The Central Valley is the geographical, political, cultural and economical heart of the country, and in which half of Costa Rica's population is concentrated. Surrounded by beautiful, middle-range mountains, with vast plains and wavy hills, this fertile valley covers about 50 kilometers in the East-West direction, and some 15 to 20 kilometers in the North-South sense. The total area has been highlighted on the map in a darker color.

On one end is Cartago, at an altitude of 1.400 meters. Then the valley gradually tapers off to 800 meters in San Ramon, on the other end, after passing through San Jose, at 1.172 meters, where the mean temperature is 19ºC in January and 24ºC in July. The days are warm and nights are cool.

The capital cities of four of the seven provinces are located in the Central Valley: San Jose, the Capital of the country; Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago. All these cities bear the same name as the province they are in. The distance between San Jose and these other capitals is quite short: 22 kilometers to Cartago, only 12 Kilometers to Heredia and 20 Kilometers to Alajuela, making this really one single urban conglomeration. On the stretches between these cities, visitors may see small farms with beautiful plantations, with well-kept houses generally painted in bright colors, with multi-colored flowers all over, something in fact common to all the countryside. Vast areas planted with coffee and sugar cane can be seen everywhere, along with patches of other highly diversified crops. The whole valley is speckled with small, quaint towns, many of them perched up on the mountainside, with a gorgeous view, and twinkle like little stars on clear nights.