SAN JOSE (AFP) -- Monaco's Prince Albert will visit Costa Rica December 2-7 where he will meet President Abel Pacheco and visit sites of national interest, officials said on Friday.

The European royal is conducting a brief tour of Latin America. He arrived in Chile on Wednesday and was due in Peru on Saturday before heading north to Costa Rica.

"Mainly (the prince) is interested in the ecological part and the protection of the environment," Costa Rica Vice-Chancellor Marco Vinicio Vargas told reporters.

Albert is due to visit several of Costa Rica's national parks as well as the presidential palace, Congress and the National Museum.