San Jose: Bites and Sights Walking Food Tour and National Museum

Recommended by 93% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

San Jose, Costa Rica

5 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Overview

Turn exploring San Jose into an ultra-rich cultural experience with this guided “bites and sights” tour. You’ll start at the city’s best markets—Central and Borbon markets—tasting empanadas, fresh fruits, coffees, and more, plus learning all about local goods and handicrafts. You’ll also get a guided exploration of the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum, diving even deeper into the city’s gilded history.

Snacks, lunch, and museum entrance included
Explore two fantastic markets with a local guide leading your sensory adventure
Dive into the city's history with complimentary museum access
Limited to 12 travelers, you'll get a fun, small-group experience

What's Included

Visit the Central Market
Visit Borbon Market
Entrance fee to National Museum
Food: fruits, tamal, make your own plantain empanada, caldosa, agua de sapo.
Coffee Tasting
Visit parks: Central Park, Morazan Park, National Park.

Additional food and drinks
Souvenirs and personal shopping
Tips/gratuities for your guide

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Banco Central De Costa Rica Garden
WWM9+PQW, Av. Central, San José, Paso De La Vaca, Costa Rica
At the Los Presentes Monument in front of the Central Bank of San Jose, in between Avenue 1 and Avenue Central

End point

Mr. Sloth Coffee Shop
Urban Tours, C. 5, San José, El Carmen, 10101, Costa Rica
After the museums we will visit Mr sloth to enjoy authentic food like tamales and classes to cook banana empanadas. we will also enjoy preparing Costa Rican-style drip coffee and tasting authentic soft drinks such as toad water.

Operating hours
.10:00 am

Itinerary

Mercado Borbón

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Central Market (Mercado Central)

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Parque Central de San Jose

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Joseph of Costa Rica

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Teatro Nacional Costa Rica

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Mr. Sloth Coffee Shop

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Morazan Park

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

National Museum Of Costa Rica

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation

Infants must sit on laps
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 18 travelers

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Cancellation Policy

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

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.8

based on 28 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Great way to learn about the history and culture of Costa Rica

Maureen_F, Mar 2026

Absolutely wonderful way to learn about the city of San Jose and the culture of Costa Rica. We traveled through two local markets- Borbon- focused on fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, spices, grains and beans. And another- Central- with anything a person could want- clothing, souvenirs, coffee, chocolate, restaurants, etc. We had a terrific sampling of local fruits including many tropical fruits we don’t see in the USA. I’m not a coffee drinker- and yet I enjoyed the coffee tasting with the most mellow coffee variety called Peaberry, at a local coffee shop. We made our own empanadas with corn dough and sampled tamales as well as a local drink made with ginger and fruit juice, that was delicious. We learned about architecture- stopping to admire the many local landmarks like the national theater. Our tour ended at the national museum- where our guide was kind enough to continue to teach us about the fascinating history of Costa Rica as we walked through the diverse exhibits in this historic ex-military building. We thought this was an excellent way to spend an afternoon and to learn a lot about the history of Costa Rica.

Great walking and eating tour of San José

michael_d, Nov 2025

Great tour exploring local places and leaning about the culture, food, history, and more. Fun to try out different foods and drinks and even prepare them oursleves. Jean Pierre was great local guide.

Response from Host, Dec 2025

¡Pura Vida! We are so glad you enjoyed the mix of culture, history, and food. We love that you got into the spirit of things by preparing the food and drinks yourselves—it’s the best way to really understand the local flavors! Thank you for choosing us to explore San José.

Fun Tasting

Wanita_H, May 2025

Fun tasting and hearing the history of San Jose. Our guide was very nice. We especially loved the local fruit! We did an add-on to the History Museum. It was well worth it and the guide took us through the entire museum!

Response from Host, May 2025

Thank you so much for your kind words! We’re glad you had fun tasting local flavors and learning about the history of San José. It’s great to hear the fruit was a highlight—we agree, it’s a treat! We're also happy you enjoyed the History Museum add-on. Our guide will be thrilled to know you appreciated the full walkthrough. Thanks again for joining us—Pura Vida!

A fun morning of city walking and museum tour!

Abigail_A, Jul 2024

Glad we opted to go on a guided tour in San Jose as this isn’t a city that has many tourists. Our guide was very knowledgeable and the people we met at the food stalls were very friendly. We enjoyed tasting different fruits from this area as well as the hands-on experience of making plantain empanadas. The Gold Museum offered many artifacts and insight into the early periods of Costa Rica.

Response from Host, Jul 2024

Thank you so much for your wonderful review of our walking food tour in San Jose! We're thrilled to hear that you enjoyed exploring the city and its vibrant markets with us, especially our focus on the circular economy at the fruit markets. Your support means the world to us, and we can't wait to welcome you back for another delicious adventure soon!"

Amazing Tour!

Amman_A, Mar 2024

Amazing tour of San Jose and enjoyed some delicious food along the way. For the last stop we made empanadas and had some delicious coffee. Highly recommend. Family friendly as well, we brought our 2 year old son and there were no issues.

Great combo!

Razia_Z, Mar 2024

This was a great tour. We sampled a large variety of foods which were a meal in themselves. Our guide was really nice and knowledgeable. It was a perfect combination to go to the gold museum and see the downtown too. Costa Rica is wonderful but San Jose is a one or 2 day destination and this tour takes care of the highlights. Highly recommend.

Great food and cultural experience

George_B, Jan 2024

Our guide was very friendly and informative about local culture and history. Enjoyed learning about native foods and coffee, and making our own empanadas! Museum was very interesting. Nice experience!!

Enjoyable trip

Hwangji_L, Nov 2023

I had great time and tried various foods in this tour. Originally, we were supposed to visit Gold Museum. But the museum was closed due to unexpected emergency. The tour guide contacted his boss, so the boss as the 2nd tour guide, took us to the National Museum. We had wonderful time learning in the National Museum.

Can’t miss this walking food tour & gold museum while visiting San Jose costa rica

Cindy_B, Feb 2023

Our guide Ernesto was very friendly knowledgeable and made this tour a lot of fun. There was so much culture and history that was explained, and so many delicious locally grown fruits we sampled. Every shop seemed to know who Ernesto was, and it was very clear that he had made many friends in San Jose over the years. The coffee testing at Mr. sloth’s coffee was extremely educational on how coffee is growing, harvested and manufactured, and the taste was delicious. We learned how to make empenadas which was a lot of fun, provided a cultural experience, and also very delicious. After the walking food tour, the gold museum contained intricately, detailed, miniature pieces of various gold items depicting rank and caste of previous civilizations. It was very fascinating to learn about the Costa Rican culture before modern times. This tour was an enjoyable, and must do must experience tour while visiting San Jose Costa Rica. Ernesto is a top guide, highly recommend asking for him when considering this tour. It is very clear that he loves his country and is proud to be its citizen.

Disappointing

Keith_R, May 2022

The tour didn’t show up and they advised he will be 2.5 hrs late. Asked for a refund and have still not received it

Response from Host, May 2022

Hello Keith, you must have made us very sad, but that day the guide on the way to the meeting point, due to the rains, a bridge collapsed and I was left at a point with no signal, but we were able to communicate with you by phone on time, and the return of the item was immediately made. money, we really apologize for what happened but it got out of hand.

A must do tour of San Jose!

pckrusk, Apr 2022

Gladys took us to the market in San Jose and that was awesome. She really knows her way around and introduced us to some interesting local items. She was awsome!

Response from Host, Apr 2022

Hello, I am glad that you had a good time during our experience, every day we try to improve what we do and now it includes many more activities for the pleasure of our clients

Fun and informative

BC_C, Mar 2022

Our guide, Ernesto, was really good. We began at a local outdoor market that features fresh meat and produce and an assortment of CR foods prepared for consumption at the market. We then moved on to a general merchandise mart on the street. There was a wide assortment of goods including tee shirts, sun glasses and the usual as well as many hand crafted items. Then we stopped at the National Theatre, which is a stunning edifice where some of the furnishings in the cafe are original -- more than one hundred years old. Finally, it was off to the Gold Museum, which offers far more than gold. Although there are many precious artifacts displayed at the museum, there is also a history of Central America going back to when indigenous peoples occupied the land. All in all, it was a very nice experience and well worth the money.

Response from Host, Mar 2022

Hello Bc yes this tour is excellent not only for history food and also shopping and get a good contact with locals, glad you had a good time, Thanks from San Jose Urban Tours Team

Nicht tour

Leonhard_S, Nov 2021

Nice guide Ernesto, knows a lot. Very interesting and informative. The entry fee for the Gold museum is included.

Response from Host, Nov 2021

Hello and thank you for taking the tour with us. we are glad you had a good time. Thanks

Underpriced tour Great Value . Lots of Exotic fruits

danielleeberhardt, Sep 2021

Guide is a costa Rica local . Seems very social and knowledgeable of san jose . Safe and conformal from a single woman traveler . Meet up location directions were on point. Tour is underpriced SO GREAT VALUE for my money. Love the cup of coffee and exotic fruits even tobacco. Also i know now ,where to buy 20$ Nike's shoes in town . Tip! Bring water and good shoes. Your tour guide Pickup details Waiting time Value for money What you loved What could have been better Tips for travelers