The 11 Best Monteverde Tours & Cloud Forest Walks

1.Selvatura Park Hanging Bridge Tour in Monteverde

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 520 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $56Our pick

At Selvatura Park in Monteverde, you’ll follow a 1.9-mile trail across eight suspension bridges, some 180 feet above the forest floor. The walk takes about 1.5 to 2 hours and suits families, older adults, and anyone wanting a calm cloud-forest outing. This is usually self-guided, so arrange a guide separately if wildlife spotting matters to you.

“We did pay for a english tours but we did not had guild. It seem it do happening very often on this site.”

Check availability →Read our full review

2.Extreme Zipline tour in Monteverde

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 262 reviews · 2 to 3 hours (approx.) · from $72

At Monteverde Extremo Park, you spend about three hours moving through more than 10 canopy rides, including a 1-kilometer hands-free Superman cable, a subway-style line, Mega Tarzan swing, and bungee jump. Expect cloud forest views, steep walks between platforms, professional guides, and weather that can change quickly.

“This is an amazing experience to do in Monteverde, totally recommend it. The superman zip lines are incredible and also the Tarzan swing, the other ones are more normal and similar to other that you may have done in the past, but only for the ones that I mentioned is worth it. One thing that I would recommend is to do it on a day that the weather is favourable, I did it with strong winds and a bit of rain and this was a bit uncomfortable, so take that in consideration, also another recommendation try to bring dark or old clothes since they can get a bit dirty.”

Check availability →Read our full review

3.Selvatura Park Gold Package (Canopy & Hanging Bridges)

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 118 reviews · 3 to 4 hours (approx.) · from $131

At Selvatura Park, you’ll fly across 13 zipline cables, including an 800-meter run, from 19 platforms, with an optional Tarzan Swing. Then walk 3 kilometers across eight hanging bridges in Monteverde’s cloud forest. Professional guides lead the canopy portion. The package lasts about 3 to 4 hours and does not include food or drinks.

“Excellent. 13 cables (longest 800m) and 8 suspension bridges organized in circular circuit. All super practical, the amazing views and you are not left wanting more. Guides make the experience even more beautiful.Auto-translated”

Check availability →Read our full review

4.Monteverde Night Tour with a Certified Tour Guide (6 PM or 8 PM)

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 112 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $54

Walk Monteverde’s El Refugio after dark with a local guide and a small group of up to 10 people. Choose a 6 PM or 8 PM start, use the included flashlight, and search for frogs, snakes, tarantulas, leafcutter ants, birds, opossums, porcupines, and olingos. Guides such as Dio and Sergio are praised for sharp spotting skills and patient photo help.

“Dio and his son were great. We saw lots of animals and critters and the walk was super cool. Highly recommend!”

Check availability →Read our full review

5.Monteverde Cloud Forest Nature Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 111 reviews · 2 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $30Top rated

Spend about two and a half hours with a naturalist guide in Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve, plus a stop at the Hummingbird Gallery. Guides such as Roy, Juan Carlos, Deyber, and Mauricio use optics to locate birds, snakes, sloths, tarantulas, and plants you could easily miss. The reserve fee is normally extra.

“Our guide Davird was awesome! He was super knowledgeable and taught us so many facts as we walked through the forest. Overall, however, I felt that Monte Verde Cloud Forest was overpriced. It's $100 to get our family of 6 in and another $180 for the tour. We saw some wildlife here but not nearly as much as Manuel Antonio or Corcovado.”

Check availability →Read our full review

6.Guided Butterfly Conservatory Tour in Costa Rica

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 85 reviews · 2 to 3 hours (approx.) · from $29

At the Butterfly Conservatory in Upper El Castillo, you’ll learn how butterflies, frogs, insects, and rainforest plants are raised and protected around Arenal. A volunteer guide leads part of the visit, followed by self-guided exhibits and optional short or long trails. Allow two to three hours.

“This was a beautiful property. The staff were friendly and doing their best though it appears they were all recently arrived volunteers, so the depth of knowledge about the animals and Costa Rica were more limited than the professional tour guides we found at other experiences in the area. Still it was beautiful and the staff were pleasant and did appear to really enjoy the work. The back hike was nice and more natural than some others in area, and lower traffic. Personally I would recommend this experience after you've done the following, which are in the area: Arenal volcano hike Mystico hanging bridges hike / Zip Line Experience Floating…”

Check availability →Read our full review

7.Monteverde Butterfly Gardens Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 85 reviews · 1 to 2 hours (approx.) · from $28Best value

Spend about an hour with a professional guide at Monteverde Butterfly Gardens, where four habitats hold up to 30 butterfly species, plus live insects, arachnids, and a working leaf-cutter ant colony. The tour includes photo time, runs daily from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM, and suits families, nature fans, and curious first-time bug watchers.

“Its not a place to spend the day but spending an hour was fun. Our tour guide really knew what he was talking about & everyone there was friendly.”

Check availability →Read our full review

8.Selvatura Park Combo Tour From Monteverde

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 76 reviews · 6 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $168

Spend about 6.5 hours at Selvatura Park with a guided canopy tour, hanging bridges, and one of Costa Rica’s largest butterfly gardens. The zip lines include a thrilling 1-kilometer final run, with an optional Superman position. Transportation from Monteverde hotels is included, while meals, photos, lockers, and extra activities cost more.

“Definitely worth the price! Best ziplining I have ever done. Hanging bridges and Butterfly garden also great experiences.”

Check availability →Read our full review

9.Monteverde Night Tour Unique Experience

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 74 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $35

At Finca Lantana, your 6 pm Monteverde night walk follows an easy forest trail for about two hours. A licensed guide such as Dani, Marco, or Jocsan uses flashlights and a powerful scope to find frogs, sleeping toucans, sloths, tarantulas, armadillos, and insects. Groups are limited to six, and the tour returns to the meeting point.

“The tour itself was well organised, and Dani our guide, was excellent, friendly, knowledgeable, and generous with insights about the forest and its inhabitants. Most impressive was his sharp eye, we saw a toucan, butterflies, bats, frogs, tarantulas and more was spotted that we would never have found on our own. Unfortunately, the experience was somewhat dampened by being grouped with a particularly disruptive parent and child. The child repeatedly jumped at the monocular (requiring constant readjustment and spooking wildlife for others), shone a torch in people’s faces, and generally disrupted the group, while the parent made little effort to intervene. Credit to Dani, whose patience and pr...”

Check availability →Read our full review

10.3 hours of the Longest and Highest Extreme Zip line Experience in Monteverde

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 72 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $104

You’ll cross 4.2 kilometers of Monteverde forest on nine ziplines, including cables up to 1 kilometer long, plus two Superman rides, a rappel, hammock bridge, and Tarzan swing. The three-hour course includes safety gear, insurance, hotel pickup, and steep hikes between platforms.

“I zip lined at Monteverde Extremo about 10 years ago. It was such a great experience that I went again on my second trip to Costa Rica, and it was every bit as wonderful!”

Check availability →Read our full review

11.Monteverde Birdwatching Experience

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 68 reviews · 4 hours (approx.) · from $80

Start at 7:00 a.m. for a four-hour, 2 to 3 km walk through Curi-Cancha Reserve with a bilingual naturalist guide. Guides such as Jason, Beto, Jacob, and Jesus use a spotting scope to reveal quetzals, toucans, hummingbirds, woodcreepers, and other forest life. The reserve fee costs an extra $25.

“The tour was really nice and we were really lucky in spotting lots of birds. At the beginning I thought it would have been better to go without a guide, but he spotted so many birds hidden in the canopy that I was really glad we booked the tour in the end. Besides lots of tukans and kolibris and other local birds we even saw three quetzals, which are really hard to find without a guide knowing where to look. Jason is a really experienced guide and I would recommend him to anyone wanting to do bridwatching in Monteverde.”

Check availability →Read our full review