Named for the villages that speckle the ridges south of San Jose, this off-the-beaten-track region offers superlative vistas as the roads rise and dip over forested highland cleats and through vales full of orchards releasing choice aromas. It makes a fabulous day-long trip as you savour the calm poetry of green glens and felicitous silence broken only by the braying of a mule or the distant chiming of a church bell.

Superbly situated on the northern face of the Cerro de Escazu Mountains, Aserri, 11.2 km south of San Jose on Highway 209, has a fine church, although it is better known locally for its rustic roadside restaurants serving capesino fare grilled over wood stoves and offering mesmerising views across the Meseta Central toward the distant volcanoes.