Do you know the way to San Jose?

In sharp contrast to the brutal internal conflicts in Guatemala or the grinding poverty of Nicaragua, Costa Rica has become synonymous with stability and prosperity - Costa Ricans enjoy the highest rate of literacy, health care, education and life expectancy in the isthmus. Unlike so many of its neighbours, the country has a long democratic tradition of free and open elections,

no standing army (it was abolished in 1948) and even a Nobel Peace Prize to its name, won by former president, Oscar Arias, a key architect in the Peace Plan that helped bring an end to the conflicts in the region during the 1980s.

Sprawling smack in the middle of the fertile Valle Central, SAN JOSÉ 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 José 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 cafés 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.

Few travellers come to San José for the sights. A city of nondescript buildings, energized by an aggressive street life - umbrella-wielding pedestrians pushing through narrow streets, noisy food stalls, homicidal drivers - San José is certainly not a place that exudes immediate appeal. It has its diversions, however, with plenty of places to walk, sit, eat, meet people, go dancing and enjoy museums and galleries. It's also a manageable city: all the attractions are close together, and everything of interest can be covered in a couple of days. Of the museums, the exemplary Museo de Oro Precolombino and Museo de Jade are the major draws. The less-visited Museo Nacional offers some interesting archeological finds, while the Museo de Arte y Deseño Contemporáneo displays some of the most striking work in Central America. San José is also a surprisingly green and open city, with small, carefully landscaped parks and plazas punctuating the centre of town.

San José's nightlife is gratifyingly varied, with scores of bars and live music venues. That said, a couple of the most popular venues of recent years, including the splendid Casa Matute, have had to close because of strict anti-noise regulations (curiously, these are only enforced for live music venues, as opposed to taped salsa blaring at 7am from your neighbour's room). Many bars change character drastically come Friday or Saturday, when they host jazz, blues, upcoming local bands, rock and roll, or South American folk music. Ticos aren't known for burning the candle at both ends - with the exception of the studenty bars in San Pedro, most places close by 2 or 3am; earlier on Sunday.

It's worth experiencing one of the city's discos : even if you don't dance, you can watch the Ticos burn up the floor Déjà Vu is the place of the moment, while for traditional salsa , merengue, cumbia and soca try La Plaza, Cocloco, Las Risas or Infinito . Cover charges run to about US$4, though the big mainstream discos at El Pueblo charge slightly more than places downtown.

You need to be 18 to drink in Costa Rica. Even if you're well over age, if you look even remotely young, bring a photocopy of your passport as ID .

For a Central American city of its size, San José has a surprising variety of restaurants . Many of the best places are in the relatively high-income and cosmopolitan neighbourhoods of San Pedro , along Paseo Colón , and in Escazú , but wherever you choose, eating out in San José can set your budget back on its haunches. The 23 percent tax on restaurant food can deliver a real death-blow, so it's cheapest to eat in the centre, at the sodas and snack bars, where the tax doesn't apply. A sit-down lunch of the plato del día at a soda will rarely set you back more than US$5, or for a quick sugar fix you could feast on churros dispensed over the counter. Healthier choices include empanadas and sandwiches to take out - combine this with a stop at one of the fruit stalls on any street corner and you've got a quick, cheap lunch. Cafés also abound: some, like Giacomín , have old-world European aspirations; others, like Spoon , are resolutely Costa Rican, with Josefinos piling in to order birthday cakes or grab a coffee . Of the major ice-cream chains Pops is the best, with particularly good fruit flavours.