilometers or 100 miles, and takes about 3 hours. The drive is spectacular, and will take you over 3500 meters (10,000 feet) of altitude. Conditions can be foggy, especially at both slopes of this mountain range, but when it is sunny, the views are spectacular. Many people prefer taking a bus from San Jose to San Isidro, which costs about $3 and takes about 3 hours, almost as fast as driving.

Amenities

San Isidro is a full service town, and you can find pretty much everything you need here. Supermarkets have a very diverse selection, there are large hardware stores, many banks, some of which actually give pretty good service, and a wide variety of stores selling everything you can think of. San Isidro is also home to some very qualified lawyers, and most real estate transactions in the area are handled here. Most foreigners who live in the area go to San Isidro at least once a week for shopping and taking care of business.

There are several decent restaurants in San Isidro, and nightlife is pretty good. La Cascada is a very nice bar where young and well-to-do San Isidro hangs out at night, and during the weekends several discos offer you the opportunity to do hone your salsa and merengue skills. A local cultural center offers weekly theatre performances (in Spanish) and local artists regularly have expositions of their work.

Attractions

With its medium size, and full services, yet very relaxed atmosphere, San Isidro is a perfect combination of City and Country. The higher elevation makes for a slightly cooler climate than the nearby beaches, and at night it can even get chilly. Though the city itself is, as most Costa Rican cities, by no means pretty, the valley it lies in certainly is. The nearby Chirripo National Park is home to Chirripo Mountain, Central America's second highest peak.

Real Estate in San Isidro

San Isidro is by no means a real estate hot spot such as Dominical, Uvita and Ojochal, and prices are very reasonable. In the center of town, prices are logically a lot higher than in the outer parts, and since San Isidro is a young and fast-growing city, prices are on the rise. The suburbs are very pretty and very reasonably priced, and as you get further away from the city, property becomes downright cheap. There is great potential for reforestation in and around the valley, and the surrounding mountains are great for amateur coffee farming. Browse our Real Estate listings to see what is available.