Top Central Valley Cooking Classes

Take the stress out of eating and drinking at night in a new city with this fun-filled dinner and nightlife experience. Explore markets, check out neighborhoods you might otherwise miss, and indulge in a delicious three-course gourmet dinner with wine pairings. Learn about local food and culture from your guide throughout the evening.

Learn to cook some traditional Costa Rican food from a local grandmother, who knows all the secret tips. Dona Chela will help you to prepare the dishes with ingredients from her garden, which you can also wander around before and after you cook. You'll cook your food in the traditional, old school way, by using the wood-fired stove in the kitchen.

Learn to cook Costa Rican food made from local organic ingredients right from the farm where your class is held. You can help collect the seasonal produce from the fields, then you’ll get back to the kitchen. You’ll not only learn to cook in an open wood-fire kitchen, but you’ll hear stories about Costa Rican culture, too.

Learn the art of the Costa Rican cocktail in this small-group tour, where your instructor will teach you all about local alcohols and the best ways to create great drinks. This is a small-group tour, where you’ll keep costs down, but still have an intimate experience of only eight per group. Dinner is also included, along with all your beverages.

Get a taste of Costa Rica’s famed biodiversity without straying too far from the city with this all-access day pass to La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park. Featuring hiking trails through the cloud forest, cascading waterfalls, a rescued jungle cats educational program, and numerous specialty wildlife exhibits, La Paz Waterfall Gardens guarantees good fun for the whole family. This pass can be redeemed anytime during the park’s normal operating hours and is good for accessing all of the exhibits.

Discover San Jose’s hidden delights with this unique evening tour of the Costa Rican capital. Get up close and personal with the nightlife in San Jose, starting with the Morazán Park where we will learn post-colonial Costa Rican history. From there, our appreciation for San Jose’s historical architecture continues, with a walk by the Metallic Building, then on to Spain Park for a fantastic view of the Yellow House (now the Ministry of Foreign Affairs). We’ll continue to charming Barrio Escalante, one of the oldest residential areas in San Jose. Finish the night with a 3-course meal and wine or beer pairings at a gourmet Costa Rican restaurant.

Get a taste of San Jose’s culture and cuisine on this 3-hour walking tour. Explore Costa Rica’s capital accompanied by an expert guide and learn about the city’s history, architecture and flavor. Explore the produce stalls of two traditional markets and discover what makes Costa Rican coffee so delicious as you sample some local brews. The tour is capped at 12 people for a personalized small-group experience.

Visit La Paz Waterfall Gardens the easy way on this small-group day trip. Save yourself the hassle of catching taxis or public buses by traveling in a private, air-conditioned vehicle. Learn about Costa Rica's biodiversity at the aviary, butterfly farm, hummingbird gallery, and much more. Also be amazed by the views of the five highest waterfalls in the country.

Get a taste of authentic Costa Rican life and cuisine as you join a local family for a cooking class and home-style meal. Along with a guide, visit the home of your hosts outside of La Fortuna and learn about household customs and cooking techniques. Join in the preparation of a typical meal, and then savor the fruits of your labor alongside new friends.

Don’t just feast on delicious ceviche and empanadas, learnt to cook the Latin American delicacies during a cooking class in La Fortuna. Enjoy personalized attention from your cooking instructor as you learn about Costa Rican cuisine, while enjoying views of the mighty El Arenal volcano and sipping cocktails.

In the hands of experts you will discover in an entertaining way the entire process of cocoa to become chocolate, you will also receive all the supplies to manufacture and carry your own personalized chocolates.

Spend a half-day at a farm in La Fortuna for a cooking class that features some of Costa Rica’s favorite dishes. Start with a tour of the farm’s orchards and gardens, collect some ingredients for your meal, then head to the kitchen to learn to prepare classics such as gallo pinto (rice and beans). Top off your experience by enjoying the meal with your hosts.

We believe that a healthy and prosperous life starts with what we eat; also, gastronomy and family recipes connect us as human beings. Eleven years ago we decided to switch our farm from a "traditional" crops to organic ones to improve our own health. In this experience we'll walk through our organic farm with the last bits of sunlight looking for the fresh ingredients we'll need to prepare a delicious dinner and share our culture with you. We hope that, besides providing a delicious foodie experience, what we do inspires more people to care about the source of their food and protect our planet. We have veggie and vegan options. Please do let us know if you have any other allergy and/or dietary restriction.

We are a small Costa Rican family of 5, made up of Lidiana, Eddie, our sons Aaron, Edison and our daughter in law Tiffany. We also have 3 cats and a dog. We are determined to improve ourselves day by day, our main objective as a Costa Rican family and peasant, is to maintain our customs, traditions and share them with visitors so they can feel at home and part of our family.

This small–group tour lets you learn all about the sacred superfood that is Costa Rican cacao, and also interact with a local family. Besides being delicious, cacao also has medicinal properties, and your guide will tell you all about them. Tour the plantation, try local fruit, and try some cacao drinks, too.

Join a local chef for an afternoon cooking class in downtown La Fortuna. Learn how to make Costa Rican dishes and cocktails in the relaxed atmosphere. You can choose to participate in the meal prep or simply observe. Discover traditional cooking techniques as you make a three-course meal, featuring dishes such as ceviche, coconut flan, and chayote picadillo. The class is designed for both beginners and seasoned cooks.

We believe that a healthy and prosperous life starts with what we eat; also, gastronomy and family recipes connect us as human beings. Eleven years ago we decided to switch our farm from a "traditional" crops to organic ones to improve our own health. In this experience we'll walk through our organic farm with the last bits of sunlight looking for the fresh ingredients we'll need to prepare a delicious dinner and share our culture with you. We hope that, besides providing a delicious foodie experience, what we do inspires more people to care about the source of their food and protect our planet. We have veggie and vegan options. Please do let us know if you have any other allergy and/or dietary restriction.

The canyoning and cooking class combo is perfect for couples and groups of friends who would like to explore both the Costa Rican rainforest and the local, tropical cuisine. - Full Day Canyoning and Cooking Class combo with an afternoon break at your hotel - Includes bilingual guides, transportation, lunch, snack - Starts at 7am, and lasts for 6-7 hours - Family + Kid Friendly!

If you are looking for a pleasant place connected with nature where you can enjoy with your family or friends and spend an unforgettable experience, Agroecoturística Don Jorge specializes in Chocolate and Coffee, which includes tours of the trails of cocoa and coffee plantations, you will find diversity in flora. and birds, visit the waterfall, cane processing and finally the chocolate workshop where you can make your own chocolate bar. Our motto "From the seed to the palate". We are waiting for you to enjoy a family farm

With the help and instruction of the cooks, the travelers will be able to prepare a typical dish, in the class they will learn and put into practice the culinary techniques for the creation of the dish, information about the traditions and customs of Costa Rican cuisine will be disclosed, they will learn about new local ingredients and their uses and we offer alternative dishes if the traveler is vegan or has any allergies, the latter must be notified in advance to the people who will teach the class

We want to give our guests a special experience. By showing you around on our organic farm and allowing yourself to pick the cocoa fruits from the trees and be a part of the whole process from start to end. Our farm has the most beautiful view of the Arenal volcano and away from the noise of the city. Our guides are born and raised in the same environment and you can see and feel how passionate they are about it when they explain about the cocoa. The atmosphere a our farm is very relaxed and comfortable. Our chocolate tour is small groups of maximun 10 people.

After making a coffee in Costa Rica´s traditional “coffee maker”, sit and enjoy the sights and sounds of the rainforest that surrounds the experimental farm filled with herbs, fruit trees, and much more. For the non-coffee drinkers, try another Costa Rica beverage or a herbal tea. With your coffee energy boost, it is now time to see why the Aztecs called chocolate the food of the gods and how it is transformed from some fruit on a tree to a delicious snack in a bar and a soothing hot chocolate drink. Using traditional century-old techniques, create your own personalized chocolate bar that is yours to enjoy. This Tastes of Costa Rica experience is a must for coffee fans, chocolate lovers and foodies. This hands-on gastronomical journey is educational, entertaining, and delicious!

It is an activity where you will enjoy a real experience of what it is to work on a coffee farm, where you will share with the collectors and the owner, you will be able to feel what a collector feels in his daily work, you will be able to carry out other activities adjacent to coffee production such as it is fertilizing, weeding, spraying etc. It is a unique and 100% real experience. Also, if they wish, they can have breakfast or lunch on the farm and also have the opportunity to see a great diversity of birds and our river with the waterfall.