Balmy Atenas, on Highway 3, five kilometers west of La Garita, is an agricultural town renowned for its quality fruits and perpetually springlike climate. (In 1994, National Geographic declared it the best climate in the world.) A beautiful church stands over the plaza, two blocks south of Highway 3.

The old camino de carretas (oxcart trail) ran through Atenas, and during the peak of coffee harvest, trains of 800-plus carts would pass by, carrying beans to Puntarenas. The Monument to the Boyeros (oxcart driver) stands at the eastern entrance to town. The Museum of Popular Culture (tel. 506/446-0091, 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Sun.) recalls those days, while the Railway Museum (Museo Ferroviario, tel. 506/810-0660, 7 a.m.–6 p.m., by donation), four kilometers north of town, displays a German locomotive.

The Central American School of Animal Husbandry (Escuela Centroamericana de Ganadería, tel. 506/446-7000), one kilometer east of Atenas, welcomes visitors for a firsthand look at dairy operations, reforestry programs, and iguana farming. Half-day tours ($40 with lunch at an old hacienda) and full-day tours ($60 including lunch and a horseback ride into the mountain forests) are offered; reservations must be made a week in advance.

The hamlet of Rosario, hidden just west of the Pan-American Highway, eight kilometers northeast of Atenas, is the gateway to the Río Grande Canyon Nature Reserve, a 1,497- hectare nature reserve flanking a dramatic gorge. Access is via the Vista del Valle Plantation Inn (tel./fax 506/451-1165, www.vistadelvalle.com); the exit is two kilometers west of the Grecia turnoff from the Pan-American Highway. The valley is thickly forested with bamboo and has a series of waterfalls, one of which tumbles 100 meters.

One of the best-stocked souvenir stores in the country is here: Molas & Coffee Gift Shop (tel. 506/446-5155, molasycafe [at] racsa [dot] co [dot] cr), on the main highway on the east side of Atenas.

Getting There

Buses (tle. 506/446-5767) for Atenas depart San José every hour 5:50 a.m.–10 p.m. from Calle 16, Avenidas 1/3; and from Alajuela every 30 minutes (6 a.m.–10 p.m.) from Avenida 2, Calles 8/10. The taxi stand is one block south and one block west of the plaza.