La Bohemia

San José


Old-school San Jose cantina La Bohemia is a traditional gathering place of poets and guitarristas, whose spirits still sometimes trouble the night air. Cheap beer, regular company, and three appetizers which the bartender has memorized (meatballs, garbanzos, and ceviche): no menu and no tie required. Take a taxi after dark. Featured in the book 300 Cantinas of Costa Rica.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby San José attractions

2. Catedral Metropolitana

0.31 MILES

East of Parque Central, the Renaissance-style Catedral Metropolitana was built in 1871 after the previous cathedral was destroyed in an earthquake. The…

3. Teatro Nacional

0.32 MILES

On the southern side of the Plaza de la Cultura resides the Teatro Nacional, San José’s most revered building. Constructed in 1897, it features a columned…

4. Parque Central

0.34 MILES

The city’s central park is more of a run-down plaza than a park. At its center is a grandiose bandstand that looks as if it was designed by Mussolini:…

5. Plaza de la Cultura

0.35 MILES

This architecturally unremarkable concrete plaza in the heart of downtown is usually packed with locals slurping ice-cream cones and admiring the wide…

7. Teatro Melico Salazar

0.38 MILES

On the north side of Parque Central is this theatre, which was built in 1928 in a beaux-arts style. It is named after the well-known Costa Rican tenor…

8. Plaza de la Democracia

0.45 MILES

Between the Museo Nacional and the Museo de Jade is the stark Plaza de la Democracia, which was constructed by President Oscar Arias in 1989 to…