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
(328 Ratings)
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Bettyb424
Oct 14, 2025
Great San Jose City Tour - We really enjoyed the tour! Great museum tours, delicious lunch, enjoyed the other sights, amazing tour guide, fun music!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sheena_m
Oct 1, 2025
City tour - This was an amazing experience!! The tour guides and bus drivers were fantastic! Everyone we encountered were professional, informative and extremely polite. We enjoyed the live music the Marachi played on the bus, the extensive history at the museums and picturesque parks. The food and drinks were completely delectable and savory. Although the Gold museum wasn't available today, we went to the National Theater instead. What a beautiful mirage of paintings and antiques trimmed in gold everywhere! Our tour guides Hector and Minor took good care of us and made us feel like family! Why wait, book today!!
Review provided by Viator
Cece_w
Sep 28, 2025
Good way to start trip - Very fun day! The guide and staff were very friendly which made the experience great! I learned so much about the culture & history of San Jose!
Review provided by Viator
Simoonhartley
Aug 30, 2025
San Juan city tour - Hector was a knowledgeable guide, very interesting destinations with a good mix, delicious lunch, entertainment on the bus: a great first introduction to San Juan city
Review provided by Viator
235dulced
Aug 30, 2025
Hector excellent guide - Excellent tour, very friendly Hector, with extensive knowledge of the destination and super attitude. Highly recommended (we attended as a family)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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
Yvonne273
Nov 7, 2025
Best introduction to San José - Excellent way to see San José The tour shows you all the highlights. If you only have a day, it’s all you need to get an impression. The guide was good; the driver cautious and the singer on the bus cool. I could have spent more time in the market. Maybe they should have just let us roam around for 15 minutes; but I understand that they’ve lost tourists in the past.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Maria_c
Sep 16, 2025
Pura Vida - It was amazing all 4 of them, the tour to the volcano Poas all day highly recommended and Olman Arce our tour guide was very knowledgeable and made the trip unforgettable. All the tours were very good
Review provided by Viator
From $78
up to 12 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).