Zarcero is a cute little mountain town in Costa Rica. It’s most known for the iconic Catholic Church and topiary garden in the photo above.

Towns like Zarcero are not as well known in Costa Rica because people are more concerned with visiting the beaches. But that doesn’t mean that these little places don’t have something interesting to offer.

We’ve been to the Manuel Antonio Beach so much that it’s lost much of its appeal to us. But if you’ve never been, you should visit. It makes TripAdvisor’s list of the top 25 beaches in the world!

For us, though, a nice trip to a mountain town in Costa Rica is a pleasant change of pace. Here are the things that are awesome about Zarcero.

The Climate

We actually took this trip last year in May while I was still pregnant with our daughter. But I didn’t have this blog yet, so I’m telling you about it now. 🙂

March is generally the hottest month in Quepos and I was miserable. I’m pretty sure that Quepos was vacationing near the gates of hell last year, it was that hot.

Or perhaps it was pregnancy hormones, but they’re kind of the same thing, right? If you’ve ever been pregnant, especially in a hot place, you know what I mean.

Anyway, the only thing I wanted to do was get out of Quepos and cool down. The only trouble is that March is also prime season for sports fishing, so my fisherman hubby is always busy with work. As soon as work slowed down for him after the Offshore World Championship in April, we went.

I was so excited to go to a cooler place. The funny this is, back when I live in Washington State I would have considered Zarcero’s 70-75°F to be pretty hot. I would have been excited to pull out the summer clothes I hadn’t worn yet because I bought them at the end-of-summer sales last year.

But coming from the inferno that is Quepos, I was excited to wear pants for once. And even a light jacket in the evenings. It was amazing!

The Chalet

We stayed at a delightful little place called Finca La Petisa. As you can see it was a gorgeous chalet-style home. If I remember correctly, it had space for 7 people. There’s also another, smaller home on the property that could sleep 6, I think, for a total of 13.

The proprietor is a delightful Venezuelan lady that we enjoyed chatting with. She has three huge, gorgeous Golden Retrievers that were super friendly. She accepts pets so we brought our dog, Tazky.

There is a fenced space for her dogs where she kept them most of the time. Once we saw that everybody was going to get along, we let them all hang out and play together. Tazky had a blast!

The Church

You can’t talk about Zarcero with mentioning the church. Generally, for a town to be complete in Costa Rica, it needs to have a Catholic church.

Iglesia de San Raphael in Zarcero is a particularly impressive structure and the topiary garden in front of it makes it an interesting sight to see, and a great place to hang out. Interestingly enough, the building was built in 1895, but Zarcero didn’t become an actual “city” until 1918.

The church features elaborate stencil work by a local Costa Rican Artist, Don Misael Solis Alvarado. There are also beautiful paintings throughout the interior. If you love landmarks like these, this one is definitely a must-see.

The Charming Topiary Garden

The same man, Evangelista Blanco had been tending to the garden for 52 years. He has carefully crafted the bushes into animal shapes or made them look like faces.

In June 2017, just after we visited, a priest forced Evangelista Blanco into retirement. The reason, according to the news reports, was his advanced age and the church leadership was concerned about his health.

He was very upset and the story played on national news for several days afterward. Costa Ricans flooded the streets to demonstrate on his behalf. He claimed that even though they wouldn’t let him work, he would still come to the garden every day. Even if it was just to chat with visitors, he wanted to be there.

For their part, the church said that his work of art would live on. They loved the garden and his work but wanted him to rest.

I was simply amazed that a story like this made national news, not once but several times. I can’t imagine that happening in the States. He might get a quick blurb on the local news and that would be it.

But this man deserved to be recognized for his service. He tended the garden for 52 years. That’s a long time. I can imagine it would be difficult to let go, especially when it wasn’t his decision.

Amazingly enough, a month later the priest resigned and Blanco happily took back his position caring for the garden. There was something fishy going on behind the scenes with that priest, but the news report I read didn’t elaborate much.

As far as I can tell, at the time of this writing he’s still there working at 79 years old. You can see him working away in the photo below.

The Culture

The area around Zarcero is pretty agricultural. There are some coffee plantations and lots of pastures full of cows. With around 10,000 inhabitants it’s not what you would call a big city.

I noticed immediately a difference between the houses there and what you typically see in Quepos. They were better kept and many had flowers and little gardens. There are some houses like that in Quepos, but not many.

My husband said it’s because most of the people living in Zarcero still have a strong work ethic, inherited from years of working the farms. They take pride in how their homes look and don’t mind putting in a bit of elbow grease.

In Quepos, the “easy” money from tourism has made many people lazy and recreational drug use is more common. Not everyone, of course, but some. There’s also the stereotypical beach bum crowd that tend to work as little as they can 😂

My theory is that it’s not so blasting hot that you begin to melt as soon as you step outside. Maybe it’s a little of both. 😉

The Cheese

You can’t mention almost any mountain town in Costa Rica without talking about the cheese. Since it’s cooler up there in the mountains that’s where you can find herds of dairy cows.

Down in Quepos we pretty much only have Brahmas as they can withstand the heat and the insects. Some farmers use their milk but not on an industrial scale. They are primarily used for meat.

Anyway, back to the cheese in Zarcero. As you drive along the road, you’ll see lots of stands selling balls of cheese. This is called “queso palmito”.

The taste reminds me of string cheese and it’s pretty delicious. You can buy it in the stores in Quepos, but it doesn’t taste the same. Commercially made cheese just isn’t the same.

The homemade queso palmito that you can get from a mountain town in Costa Rica like Zarcero is better. The only thing is that you have to buy it from the right place. The cheese tastes different depending on who made it, so see if they offer a sample first.

Visit Zarcero: Mountain Town in Costa Rica

Visiting Zarcero, or any other small mountain town in Costa Rica is a great way to see the ‘real’ Costa Rica. The tourist towns are great, but the culture has changed a little with so much international interaction.

If you’re not a seasoned traveler and don’t speak Spanish, traveling off the beaten path could be a little more difficult. In that case, the tourist towns are the perfect place for you to get started experiencing Costa Rica.

But if you want to get more adventurous, I encourage you to explore! Costa Ricans are a lovely people. They are extremely hospitable and very friendly.

In these small towns, fewer people speak English so you’ll need to sharpen up your high school Spanish skills. But no one will laugh at you, or get upset that you don’t understand. Chatting with the locals is a wonderful way to practice Spanish and learn about the world from someone else’s point of view.

If you go to visit, be sure to let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear how it went! Or let me know about another mountain town in Costa Rica you’ve visited or would like to learn about.

Interested in more great locations to visit? Check out the beautiful Eco Chontales Waterfall!

Many of these photos are available in the print shop so be sure to go check that out. I have some beautiful fine art black and white versions as well.