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Sprawling smack in the middle of the fertile Valle Central, SAN JOSE has a spectacular setting, ringed by the jagged silhouettes of soaring mountains - some of them volcanoes - on all sides. That's where the compliments end, however, and you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who has much good to say about the city's potholed streets and car-dealership architecture - not to mention the choking diesel fumes, kamikaze drivers and chaotically unplanned expansion. In the gridlocked centre things are wearingly hectic, with vendors of fruit, lottery tickets and cigarettes jostling on street corners, and thousands of shoestores tumbling out onto the sidewalks. In general travellers talk about the city as they do about bank line-ups and immigration offices: a pain, but unavoidable. That said, if you've been travelling through the region, you'll find that compared to, say, San Salvador or Managua, San Jose is not only a reassuringly safe place (though street crime is rising) but also vibrant and cosmopolitan, with a sprinkling of excellent museums , some elegant buildings and landscaped parks, good cafes and the odd intriguing art gallery. Which is all to the good: most people find themselves spending some time here - the city is a major transportation hub, and many journeys across the country involve backtracking through the capital - learning to enjoy it, and even becoming perversely fond of the place.
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