Hey kcomer!

It wouldn’t be detrimental at all. It will save you a bit of drive time if you head to La Fortuna/Arenal first, but if it works better for you (in terms of lodging availability) to head to Monteverde first, that’s no problem. Tons of people are doing that these days. Back in the early-to-mid 2000s, the standard trip plan was La Fortuna/Arenal -> Monteverde -> Manuel Antonio, and while smaller outfits like us have been promoting a variety of itinerary options for more than a decade, it took years for big-name travel agencies to catch up in “thinking outside of the box.” Though the La Fortuna/Arenal -> Monteverde -> Manuel Antonio course tends to be what’s advertised most often, it’s certainly not a bad idea to reverse La Fortuna/Arenal and Monteverde, or even select different destinations altogether.

Here’s a breakdown of the time you’ll spend on the road with either option:

OPTION A
Drive time from Liberia to Monteverde: 2 hours and 15 minutes
Drive time from Monteverde to La Fortuna/Arenal: 3 hours and 15 minutes
Drive time from La Fortuna/Arenal to Manuel Antonio: 4.5 hours
TOTAL: 10 hours

OPTION B
Drive time from Liberia to La Fortuna/Arenal: 2.5 hours
Drive time from La Fortuna/Arenal to Monteverde: 3 hours and 15 minutes
Drive time from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio: 3.5 hours
TOTAL: 9 hours and 15 minutes

You’ll drive some different roads with each course (some of the roads will be the same), but overall, there isn’t much difference in terms of difficulty between them. With option A above, the most difficult, mountainous stretch is encountered between La Fortuna and Highway 1, and with option B above, the most difficult, mountainous stretch is encountered between Monteverde and Highway 1. This being said, I wouldn’t consider either route to be “difficult.” Unless there’s a specific reason you’d like to take one route over the other, I wouldn’t suggest that you should take one over the other due to difficulty.

Pura vida! 🙂