One of the many reasons why Costa Rica is witnessing a high footfall of visitors in recent years is due to its abundance of outstanding beaches. Squeezed between the Caribbean and Pacific shorelines, the country has nearly 300 sand-and-sea wonders with unique personalities. From mega resorts with lots of amenities to wild, untouched shorelines, there is something for every beach lover.

With all its lush rainforests and picture-perfect beaches, the considerable culinary scene of Costa Rica often gets overlooked. Costa Rican cuisine is not about tacos, quesadillas, and burritos, like its Latin American cousins, but is a perfect blend of comforting, healthy food with a heavy influence of rice and beans. With Latin and Caribbean flavor-bursting fare, this is a sensory experience your taste buds will remember for a long time.

Let's just get it out of the way straight off: Costa Rica is safe, overwhelmingly so, for travelers of all stripe, families, kids, adventurers et al, despite any travel advisory you may have read.

Sprawled over just 19,730 square miles of landmass, Costa Rica would count as a miniature sized nation, but it is unmatched in its offering of a wide array of beautiful places to visit: virgin beaches, misty cloud forests, sizzling volcanoes. Easy to understand why it receives thousands of visitors every year.

Costa Rica is all about natural beauty; it is home to lush rainforests, wildlife parks, picturesque tropical beaches and dramatic smoking volcanoes. With so much to do and see, this Central American nation attracts travelers of all kinds, from the luxury-focused to the surfers and backpackers.

Now that fall is officially here and winter is just around the corner, we asked some travel experts to tell us their favorite destinations to visit this time of year. Check out their responses below and when you’re ready to plan your custom fall or winter escape, contact one of our local guides directly for free.