Photos: San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0; San Juan by Mohan Nannapaneni, Pexels License.
San Jose, Costa Rica or San Juan?
Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.
Choose San Jose, Costa Rica for
- prices
- nature and the outdoors
What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’s own page.
Choose San Juan for
- beaches
- nightlife
- culture and sights
What lies behind each score is written up on San Juan’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: San Jose, Costa Rica and San Juan.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.
Wins on beaches and nightlife with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
San Jose, Costa Rica in July
San Juan in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
San Jose, Costa Rica's station stands 241 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre). San Juan: 1991-2020 normals, San Juan / Int., Puerto Rico (12.8 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | San Jose, Costa Rica | San Juan |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Spanish | Spanish, English |
| Currency | Costa Rican Colon (CRC) | US Dollar (USD) |
| Sockets | AB120 V, 60 Hz | AB120 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-6 | UTC-4 |
| Emergency number | 911 | 911 |
| Elevation | 1,161 m | 3 m |
| Main airport | Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinations | Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU)12 km from centre59 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 11 days | 21 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | San Jose, Costa Rica | San Juan |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 335,007 | 342,259 |
| People per km² | 7,511 | 2,847 |
| Museums within 10 km | 9 | 18 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 1 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | - | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow San Jose, Costa Rica or San Juan somewhere new.