Cartago is the old capital, east of San José, and it was the capital until 1823. Irazú and Turrialba sit above the valley. There is no beach in this province, and the main airport is in Alajuela. Most trips use it as a morning, not as a base.
Cartago province is east of the capital, still in the Central Valley, then up to the volcanoes and south into the Orosi Valley. On this site that is Cartago, Orosi, and Turrialba. The city is smaller than San José. Cartago is the valley and the craters.
The highway toward the south Pacific passes this way before it drops to the coast. That does not make Jacó or Quepos part of Cartago. The province line stops in the mountains.
