Heredia

Heredia is called the city of flowers, a Central Valley town founded in the eighteenth century that grew on coffee and now runs into the San Jose conurbation. Its central park is the set piece: the Immaculate Conception church of 1797, low and massively built to survive earthquakes, faces the park, and on one corner stands El Fortin, a round brick tower of 1876 built as part of a barracks and never finished, whose gun loops widen outward rather than inward, which is the wrong way round and is the detail everyone repeats. The Casa de la Cultura, the old municipal building and the National University occupy the surrounding blocks. Coffee estates on the slopes above run tours.

What you actually see

• El Fortin - the 1876 brick tower with its inverted gun loops.
• The 1797 church - the low earthquake-built colonial church.
• The central park - the square the buildings enclose.
• Coffee estates - the plantations on the slopes above the city.

When to go

December to April in the dry season; the Central Valley is temperate year round and comfortable in any month. The coffee harvest runs from November to February. Weekday mornings suit the centre.

Honest expectations

The historic core is a few blocks and the rest of the city is modern and congested. El Fortin is not open to climb. Traffic between Heredia and San Jose is heavy. Museums are small.

Nearby

San Jose lies south; Barva volcano is north.