Costa Rica Guide
The Valle Central and the highlands
San Ramón
The colonial town and agricultural centre of San Ramón, 43km from Alajuela and 59km from San José on the Interamericana Norte (Hwy-1), sits amid verdant rolling hills surrounded by coffee plantations and sugar cane fields. The focal point of the town is the imposing steel Gothic-style Iglesia de San Ramón, built in 1928 after an earthquake brought the previous cathedral to its knees. Opposite lies the Parque Central and the bustling Central Market is another one block north.
A proud university town (the University of Costa Rica's western campus is here), San Ramón is historically a breeding ground for poets and presidents. The town has given birth to no less than five of Costa Rica's former presidents. The most notable was visionary and social reformer José "Don Pepe" Figueres Ferrer, who abolished the military in 1948. His childhood home, opposite the northern side of the church, has been converted into the José Figueres Ferrer Cultural and Historic Centre (Mon– Sat 10am–7pm, free; 
447-2178), a museum dedicated to his life and politics which also hosts rolling art and photographic exhibitions. Across the road, Museo de San Ramón (Mon-Fri 8am–5pm; 437-9851; free), is strong on local history.
San Ramón lies at the far western edge of the Valle Central and acts as a crossroads for traffic plowing north towards Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve and La Fortuna, west to Puntarenas and the Central Pacific, northwest along the Interamericana to Liberia and east to San José. Buses leave from C 16, Av 1/3 and depart every 45 minutes for Alajuela and hourly for San José. There are also frequent services to Ciudad Quesada via Zarcero.
For some entertaining local tourist information, pop into the old-worldy cigar shop 
La Casa de Los Hidalgo ( 445-5463), one block south of the back of the church. Owned by a gregarious Cuban, María Isabelle Coste and her chain-smoking husband Pablo Hidalgo, the pair are a wealth of local knowledge and if you hang around long enough, they´ll even teach you how to roll your own cigar.
You'll find a number of banks clustered just east of the church, including Banex, BAC and Banco Popular. The Banco Nacional lies one block south of the church and the correo is a further two blocks west.
If you need to bunker down in San Ramón, La Posada Hotel ( 445-7359, 
www.posadahotel.com ; Price: $31-50), four blocks north of the church, is by far the nicest option. Rooms have wide-screen TV, super-clean bathrooms and regal decorative flourishes such as ornate wooden bedheads. Breakfast and Internet is included. For a good budget option, La Cima Lodge ( 445-9418; Price: $11-20) lies three kilometres east of town and has basic cabins scattered on a lovely hillside.
The food, coffee and service is first class at Delicious, a spacious café three blocks west of the park. Chinese restaurant Han Bin, just west of the park, is where locals splash out on special occasions.