Costa Rica San Jose Page 04:

Airport Freeway, Route 1 Traffic, National Museum, Pacific Train

Costa Rica San Jose Page 04: The San Jose airport (SJ0 Juan Santamaria International Airport) is located at the junction of Rte 1 and Rte 3 (see Googlemap) and close to the hotel where I stayed. Tours around the city and around the country will pick up at area hotels.

The SJO Airport freeway Route 1 clogs with traffic at morning and evening rush hours, and can more than double the travel times. If you are driving around Costa Rica, time your departures for very early (6 a.m.) or mid-morning to avoid most of the traffic.

San Jose Costa Rica Rte 1 Freeway Overpass near Adventure Inn

This is the view from the pedestrian overpass above Route 1 between the airport and San Jose (googlemap).

This overpass is used by bus transit passengers to cross from east bound bus stop to west bound bus stop.

Some of the buses along this route go to the the Coca Cola bus terminal, located a short walk from the city market. I took this picture mid-morning, well after rush hour.

Even so, this main road is a busy one. One trip in to San Jose from the airport between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. took an hour, with stop and go traffic. Other times, the same trip takes 10-15 minutes.

Note the curb lane on the outbound (to airport) side of the freeway: This is a live lane, with no pull-out for the many buses that ply this route. So when a bus stops to let passengers get on or off, all traffic in the same lane also comes to a stop. (See Video bottom of page)

National Monument at National Park (Parque Nacional) San Jose Costa Rica

Many guanacaste trees, the national tree of Costa Rica, shade the paths in the National Park (Parque Nacional) in east San Jose (googlemap).

This picture shows the National monument.

Also located in this park, though seen by us only as a drive-by, are the National Library (Biblioteca Nacional) and the National Center of Art and Culture (Centro Nacional de Artes y Cultura).

Old Train Car (Ferrocarril Electrico Al Pacifico) San Jose CR

Along the way, we stopped for a fast picture of this old train car through the windows of the bus. Several times, our bus crossed train tracks in San Jose.

I later learned about the train that runs between San Jose and the pacific Coast beaches on weekends.

Ask at your hotel for information about the 'Ferrocarril Electrico Al Pacifico' or simply take a day tour to the beaches. If you have a vehicle, take the new highway to the coast, about a 45-60 minute drive. For details see this page.

San Jose Justice Building / Supreme Court

Another brief pull-over and photo op out the tour bus window showed this gleaming white marble building, itself dwarfed by a high-rise.

I am not clear which one is the Justice Building and which one is the Supreme Court.

National Museum (Museo Nacional) San Jose CR - Turrets and Marks of Strife

Again, a stop to take pictures of the National Museum building; in one view, a large turret is marked with bullet holes that are a legacy of strife.

IN this view, we are stopped on the street at the lower level; the turret in question and the main entrance is on the upper level street.

If you will be staying in San Jose for an extended period, a vsit to this museum is a fine way to spend an afternoon.

Freeway Traffic Video San Jose Costa Rica

I took a short clip to help recall the sound and speed of traffic moving fast, between rush hours.

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