San Jose City Tour: Experience Authentic Culture and Historic Landmarks

Experience the vibrant culture and rich history of San Jose on this authentic city tour. Visit iconic landmarks, enjoy folkloric music, and explore the Central Market and Gold Museum.

Duration: 5 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Teatro Nacional Costa Rica - Lobby of Theater
  • Central Market (Mercado Central) - Shopping, local people.
  • Plaza de la Libertad Electoral - National Monument
  • VIP City Bus - Beautiful tour, monuments, churches, market, walking tours.
  • Pre-Columbian Gold Museum - Walking tour by Gold Museum
  • Museo de Arte Costarricense - Gold Room
What's Included
  • Local guide
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Lunch
  • Professional art historian guide
  • Live commentary on board
  • Transport by air-conditioned minivan
What's Not Included
  • Alcoholic drinks (available to purchase)
  • Souvenir photos (available to purchase)
Additional Information

This urban exploration gives you a panoramic perspective of San Jose, enriched with an authentic cultural immersion courtesy of our onboard traditional music. The journey incorporates informative guided strolls around significant historical points of interest such as the National Theater, the National Monument, and various others including San Jose’s…

Location
Teatro Nacional Costa Rica
Second Ave. and Fifth St.,
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.4
(318 Ratings)
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Cathy
Aug 14, 2025
An excellent overview of San Jose - Our tour guide Hector is an excellent guide. He is very friendly, knowledgeable, and patient. He speaks perfect English so we got to learn a lot about Costa Rica’s history. The tour was not hurried at every stop. It’s good for us senior citizens! Truly enjoyed this tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ifmamaainthappy
Aug 12, 2025
BEST way to experience the city solo! - Went with female friends & teenage kids, in Rainy-season/August — Highly recommend this VIP tour! Hector, our guide, was FANTASTIC! We chose Tour #1 (10am-4pm). He was friendly, spoke excellent english, answered all of our questions, made us feel safe everywhere we went, and he was tall (LOL) so he was easy to follow through the busy market area! The live music and traditional “Casado” lunch included with the tour was great! (They even had vegetarian options.) We loved the view from the upper deck of the bus, and the shuttle & bus drive were both very safe & smooth thanks to our excellent drivers 👏👏 It was an HOUR ride back to our hotel from the tour’s end, all the way across the city, and they didn’t complain to take us back. Great guys and great operation. We tipped everyone generously b/c just the amount of driving alone was worth the price of the tour, and they did everything with such joy! Was just a really GREAT experience overall…!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Diana_f
Aug 10, 2025
A good experience in... - A good chauffeur experience excellent and the tour guide was very explicit excellent in all the excellent food the typical music and the perfect singer thank you for the opportunity
Review provided by Viator
John_s
Aug 7, 2025
Very Pleased - Excellent tour. I am so glad that we booked it. We learned a lot about the history and culture of Costa Rica. I highly recommend it.
Review provided by Viator
Justin_b
Jul 27, 2025
A great way to learn... - A great way to learn about the history and culture of Costa Rica. Through many struggles in the beginning, the people here was able to start from nothing rebuilding the country back stronger. #Triumphant #PuraVida
Review provided by Viator
Jacquelyn
Jul 24, 2025
Fun little intro to San Jose - This was a great intro to the city and culture of San Jose! The guide was informative and fun, sharing both the history and fun facts about the city. Entertainment on the bus, stop by the market… lunch with pretty good portions… all in all, a good little tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Enel_w
Jul 21, 2025
Well Organized Tour - This tour was well organized. The food was great and the customer service was awesome. (FYI give description of the meal just in case of food allergies)
Review provided by Viator
Cheryl
Jun 29, 2025
Great Day of Learning San Jose History - Our tour guide was excellent. We saw many highlights and had a wonderful lunch. Group interraction was great and our guide did a fantastic job of keeping track of us as we had to weave in and out of an ongoing large Pride parade which our group also enjoyed. A great day to see the highlights and do some walking.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alan_s
Jul 13, 2025
Good overview of the main... - Good overview of the main sights of San Jose. Great driver, knowledgeable and friendly guide. Broken air conditioning on the bus took away from a great overall experience.
Review provided by Viator
Jocelyn
Jun 17, 2025
Easy way to see the city. - Great way to see the city in a short amount of time. Picked up at our hotel and visited several of the cities landmarks with lunch along the way. Hector was knowledgeable, patient and
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $78
up to 12 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).