San Jose is the cultural capital of Costa Rica and boasts a rich and varied history. Get acquainted with the city’s charms on a private tour, featuring a customizable itinerary of must-see attractions and private transportation through the city’s maze of trafficked avenues.

Private tour of San Jose with just you and your group
See the city’s highlights with a private guide who can cater to your interests
Traverse San Jose in the comfort of a private vehicle
Gain insider perspective on the city’s culture and history
Ideal overview for first-time visitors
Lunch at a well-regarded restaurant included
Hotel pickup and drop-off included

What's Included

Typical lunch in a historical house of San Jose
Professional guide
Private transportation
Entrance fee to National Museum
Visit to the Municipal Souvenirs Market
Bottled water
Walking Tour to the Iconic buildings of the city

Alcoholic drinks (available to purchase)

Meeting And Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

09:00 am

Pickup details

We pick up at all hotels in San Jose area. If your hotel is not listed please send hotel name and address

What To Expect

Meet your guide at your hotel and head straight for San Jose’s highlights. Traverse the city in the comfort of private transportation with just you and your group, heading off to the city’s highlights.

This customizable tour allows you to cater your itinerary to your specific interests, but some highlights you can expect to visit include the 19th century National Theater, Sabana Park, Supreme Court, and University of Costa Rica. You will also have the option of touring the National Museum, Gold Museum, or Jade Museum with your guide.

Stop in the city’s arts and crafts district and have just enough free time to look through the eclectic offerings before heading back to your hotel.

Lunch in the historic Barrio Otoya neighborhood is included.

Teatro Nacional Costa Rica

The most beautiful building in Costa Rica. Our Opera House was build between 1890 and 1897 as a cultural center and special celebrations for the high society of that time. Because it is a theater with constant activities, it is often closed for tours inside, so the visit is subject to the day of your tour being open. In case the entrance is not allowed, a visit to the National Museum will be made instead of the visit to the theater

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Pre-Columbian Gold Museum (Pass By)

The Pre-Columbian Gold Museum is a museum in San José, Costa Rica. It is located in a subterranean building underneath the "Plaza de la Cultura" and is owned and curated by the Banco Central de Costa Rica. The Museums of the Central Bank of Costa Rica manage, preserve, research and outreach the Archaeology, Visual Arts, and Numismatics collections of the Central Bank of Costa Rica. They offer their visitors permanent exhibitions and a dynamic program of temporary exhibits that are related to their heritage. They are housed in an extraordinary building located in the heart of San José.

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Infant seats available
Child rate applies only when sharing with 2 paying adults
Infant meals not included
Wheelchair accessible

Stroller accessible
Infants must sit on laps
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Most travellers can participate
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s cancelled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveller Photos

Reviews

4.5

22 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-10 of 22 reviews

Must see!

akinyinka_a, Mar 2023

Highly recommend this tour. Guide was excellent. Passionate, knowledgeable and bi-lingual. Really enjoyed it

Beauty, Culture, and History - Today’s Costa Rica

Eugene_C, Nov 2022

Excellent guide, excited to share the history and culture of Costa Rica and the San Jose area. Provided a great perspective of the successes and the challenges of modern CR. Truly, a wonderful representative.

Response from Host, Nov 2022

HI Thank you very much for your nice review. We really appreciate it and hope to serve you in the near future.

A time of enjoyment in the capital city of Pura Vida.

DanielAndre_T, Oct 2022

The city tour by car was very nice. Alberto was very friendly and drove with knowledge of San Jose. The pickup was punctual, the lunch included was very delicious. A good learning time of history and art.

Response from Host, Oct 2022

Hi Thank you very much for your nice review about our tour and services. We really appreciate it

Good experience

Martin_B, Oct 2022

Highlights Tour guide Alberto. A very informative and enjoyable guide. Vehicle comfortable. Very helpful in all things. Company should make clear that certain items of the tour may not be open or bypassed because of time constraints. We found out National museum was closed after arriving, parking and walking to the building. This caused us to miss a stop at the market. The lunch said it would be typical for Costa Rica in an historical building. Although the lunch was excellent it was a buffet in a modern hotel. Fortunately Alberto did not let these things ruin it for us. Great guide.

Response from Host, Oct 2022

Thank you for your review. We appreciate it. Unfortunately we were not advised that the National Musseum will be closed on that date due a special activity. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Not worth it

Claudia_F, July 2022

Save your money, tour is very short and the most important places are closed. I'm so upset that I wasn't partially refunded for wasting my time.

Response from Host, July 2022

Well it is a shame to see this review and that our tour will not like. The tour was listed as 6 hours and that it was what you have received. 6 hours considering that your hotel was located a little away from the city center. Unfortunately, the National Theater was closed that day because it is a theater with many activities, but even so we explained and you agreed to visit the vestibulo and enjoy a Capucchino courtesy of our agency in the teather´s cafeteria, since this was not included . In addition, the change of the place for the visit to the souvenir markets was offered and you agreed. You bought many gifts there and you like it. Then you visited the Gold Museum and we spend more than 1 hour there and I did a very complete narration of our history . We also offered 3 restaurant options for lunch and you choose the typical and you liked it too. In the restaurant we talked a lot about Costa Rican food and I think you liked food and information a lot. The tour included many places and it was 6 hours of tour, from 9 am to 3:00 pm In relation to your reimbursement application it seemed very strange that you requested 80% reimbursement, which is totally out of the reality after our company incurred in many expenses. I hope you enjoyed other activities during your trip to CR

First time visitors to Costa Rica

Juan_W, Feb 2022

My husband and I had the best experience learning about San Jose's culture, food, locals and educational system. Luis was extremely knowledgeable and polite. He had the most friendly and passion when describing his country. I will definitely return and will recommend this tour. The National Theater, museum, park and restaurant was amazing!

Response from Host, Feb 2022

Hi Thank you for your great review about our tour and services. We are very glad to hear that you enjoy our tour.

Great guide!

Susan_W, Jan 2022

Mario was an excellent guide. He adjusted the tour for our interests and was a fountain of knowledge. We learned so much about San Jose and about Costa Rica. A great introduction to the country!

Response from Host, Jan 2022

Thank you very much for your great review. We are so glad to heard that you enjoy it.

The best way to see some of San Jose

Donald_F, Dec 2021

Luis was a very knowledgeable and friendly tour guide who took time to explain things about Costa Rica that we might have never learned. He answered all of our questions and also explained things as we went through the museum, adding to our experience. The lunch was at a restaurant nearly hidden from the street view, but had the best food! Highly recommend.

Response from Host, Dec 2021

Hi Thank you very much for your great review about our San Jose City tour and our guide Luis. We really appreciate.

San Jose

Philip C, Dec 2019

Informative tour and very accommodating tour guide given some limitations in walking. Lunch was outstanding as well.

Response from Host, Dec 2019

Thank you for your positive review. We really appreciate it.

We moved the tour to start at 1:00...

Anne G, Feb 2018

We moved the tour to start at 1:00 to accommodate our schedule. They said that wouldn't be a problem, but when we did the tour it was shortened and we were not offered a choice of which things we wanted to see. It was still good, and our guide was great, but it was over priced for what we did.

Response from Host, May 2020

Thank you for your review. Our tour start at 9:00 AM in order to cover all the places and activities listed in the tour program. Due you requested to move the tour at this late time, some of the places were closed at the moment to arrive to them and you were advised about it. Instead we offered other places and activities.

Estupendo Tour

GUILLERMO_G, Nov 2018

El recorrido es muy interesante visitar el Teatro Nacional, los museos y el recorrido a pie y exquisito almuerzo en Nuestra Tierra. El Guía Gerardo Masis muy amable y conocedor de su trabajo. Felicidades y Gracias

Response from Host, May 2020

Muchas gracias por su positivo comentario de nuestro tour y guia. se lo agradecemos mucho y esperamos tenerle de vuelta pronto

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