Words Vidula KotianDate 08 July 2026
From the backroads of Costa Rica to the Mediterranean edge of the Costa Brava and the shifting landscapes of Southern California, each route is defined by contrast. Slow mornings in small towns, detours that lead further than expected, and stretches of road where the landscape seems to reset itself entirely. Three journeys, each best experienced with no urgency to arrive.
Costa Rica’s back roads lead through cloud forests, coffee farms, and quiet corners
The drive from Monteverde to Nosara feels like traveling through several different Costa Ricas in a single day. Start high in the cloud forest at Hotel Belmar, where morning mist drifts through the treetops and breakfast comes with sweeping mountain views. Leave early, before the clouds lift, and stop at a roadside soda for fresh tortillas and local cheese. As the road descends, coffee plantations give way to rolling cattle country, where sabaneros still ride horseback across the hills and the pace of life slows with every bend.
Hotel Belmar emerges from the cloud forest canopy
Rows of coffee plants stretch across Costa Rica's lush highlands
Rather than rushing straight to the coast, take a detour through San Luis, a quiet valley of family-run farms and forested ridgelines that remains largely overlooked by travelers. Further west, pause in Hojancha, a small town known for its cheese-making traditions and giant Guanacaste trees. Pick up something from a local bakery, then continue through the sunbaked landscapes of the Nicoya Peninsula, where dusty roads and golden grasses signal that the Pacific is near.
Before arriving in Nosara, stop at Ostional for a walk along its wild stretch of coastline and a late lunch of fresh ceviche by the water. By the time you reach Esh Hotel & Spa, the mountain air has given way to ocean breezes, and the pace of the day has shifted entirely. End it at Playa Guiones, where surfers drift in with the last light and howler monkeys call from the trees overhead.
The Costa Brava is often reduced to a string of beaches, but the real journey unfolds in what connects them: a winding mix of cork forests, medieval villages, and hidden coves. Finca Victoria near Begur is a restored coastal estate that captures the region’s quieter elegance, a place to return to between inland villages and coastal roads. In Monells, honey-colored stone streets gather around an arcaded square that feels untouched by time. Elsewhere in the Empordà, the Gavarres Massif unfolds as a quiet world of cork oak forests and winding roads where cork bark is still harvested by hand each summer.
Return to the coast near Palamós and skip the marina for La Fosca, then join a section of the Camí de Ronda. The old coastal path threads between pine cliffs and small coves, revealing stretches of sea that feel half-hidden. Further north, Sant Pere de Rodes rises above the landscape, a Romanesque monastery suspended between mountain and sea, with wide views across Cap de Creus where the Pyrenees dissolve into the Mediterranean. The road turns raw and sculptural as you enter Cap de Creus Natural Park, shaped by wind, salt, and time.
Pause in Port de la Selva, a working fishing village where boats still set the rhythm, before continuing to Cadaqués. Leave the waterfront and climb into its backstreets, where bougainvillea spills over white walls and studios hide in quiet corners. At dusk, as the light fades and the sea turns silver, the Costa Brava is a coastline to return to.
Southern California shifts quickly—coast, canyon and desert all within a few hours of each other. Leave Santa Barbara slowly, with coffee in the Funk Zone before following the coast south. Carpinteria comes first, where the beach feels unhurried and seals gather along the shore. Before Los Angeles arrives, cut inland through Malibu Canyon into the Santa Monica Mountains, where winding roads open suddenly to chaparral ridgelines and wide ocean views.
In Los Angeles, skip the obvious stops and move through neighborhoods instead. Bookshops and cafés in Los Feliz, galleries in Silver Lake, converted warehouses in the Arts District—each with its own pace, each a different version of the city depending on the block. South of the city, the landscape loosens. Palm trees replace the coast as the road climbs through the San Gorgonio Pass and drops into the Coachella Valley. Palm Springs appears almost composed on arrival: midcentury lines, dry heat, long afternoons by the pool.
Beyond it, the desert becomes more unsettled. Pioneertown feels like a film set that never fully stopped, its wooden façades fading into dust. Time Joshua Tree National Park for late afternoon, when the rocks warm and the landscape turns to shadow and gold.
Rather than turning back, continue south along the edge of the Salton Sea, where abandoned structures sit in bright stillness. Bombay Beach turns that decay into something unexpected—part ruin, part open-air gallery.
Rejoining the coast near San Diego, the pace softens again. Encinitas brings surf culture, plant-filled cafés ,and quiet streets above the water. A final walk along the cliffs at Torrey Pines catches the last light before the city gathers itself again by the harbor.
Images courtesy Adélaide De Cerjat, Michal Rzepecki, Mariam Wo Ching, Mariano Castro, Simone Marcolin, and Luis Garcia
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