San Jose does not get as much as love as some of the other destinations of Costa Rica.
However, if you have reached this page, you are probably thinking of giving the capital city of Costa Rica, some amount of time.
Costa Rica has been our base for several years now and we agree that San Jose is not as exciting a city as some of the other cities we have explored in Central and South America.
⭐️ We went on this walking tour to get a different perspective of the city, the rawness of the San Jose city center and the Central Markets, areas we do not explore often.
In this post, we are going to share our experience of the San Jose walking tour with ‘sights and bites’ thrown in it.
We hope it helps you get a feel of what to expect from this tour that blends city history, busy markets, local cuisine and some hands-on experiences with Costa Rican Tamal and Coffee.
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Why choose the San Jose Sights and Bites Walking Tour?
If you plan to stay for just one day in San Jose and dive deeper into the City’s culture, before visiting more popular destinations like La Fortuna or Manuel Antonio, consider this guided walk.
Here are some aspects of the San Jose Walking Tour that, we think, should make travelers want to sign up for it:
🏛️ Learn about San Jose’s history and economy
⛪️ Get glimpses of the historical landmarks in the historic center
🥑 Get inside view of local markets, sample tropical fruits and learn about interesting items on sale
🍧 Try bites of traditional food and desserts from the market
🥟 Hands-on experience of making a Costa Rican empanada
☕️ Sample gourmet Costa Rican coffee
In short, this gives a unique perspective of the city of San Jose, its history and economy and culinary culture.
🇨🇷 For further planning: Check our 2-Day itinerary of San Jose to plan your activities.
San Jose Walking Tour: How to Plan Your Day
We went to this guided tour – San Jose Sights and Bites Walking Tour. Let us look at the logistics to plan for it better.
How to Book
🎟️ You can book the Walking Tour here ➡️
⏰ To allow for any change in travel plans, they offer free cancellation for up to 24 hours before the tour.
You can check availability below and book your San Jose walking tour.
Tour Start Time and Duration
🕰️ The tour has 3 slots starting at 10 AM, followed by 11.30 AM, 1 PM and 3 PM.
The duration of this tour is 3 hours.
Location and Getting There
The location of the starting point and all the subsequent stops are around the center of San Jose.
🚶🏽Walk: The area is flat and walkable. If you staying near the city center, you can walk to the starting point.
🚕 Taxi: You can take taxi or Uber to the destination, Monumento Los Presentes. It is in front of the Banco Central de Costa Rica.
🚗 Renting a Car: If you are renting a car, you will need to find a safe place to park. The center of San Jose is busy and parking is difficult. However, you will find ‘Paid Parking’ areas around the center where you can park for per hour fees.
🚗 Rent your car with Adobe Rent A Car and get 10% discount and other freebies →
What to Expect from the San Jose Sights and Bites Walking Tour?
It is good to keep in mind that this is a different kind of walking tour.
🥟 You will be trying different types of fruits and local dishes. Plan accordingly so that you do NOT go to the tour with your tummy full.
To give you an idea of what to expect, there are 3 broad aspects of this walking tour:
The History
The guided walk starts in front of the ‘Monumento Los Presentes’, statues of 9 persons who represent Costa Rican peasants from Central Valley.
It seemed like an apt place to start the walk as our guide explained us the history of San Jose and the journey of its economy, touching upon how it is different from other parts of Costa Rica.
He kept sprinkling historical facts as we explored other landmarks during the tour.
The Markets
We visited two local markets in the San Jose city center, the Central Market and the Mercado Borbon.
Our first stop was the Central Market, the oldest and largest market in the city.
The busy alleys of the market has shops that sell anything from herbs, spices, souvenirs, to restaurants that are there for decades.
🌿 Our guide showed us some of the interesting products sold in the market that included medicinal herbs and told us stories behind them.
We were introduced to Lolo Mora’s artisanal ice cream, sampling a bit to get a taste that has been part of the Central Market since 1901.
Our next stop was the Borbon Market. It is where we sampled tropical fruits of different flavors, some known and couple of new ones for us.
🥭 For the fruit tasting, you can expect a feast for the senses, with colors of the tropical fruits, enticing aromas, and the hustle of local merchants.
The Landmarks
The walking tour took us next to the Parque Central (Central Park), adjacent to the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose. It is a nice photo stop for the ‘San Jose Vive’ mark at one end of the park.
Our guide talked about European influences on the architecture and economy of San Jose, that led to the creation of some of the iconic buildings in the city center, and that brought us to our next stop, National Theater of San Jose.
These iconic landmarks and the associated stories gave us a better perspective of the capital city of Costa Rica.
🚶🏽 If you wish to later explore some of these places on your own, this walking tour works as a good introduction to the city.
Hands-On Culinary Fun
The final stop was at the Mr. Sloth Coffee shop, where we engaged in a hands-on short cooking class, where we made our own empanadas.
The basic preparation was already done before we arrived. So our job was to flatten the dough for the empanada, get the filling and fry it.
🥟 We made our first plantain empanadas, the Costa Rican way. Probably not the best shaped ones, but just perfect for a fun trial.
Apart from the empanadas, we tried the Costa Rican Tamal, Caldosa along with Agua de Sapo, a drink prepared with ginger, lemon and sugar cane juice.
The activity was followed by a coffee preparation session in a traditional Chorreado. We tasted some gourmet coffee and learnt a bit more about the coffee scene in Costa Rica.
Is the San Jose Walking Tour Worth it?
For anyone looking to explore San Jose beyond the typical tourist attractions, this tour is an interesting choice.
It is the perfect way to delve into the heart of Costa Rican city culture through its food, history, and street life.
What Next
⚱️ After the San Jose Walking Tour ends, you can hang out and check out some of the museums in the area, like the National Museum of Costa Rica, the Gold Museum and the Jade Museum near the center.
🍰 You can go back to the National Theater. There is a nice coffee shop inside, Alma de Cafe. It has ornate interiors and they serve nice coffee and desserts.
🌋 When you are in San Jose, go for some day trips like Poas Volcano, Irazu Volcano, La Paz Waterfall Gardens. They can be interesting additions towards the start or end of your Costa Rica Itinerary.
🇨🇷 For more ideas, check out our itinerary for 2 days in San Jose.
Also, check out our Costa Rica Itineraries for further planning:
Travel Resources
- Flights: Skyscanner
- Hotels: Booking.com | Expedia
- Tours: Viator | GetYourGuide
- Travel Insurance:
- Heymondo (get 5% off)
- SafetyWing Nomad Insurance
- eSIMs:
- Transfers: Bookaway. Code PARADISE5 for 5% off
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