Head here for everything you ever wanted to know about butterflies. There are four gardens representing different habitats; they're home to more than 40 species. Up-close observation cases allow you to witness the butterflies as they emerge from the chrysalis (if your timing is right). Other exhibits feature the industrious leafcutter ant and a tarantula hawk specimen (the wasp that eats tarantulas!) and lots of scorpions. Kids love this place, and knowledgeable naturalist guides truly enhance the experience with an enlightening hour-long tour (complimentary with admission).
Getty Images/Hemis.fr RM
Butterfly Garden
Monteverde & Santa Elena
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
11.84 MILES
From 1968 until 2010, Volcán Arenal was an ever-active and awe-striking natural wonder, producing menacing ash columns, massive explosions and streams of…
10.29 MILES
If you're travelling between Monteverde and Arenal, there's no good excuse for skipping this stop. Viento Fresco is a series of five cascades, including…
17.53 MILES
Two kilometers northeast of Venado (Spanish for ‘deer’) along a good dirt road, these caves are an adventurous excursion into an eight-chamber limestone…
2.27 MILES
The exquisitely misty 310-hectare Reserva Santa Elena offers a completely different cloud forest experience from Monteverde. Cutting through the veiled…
Reserva Biológica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde
1.97 MILES
This beautiful cloud forest reserve came into being in 1972, when the Quaker community (which had already set aside a third of its property for…
19.36 MILES
It’s an animal rescue center. It’s a volunteer project. It’s Spanish classes. This community-based organization is doing a lot of good, and you can…
22.9 MILES
This wild-animal shelter was started in the 1960s by the late Lilly Hagnauer, a Swiss environmentalist. It’s one of the largest shelters of its kind in…
13.38 MILES
A fabulous mountain for hiking if you've got your own wheels and a keen sense of adventure. It's best to scale this at sunrise or sunset, and to avoid it…
Nearby Monteverde & Santa Elena attractions
0.46 MILES
For those who prefer their reptiles under glass (or at least behind it), a guide will show you around and introduce you to more than 50 species of…
0.48 MILES
Returning to its former glory as the Ranario, or Frog Pond (it's changed names a few times), this place also features an insect house. The frogs are still…
0.51 MILES
The Bat Jungle in Monteverde is a small but informative exhibit, with good bilingual educational displays and a habitat housing almost 100 free-flying…
0.54 MILES
This sweet-smelling garden in Santa Elena has shady trails winding past more than 500 types of orchids. On your guided tour, you’ll see such rarities as…
0.58 MILES
A local landmark in the center of Santa Elena. The adjacent roasted-chicken shack apparently has no religious affiliation.
0.74 MILES
There's no sign, no website, and last we checked, nobody was collecting any money for this delightful roadside attraction. It's simply a hollowed-out fig…
0.98 MILES
This simple meeting house in Monteverde is the ‘church’ of the American Society of Friends, or the Quakers, who first settled this area and committed to…
8. Reserva Biológica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde
1.97 MILES
This beautiful cloud forest reserve came into being in 1972, when the Quaker community (which had already set aside a third of its property for…