Top Central & South America Cultural Tours

Explore the Carnival Factory, for a peek behind the scenes of Rio's Carnival, on this cultural tour. Learn how the parade's famous floats and costumes are produced. Listen to commentary on the history of samba and carnival, then hit the dressing rooms to try on some costumes and take some photos. Wind up with some cocktails and a samba class for the whole carnival experience.

Discover the history and culture of Roatan’s native Garifuna people on this half-day guided tour. First, stop at a sanctuary park for monkeys and sloths where you’ll be able to learn about the creatures. From there, visit the Garifuna Culture Center to see a demonstration of their native dance and more. The excursion wraps up with a boat tour of the Oak Ridge fishing village and its mangroves.

Attend the Ginga Tropical Show, a dance and music that allows you to learn about Brazil's vibrant history and culture through its traditional music and dance. During this show, see talented performers dance the lambada, samba and bossa nova dressed in outrageous Carnival costumes. Hear folklore from around the diverse country, live drumming and the Brazilian martial art: capoeira.

Get a taste of San Jose’s culture and cuisine on this 3-hour walking tour. Explore Costa Rica’s capital accompanied by an expert guide and learn about the city’s history, architecture and flavor. Explore the produce stalls of two traditional markets and discover what makes Costa Rican coffee so delicious as you sample some local brews. The tour is capped at 12 people for a personalized small-group experience.

Experience Panama’s booming capital city like a local on this guided excursion. After a convenient hotel pickup, enjoy a delicious traditional lunch and visit the first Spanish settlement in the country, Panama La Vieja. Take a sightseeing tour of Panama City’s vibrant downtown, pick up a souvenir at the indigenous handicraft market, and learn about the country’s rich history and culture at Mi Pueblito Cultural Center.

Get an in-depth local experience with this walking tour of one of Rio's favelas, Rocinha. Follow your resident guide to get an insider's perspective on daily life and learn about the challenges these communities face.

Bring an empty stomach and an open mind for this walking tour and get ready to eat your way around Santiago. Immerse yourself in local life as you browse the Mercado Central and La Vega markets and stroll around the lively Plaza de Armas. Stop to refuel along the way with tastings of local favorites, then tuck into a scrumptious lunch at a local restaurant.

Chocolate lovers flock to this incredible tour from La Fortuna that includes the sweetest rainforest experience and unearths the hidden secretes of local chocolate production. Visit a farm where cocoa is grown, processed and produced. This hands-on experience lets travelers eat as much chocolate as they want while learning about history, culture and traditions of this popular Costa Rican sweet.

Enjoy a full-day tour to Monteverde where the clouds meet the woods and take an exhilarating walk through the famous cloud forest on hanging bridges. Sky Walk uses trails and a series of suspension bridges for a more relaxing introduction of the flora and fauna of the forest. It allows a vision of the forest from a different perspective which starts with a hike on the ground and then taking you to explore the treetops, a hardly discovered habitat called the “canopy” with a professional guide.

Take a thrilling journey through the Andes on the Devil's Nose Train on this full-day tour from Cuenca. Marvel at the wild mountain scenery, the option to tuck into a delicious Ecuadorian lunch, and explore the ancient Inca ruins of Ingapirca. Hotel pickup and drop-off is included.

No trip to Guatemala is complete without a visit to Tikal. Visit the Mayan Ruins with ease on a full-day tour from Antigua. All-inclusive land and air transportation makes it possible for you to experience the UNESCO listed ruins in a single day without feeling rushed. After a guided tour of the complex, enjoy lunch and free time to explore on your own.

Bazurto Market is Cartagena’s largest and busiest market, and it’s a maze of colorful stalls, exotic foods and local artisans. This guided visit will take you to the heart of the market, where you’ll get the chance to meet the vendors, watch craftsmen at work, sample local delicacies and enjoy a delicious Colombian lunch.

Get a behind-the-scenes look at one of the world’s biggest parties during this tour in Rio de Janeiro. See all the work that goes into this week-long party as you tour the City of Samba, a warehouse where floats and costumes are kept, and the Grande Rio’s Samba Factory, to learn about the history of samba and how to samba while wearing a traditional costume.

Avoid the hassle of advanced planning on a private city tour of Argentina’s vibrant capital. Follow a comprehensive itinerary, flexible to suit your requests, and discover landmarks including La Boca and Plaza de Mayo, with insights provided by your professional guide. Avoid the hassle of finding a meeting point with included hotel pickup and drop-off, and travel between dispersed highlights with ease via private vehicle.

Discover all that Lima has to offer, both modern and historic, during this 9-hour exploration of the top sites in the Peruvian capital in this small-group tour. Visit the pre-Incan archaeological site at Pachacamac, then head to Pantanos de Villa, a one-time family home that’s been converted into an eatery, for lunch and to learn how to make a Pisco Sour. In the afternoon, continue to Lima’s UNESCO World Heritage-listed downtown for a walking tour, see the historic neighborhood of Chorillos and admire the visual spectacle of the Magic Water Circuit park. This full-day Lima tour also includes a driver-guide, round-trip hotel transport, entrance fees and bottled water.

This tour includes two UNESCO World Heritage Sites encompassing over 500 years of history in the american continent.

Visit all of the formative places that shaped Jorge Bergoglio on his way to becoming Pope Francis. During this 3-hour tour in Buenos Aires, you'll tour churches, schools and a sports club that each had an educational, religious and social influence on Pope Francis' early years. Transportation in a comfortable minivan from San Telmo is included.

Explore Cuenca, one of Ecuador's most beautiful cities, on foot and by vehicle during this half-day guided tour. Highlights include colonial architecture such as wrought iron balconies and carved doors, museums, churches, parks, a flower market, and a world-renowned hat factory where so-called Panama hats are made. Hats can also be purchased and shipped directly to your home address. Finally, enjoy an overview of the city from the Mirador de Turi  viewpoint.

Come, relax and enjoy this popular 4-hour sightseeing tour of the city and see the historic construction sites that include museums, theaters, markets and other interesting places in the city of San Jose. Tour includes: Bilingual profesional guide, comfortable air conditioning transportation, bottled water and dinner

Private day tour of Yaxha National Park with round-trip transportation from the airport or hotels near Tikal & Flores. You will learn about Mayan and Guatemalan history and culture, archaeology, and the region's flora and fauna. What sets our tours apart from others is our dedication and love for our work and our empathetic approach towards guests. We strive to ensure that our tours exceed your expectations in every way, but especially in terms of experience and value. Tikal VIP Tours is aptly named for the importance of our clients—we strive to provide a VIP experience for everyone and hope that your time in Guatemala will be an experience of a lifetime. Because of his passion for guiding, Elmer Alvarado has become one of the “Most Recommended” guides certified by the Guatemalan Tourism Institute (INGUAT) since 2011. “I am living my dream,” says guide and founder, Elmer Omar Alvarado. “If you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life and you will always be happy.”

Enjoy an insider’s perspective of San Jose on this half-day city walking tour. Accompanied by an expert guide, you’ll get a sense of daily life in the Costa Rican capital as you ride public transportation, stop by a beautiful local park and visit the artisan workshop of a third-generation craftsman. Taste local flavors while you browse stalls at the historic Central Market, savor a traditional lunch at an 80-year-old inn and learn to make tortillas.

Experience two of the most spectacular UNESCO World Heritage-listed sites of the Mayan civilization, Copán and Joya de Cerén, during this 2-day, 1-night trip. Explore the ‘Pompeii of the Americas’ at Joya de Cerén, one of the only Mayan villages preserved from ancient times by a volcanic eruption. Then discover the unique stelae (upright stone carvings) and magnificent buildings at Copán, a vast Mayan center with several thousand structures. Your Mayan-themed trip includes a guide, overnight accommodation, entrance fees, snacks and round-trip hotel transport.

Come and enjoy this amazing day trip in Caral which is the oldest known civilization in America. Developed simultaneously with the ancient culture of Mesopotamia about 5000 years ago. The archeological site of Caral is among Peru's most impressive ruins. The UNESCO World Heritage listed site covers an area of around 60 hectares in the arid Supe Valley and was first inhabited between 2600 BCE and 2000 BCE. Although initially discovered back in 1948, recent excavations of Caral revealed an elaborate complex of temples, sunken plazas and some of the largest terraced pyramids in the world, leading archeologists to ponder the chance Caral being the fabled Mother City of ancient civilizations. Now open to the public, the site has garnered acclaim for its beautifully preserved ruins and intriguing collection of artefacts, which include a quipu (a unique knot system) and a number of musical instruments fashioned from animal bones, but definitely, no trace of warfare or weaponry.

You will be involved in to an ancient tradition, with master weavers awarded by UNESCO. This is the only tour in Cusco that allows you to live this kind of experiences. We don`t just show you the textile process, you will do the process We have received important people like Jean-Bernard Münch who is the president of the Swiss Commission for UNESCO since 2012. This kind of experiences helps local people to give more value to what they do.