Costa Rica vs. Peru

[2littlestitches]

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if any of you have done both of these trips and could help me decide which one to do? As a little background, our family has done the ABD Australia trip which we loved! We are a family of four, and my two boys will be 9 and 11 next summer. They love animals, we all love snorkeling, and we are pretty adventurous, so I have been leaning toward Costa Rica. My husband and I love monuments, so Macchu Picchu in Peru is of great interest to us.

I'm also confused on the signature vs regular Costa Rica trip and whether our family would miss something by not choosing signature.

Thanks so much for any help or opinions. Our ABD in Australia was so amazing, it's hard to imagine any other trip living up to it. But I'm gonna try! LOL!

 

[Bobo912]

We haven't taken the Peru trip yet, although I really want to, but I chose Costa Rica for our first ABD because of all the active, outdoors activities and the chance to see lots of animals, since I knew my then 8-year-old would love it. What is now the signature trip is basically the same as the trip we took in 2008 when there was only one Costa Rica offering. The only difference I see is the addition of the Aerial Tram tour, which is interesting because our guide told us that used to be part of the tour and they dropped it because guests wanted more on-your-own time. Biggest difference I see between the Signature and regular trips is Tortuguero vs Manual Antonio. I haven't been to Tortuguero, but the Tauck trip goes there, so maybe some of the folks who took that trip this year can comment on that. The Manual Antonio part of our ABD was my least favorite part. I enjoyed it, but it just wasn't as unique an experience as the rainforest, volcano, etc. And it was really hot and humid there (it was humid everywhere, but not hot). If you go to Tortuguero instead of Manuel Antonio you don't have to take the flight on the little twin engine plane, which is a good thing IMO, although it wasn't as bad as I feared (I'm not a fan of lilttle planes). Another difference is the hotels. I'm sure all the hotels are fine, but I would say that the Anernal Kioro Hotel is one of my favorite hotels ever. I would have loved to have had a couple of days just to hang out there. Anyway, might be worth a little time to do a bit of research on the different hotel offerings. Good luck making a choice. I don't think you can go wrong whatever you decide.

 

[tmmalave]

I haven't taken either trip, but I have gone to Costa Rica, and my parents just went to Peru. If I were in your position I would choose Costa Rica because so many people get ill with the altitude in Cusco. This I would wait a bit until my children are older. That being said, when I went to Costa Rica (not on ABD) some activities were limited to older guests, like white water rafting, which in most companies had a cut-off of 14.

Whatever you do, enjoy your trip!

 

[Grifdog22]

We did both trips with ABD. If you can visit both countries, regardless of tour company, you cannot go wrong.

We visited Costa Rica with twin girls at age 8 and Peru at age 9, and their big brother who is 10 years older was along as well. My daughters had NO problems with the altitude in Peru, but they were in very good physical shape, which helps. We saw that adults who struggled with the altitude, and they also struggled with the more physical aspects of the trip. If you are 220 pounds and cannot walk up 4 flights of stairs in the USA don't expect to be able to do it at high altitudes in Peru either.

Hands down we recommend Peru over the Costa Rica trip. The kids did more, learned more, played more, and our family was consistently in a WOW over the country - it is an undiscovered and amazing place. We found the difference for our family was the hands - on. We got physically into more in Peru, rather than just being on a tour. Even the "on your own" we felt we had more resources, more choices, much much more to discover - we couldn't slow down if we wanted to. At 10 pm on our own we are having our own "night at the museum" in Cusco. At 10 pm at Sol y Luna we are going on a star study event. At 10 pm at Costa Rica the hotel pool was closing, and we went to bed. All good things, of course!

There are a lot of write ups in the older disboards from folks that have done these trips - just dig back into the older threads to hear a lot of the good, bad and unusual experiences. There is a depth and breadth of advice and recommendations which may also help in the decision making process. Both countries are exceptional. For my family, and especially my daughters, there was no comparison between the two trips - Peru wins hands down.

Don't get me wrong - we loved Costa Rica. It was everything we expected. Peru was just so very much more.

Whatever you decide - enjoy the special times with your family.

 

[Bobo912]

Just FYI, 2littlestiches, your kids are old enough for all the activities on the Costa Rica trip (and any of the other ABDs too, I think). The rafting is very mild. And the minimum age for zip lining is 8.

 

[2littlestitches]

Thanks everyone for the replies! Still having a really tough time deciding, though. I'm sure we will have a blast, whichever trip we choose.

I read that age 8 is okay for ziplining, but also that size restrictions apply. Any idea what the size restrictions are?


Thanks again everyone, I truly appreciate your help. And if anyone needs advice of the ABD Australia, ask away! It was an unbelievably amazing adventure!

 

[Bobo912]

Thanks everyone for the replies! Still having a really tough time deciding, though. I'm sure we will have a blast, whichever trip we choose.

I read that age 8 is okay for ziplining, but also that size restrictions apply. Any idea what the size restrictions are?


Thanks again everyone, I truly appreciate your help. And if anyone needs advice of the ABD Australia, ask away! It was an unbelievably amazing adventure!

The size restrictions are for being large rather than small. I don't remember exactly, but it's something like you can't be over 220 lbs. For smaller kids, if they don't have enough weight to carry them across the zip line, they can go tandem with a parent or one of the zip-line company guides. I went once with my DS on one of the first lines, not because he wasn't big enough, but because I was nervous about him going alone. I decided it was okay, and he did all the rest on his own.

 

[2littlestitches]

The size restrictions are for being large rather than small. I don't remember exactly, but it's something like you can't be over 220 lbs. For smaller kids, if they don't have enough weight to carry them across the zip line, they can go tandem with a parent or one of the zip-line company guides. I went once with my DS on one of the first lines, not because he wasn't big enough, but because I was nervous about him going alone. I decided it was okay, and he did all the rest on his own.

Thanks, Bobo! I really appreciate your help!