Turrialba Costa Rica

This attractive little town 53km (33 miles) east of San José is best known as the starting point and home base for many popular white-water rafting trips. However, it's also worth a visit if you have an interest in pre-Columbian history or tropical botany.

Guayabo National Monument (tel. 2559-1220) is one of Costa Rica's only pre-Columbian sites that has been excavated and is open to the public. It's 19km (12 miles) northeast of Turrialba and preserves a town site that dates from between 1000 B.C. and A.D. 1400. Archaeologists believe that Guayabo might have supported a population of as many as 10,000 people, but there is no clue yet to why the city was eventually abandoned only shortly before the Spanish arrived in the New World. Excavated ruins at Guayabo consist of paved roads, aqueducts, stone bridges, and house and temple foundations. There are also gravesites and petroglyphs. The monument is open daily from 8am to 4pm. This is a national park, and admission is $10 (£5) at the gate.

Botanists and gardeners will want to pay a visit to the Center for Agronomy Research and Development (CATIE; www.catie.ac.cr), which is located 5km (3 miles) southeast of Turrialba on the road to Siquirres. This center is one of the world's foremost facilities for research into tropical agriculture. Among the plants on CATIE's 2,000 acres are hundreds of varieties of cacao and thousands of varieties of coffee. The plants here have been collected from all over the world. In addition to trees used for food and other purposes, there are plants grown strictly for ornamental purposes. CATIE is open Monday through Friday from 7am to 4pm. Guided tours are available with advance notice for $10 to $25 (£5-£13) per person, depending upon the size of your group, and how extensive a tour you decide to take. Call tel. 2556-2700 for reservations.

While you're in Turrialba, you might want to spend a little time at Turrialtico (tel. 2538-1111; www.turrialtico.com), a rustic yet beautiful open-air restaurant and small hotel high on a hill overlooking the Turrialba Valley. The view from here is one of the finest in the country, with lush greenery far below and volcanoes in the distance. Meals are quite inexpensive; a double room will cost you around $62 to $66 (£31-£32) including breakfast and taxes. This place is popular with rafting companies that bring groups here for meals and for overnights before, during, and after multiday rafting trips. You'll find Turrialtico about 10km (6 1/4 miles) outside of Turrialba on the road to Siquirres.

If you're looking for more luxury in this area, check out Casa Turire (tel. 2531-1111; www.hotelcasaturire.com), where well-appointed rooms and suites in an elegant country mansion run between $135 and $330 (£68-£165). The hotel is set on the banks of the lake formed by the Angostura dam project, and you can take a kayak or paddleboat out on the lake here.

Since Turrialba is a main base for several rafting trips and rafting operators, the town has a healthy population of rafting guides living here, and as a result, it actually has a pretty active nightlife.

Getting There -- Transtusa buses (tel. 2222-4464 or 2556-4233) leave San José hourly for Turrialba between 5am and 10pm from Calle 13 between avenidas 6 and 8. The fare is $1.80 (90p). If you're driving, take the road from Cartago to Paraíso, then through Juan Viñas, and on to Turrialba. It's pretty well marked. (Alternatively you can head toward the small town of Cot, on the road to Irazú Volcano, and then through the town of Pacayas on to Turrialba, another well-marked route.)

Turrialba itself is a bit of a jumble, and you will probably have to ask directions to get to locations outside of town. Guayabo is about 20km (12 miles) beyond Turrialba on a road that is paved the entire way except for the last 3km (1 3/4 miles). Around three buses also head to Guayabo daily from the main bus terminal in Turrialba.

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