Nicoya is the main town of the Nicoya peninsula, in Guanacaste.

Understand

Nicoya serves as a transport hub to Guanacaste's beaches and national parks. In 2013, the city's population was about 25,000.

The town was built in an old colonial style, in the Cordillera Volcánica de Guanacaste. Agriculture and cattle form the backbone of the city's economy, and that of the province which surrounds it.

The center of Nicoya is organized in the traditional Spanish-American pattern, with a central plaza surrounded by streets in a grid pattern aligned north-south and east-west. Unusually, the church is in the northeastern corner of the central plaza, not facing the plaza from a surrounding street, as was the Iberian norm. The church is locally called the templo colonial; local oral history maintains that the church dates from some time between 1522 and 1544, when the parish of Nicoya was founded.

Get in

Costa Rica's Route 21 is the main road serving Nicoya, connecting the city with Liberia 76 km to the north. From the south, Route 21 also connects Nicoya to the rest of Nicoya Peninsula, including Pueblo Viejo (exit to Route 18, and then connecting to Route 1), on the main way to San José 204 km via Route 1.

Nicoya has an airport, but there are no scheduled services.

Sleep

• Hotel Chorotega, Calle 1, ☏ +506 2661 0998. Probably the cheapest place in town. Clean rooms with fans. Possibility to have a shared or private bathroom. Single shared bath ₡3500, double shared bath ₡6000, double en suite ₡8000, double en suite with TV and AC ₡10,000-12,000, triple en suite with TV and AC ₡15,000-18,000. (updated Feb 2013)