Liberia is the capital of Guanacaste province in northwestern Costa Rica, a sprawling cattle-country town at the junction of the Inter-American Highway and the road to the Nicoya Peninsula. It is mostly a transit point — the Liberia International Airport connects directly to North America, making it the entry point for visitors heading to the Pacific beaches of Guanacaste and the Nicoya coast — but it has enough of its own to justify a night or two.
The old centre around the Calle Real has well-preserved colonial houses with distinctive corner doors — a style found almost nowhere else in Costa Rica — and a relaxed plaza. The climate is drier and hotter here than in the Central Valley: this is Guanacaste's dry tropical forest zone, savannah-like for much of the year, dramatically green after the rains.
The surrounding area is the starting point for visits to Rincón de la Vieja and Santa Rosa national parks, and for ecotourism ranches like Hacienda Guachipelin, about 30 minutes from town, which offers zip-lining, rappelling, horseback riding, and canyon tours in a landscape of volcanoes and rivers. Off Peninsula Papagayo, Monkey Head Island makes for an unusual day trip by boat.