San Jose Walking Food Tour and Pre-Columbian Gold Museum Visit in San José, Costa Rica

Make the most of your day in San Jose! This tour includes our regular Bites & Sights Tour and combines it with a trip to the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum to experience the culture of Costa Rica. Get your cameras ready so you don't miss out.

Highlights:

• Discover the secrets behind handicrafts, herbal remedies, and fresh produce at Borbon and San Jose Central Market

• Visit top markets to learn about local culture through food

• Plenty of fruit, empanada, ceviche and coffee tasting

• Visit Borbon Market

• Good way for first-time visitors to learn about San Jose history and culture

Includes: 

• Local Guide

• Lunch 

• Food and drink samples
  

• Entrance fee to Pre-Columbian Gold Museum

Please note: Minimum age is 10 years old. 

A guided visit to the markets of San Jose turns an ordinary tour into a rich cultural experience as your guide explains everything in as much detail as possible. After visiting the best markets in San José, head to the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum for an insight into the city's early history.

The Pre-Columbian Gold Museum (Museo del Oro Precolombino "Álvaro Vargas Echeverría") is an archaeological museum located in San José (Costa Rica), located on three floors in the basement, under the Plaza de la Cultura, and located under administered by the Central Bank of Costa Rica. It is considered one of the three most important museums in Latin America dedicated to pre-Columbian gold objects (after the Museum of Gold in Bogotá and the Museum of Gold of Peru in Lima).

The collection consists of 1600 pre-Columbian gold coins dated between 300 and 1500 AD. AD. Most of the artifacts come from southwestern Costa Rica and testify to the craftsmanship of the Chibcha and Diki Indian tribes. Among the exhibits are animal figurines, amulets, earrings, erotic figurines, a life-size warrior adorned with gold ornaments (El Guerrero), and a replica of a pre-Columbian tomb with 88 gold objects discovered in the 1950s on a banana plantation in the South East (site Finca 4).

The Numismatic Museum is located in the same building. It features various items (coins, banknotes, bags of coffee and bananas) dating from 1502, including the country's first coin (Medio Escudo) minted in 1825 when Costa Rica was part of the Federal Republic of the Americas.