VacationSelector
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose
Puente de San Martín over the Tagus, Toledo
ToledoPuente de San Martín over the Tagus

Photos: San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0; Toledo by Ввласенко, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

San Jose, Costa Rica or Toledo?

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

  • nature and the outdoors
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’s own page.

Choose Toledo for

  • culture and sights
  • getting around
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Toledo’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. San Jose, Costa Rica 12, Toledo 5: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 7 points.
Food & drink. San Jose, Costa Rica 42, Toledo 40: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. San Jose, Costa Rica 38, Toledo 79: Toledo leads by 41 points.
Nightlife. San Jose, Costa Rica 40, Toledo 22: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. San Jose, Costa Rica 78, Toledo 40: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 38 points.
Day trips. San Jose, Costa Rica 52, Toledo 78: Toledo leads by 26 points.
Good for families. San Jose, Costa Rica 44, Toledo 45: Toledo leads by 1 points.
Getting around. San Jose, Costa Rica 30, Toledo 64: Toledo leads by 34 points.
Shopping & style. San Jose, Costa Rica 36, Toledo 32: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 4 points.
Affordability. San Jose, Costa Rica 54, Toledo 58: Toledo leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. San Jose, Costa Rica 38, Toledo 22: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. San Jose, Costa Rica 28, Toledo 30: Toledo leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: San Jose, Costa Rica and Toledo.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Too close to call, 2 points apart

San Jose, Costa Rica
41match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and nightlife with your weighting.

Toledo
43match

Wins on culture and sights and getting around 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

28 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
173 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Toledo in July

35 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
6 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
San Jose, Costa RicaToledo

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). Toledo: 1991-2020 normals, Toledo (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSan Jose, Costa RicaToledo
Official languageSpanishSpanish
CurrencyCosta Rican Colon (CRC)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation1,161 m523 m
Main airportJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinationsAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)80 km from centre239 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureSan Jose, Costa RicaToledo
City population335,00787,216
People per km²7,511376
Museums within 10 km913
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow San Jose, Costa Rica or Toledo somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.