San Jose Walking Tour: Explore Costa Rican History and Cuisine with a Traditional Lunch

Embark on a captivating walking tour of San Jose, Costa Rica, and immerse yourself in the country’s rich history and vibrant cuisine. Discover hidden gems, savor authentic flavors, and create unforgettable memories.

Duration: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Teatro Nacional Costa Rica - San Jose’s Early History. A Glimpse of Our Old Theaters, Anecdotes, and Urban Tales. Learn about arte anda sculptures with actors!
  • Casa Jimenez de La Guardia - Discover prestigious historic houses, delve into the stories of their original owners, and admire the remarkable Art Nouveau architecture.
  • **School…
What's Included
  • Local guide
  • Snacks
  • Lunch
  • National Theater ticket
What's Not Included
  • Tips
Additional Information

Join us for a captivating journey through the heart of San Jose. Our unique walking tour is your key to unlocking the secrets, traditions, and flavors that make this country truly special. Give yourself the opportunity to immerse in history with a guided tour by actors in the National Theater.
Our local guide will regale you with gripping anecdotes,…

Location
National Theatre of Costa Rica
1
We'll meet in front of The National Theater, at the main entrance, diagonal to The Great Hotel Costa Rica.
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
4.6
(14 Ratings)
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1 star
Bernardus_h
Mar 8, 2025
Excellent cultural and foodie tour - Mariana Vergara provided us with a great tour. She finagled us into a tour just before closure of the theater for a private party. Excellent stories about historic buildings, local cultural history. Sampling of the various traditional food products was magnificent. To our enjoyment, she spent a good time with us.
Review provided by Viator
Sightseer548139
Feb 8, 2025
Walking and eating in San Jose - Marianna was a great guide we were able to see places we would never find on our own and she had great history stories of the architecture around the town of San Jose
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cathy
Feb 5, 2025
Well spent 3 hours learning about not only San Jose but also Costa Rico. - Our guide Mariaña was so understanding that we were stuck in traffic and waited for us to arrive 15 minutes late. She was very knowledgeable on the history of Costa Rica as well the National Theatre. We packed so much into 3 hours, example a typical Costa Rican lunch which was delicious as indicated by our clean plates, an inside tour of the National Theatre, the central market where Marianna introduced us to a Granadilla which looked like a small grapefruit on the outside but the inside looked like individual seeds surrounded by a gel on the inside. This was certainly well worth it. Highly recommend this tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
96sergueim
Jan 6, 2025
Unforgettable experience. - We feel so lucky to meet Mariana and have her as our tour guide She is a lovely person with great sense of humor. We enjoyed our safe walk through the city and learned a lot about history and architecture of San Jose and Costa Rica. She recommended us to visit places nearby we really enjoed. Lunch was excellent choice of traditional selection of food and tested fantastic. Performance in National Theatre was historically educational and well played. We took so many nice pictures. Highly recommend. Thank you Mariana.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sandra_j
Nov 19, 2024
Excellent introduction to the city & culture! - I really enjoyed my private tour with Mariana, thanks to her knowledge of the city, culture and history of Costa Rica, I learned a lot and saw a lot as well. I especially enjoyed the Casa del Cacao, the Central Market (great lunch!) and the impressive National Theater. I would recommend this walking & lunch tour to anyone who wants a fun but very informative introduction to the city and country.
Review provided by Viator
Dracinthya
Oct 30, 2024
Costa Rica and Jez I am PURA VIDA - Jez made an experience our trip to Costa Rica, knew how to explain every detail and was looking forward to make our stay pleasant, an intelligent girl loving her culture, highly recommended !!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tour44439267880
Oct 4, 2024
Fun, Authentic and Wonderful! - This was such an awesome tour. My guide Mariana was phenomenal!!! She was easy to understand and provided historical information in a fun and interesting way. I would recommend this trip to anyone. The lunch was authentic and so very yummy! The National Theatre is beautiful, and the guides were funny and engaging.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Y6999hjjoser
Mar 15, 2024
With a couple of days you can visit the interesting points of San José and continue the adventure through the rest of the country. - The museums and the theater are in a very close area, we did the route without a guide and it was interesting, they are small museums and in the area towards the public market there is a lot of police surveillance, on the one hand it gives you security and on the other it tells us that Crime can be high. The traffic is very heavy, but it is a place worth venturing into, in the same area there is a restaurant, La Esquina Argentina, very delicious and at a reasonable price, first-class service.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Leonard_l
Feb 19, 2024
Nice way to spend 3-4 hours downtown San Jose - It was just myself and three of my friends on this tour. Mariana, the tour guide, was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic and shared a lot of the history of Costa Rica. San Jose is no New York, London or Paris, so do not expect to be blown away by the sights. Rather than walk on your own downtown, better to have a local guide and you learn some stuff in the process. Also, some areas of downtown are not recommended for tourists, so be careful if on your own. The tour also included a stop at a bar for drinks (a cold Imperial, local beer) and a tasty lunch at a local cafe. A guided tour of the National Theatre was included as well, very interesting. As an fyi, we used Uber all over the city, no issues.
Review provided by Viator
Colinhi8878cd
Feb 17, 2025
Walking tour with lunch in San Jose. - Marianne is a very knowledgeable and passionate guide regarding the history of San Jose CR. Excellent English and very easy to interact with. Smiles a lot and very friendly.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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up to 9 guests
1 Adult
April 2025
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