The Highlights tour takes you to the best San Antonio has to offer.
The Alamo - The most famous spot in Texas. Where Davy Crockett, Colonel William Barrett Travis, Jim Bowie and 186 other died fighting for independence on March 6, 1836, after repeated attacks from Mexican General Santa Anna. Originally established in 1718 as San Antonio's first mission, The Alamo is located in the heart of the city, inside beautifully landscaped grounds.
Mission San Jose - Founded in 1720, San Jose became the largest of the Texas missions with up to 300 inhabitants at one time. It is now fully restored and showcases exquisite carvings on the church and the famous "Rose Window" renowned as one of the finest examples of Spanish Colonial art in the country.
Market Square / El Mercado - A visit to historic Market Square is a unique and exciting experience. From the famous 24-hour restaurant and bakery, Mi Tierra, to an outstanding art gallery and century-old pharmacy, this is a great place to shop for extraordinary gifts and souvenirs or to just relax. Visitors can browse the 32 shops at El Mercado, as well as the 80 specialty shops in Farmers Market Plaza.
Texas Adventure - Kids young and old alike will enjoy Texas Adventure. Travel back in time and actually feel like you are at the Battle of the Alamo with Colonel William Barrett Travis and Davy Crockett. Hear the guns firing, feel the whoosh of a knife flying past, smell the smoke of cannon shot.
Mission Concepcion - Be transported back in time to the era of Spanish conquest and experience the strength of the Friars who Christianized the Native Americans. Learn how the Spanish developed the mission system within the San Antonio area and how they and Native Americans lived and worked in the mission era. This is the oldest unrestored stone church in America today, and is still an active parish.
This is terrible. The guild was more of a bus driver. He would drop us off at locations and new very little of the history. Only had 15 to 20 min per place. Was not enough time to read the information which was provided at sites. Also I'm not sure why I gave my hotel information when they did not pick me up from hotel because I didn't call 48 hours before tour. I called the night before and then called the morning of to find out nobody was coming to pick me and my guest up. I also found out their was another couple on tour staying at same hotel which was not picked up. These places are free to enter. You are better off calling cab to where you want to go and enjoy your day without being rushed. I will not book another viator excursion again. This is the 4th time I've been given excuses of things going wrong.
Review by: Elizabeth S, March 2018
The tour was wonderful in spite of the bad weather.
Review by: Chris, February 2018
Great way to see the highlights and learn a little history about the city. Great tour guide as well!
Review by: Howard Y, October 2017
We signed up for this tour expecting to see many of San Antonio's sights. Instead we saw the Alamo on our own since guides are not allowed inside then went to 2 other missions which were either not open to visitors inside or, because it was a Sunday, church services were under way and we didn't want to disturb them. Then, when we wanted to be dropped off at our pick up point to get to another Viator tour, the guide left us to wait for another ride because he had to conduct another tour that he found out about while we were touring. We were almost late getting to that tour. The guide was very knowledgeable, funny, and friendly, but, the content of the tour left much to be desired it should have been titled San Antonio Mission tour which we would have avoided since most of us are not catholic.
Review by: Robert K, August 2017
Great way to see the Alamo, Mission San Jose, and Mission Concepcion along with an excellent historic narrative by the guide/driver. No need to rent a car or bother with directions. Perry did a great job. Ran out of time for the Texas experience, but don't feel like we missed much.
Review by: Flavia F, July 2017
Many things to see!
Review by: Camala K, July 2017
The tour company was extremely disorganized, but we had an amazing tour guide and the tour itself was really good! As instructed on the accompanying paperwork, I called the tour company two days ahead to get a pick-up time for our departure from the hotel. I was told to press 1 and was told, something along the lines of, the mailbox hasn't been set up, then I tried to press 2 and was told the same thing. Although 3 was for emergencies, I chose that one and finally got someone to pick up. There was a lot of noise in the background, but he said we'd be picked up in the lobby at 8:45 the day of our tour. Our family went out in front of our hotel around 8:30 just in case. At 9:00, the van had still not arrived and I called the tour company, again. We still had the same issues with the phone lines, but I talked with a man when I pressed 3. He said Phillip would be picking us up in five minutes as he was really close to our hotel. After 9:15, a trolley bus pulled up and a nice man named Phillip said he was sent to get us, but not to worry because we'd be in an air conditioned van that didn't have wooden seats like the trolley. We were the only ones on the trolley and he said he had to pick up a group of four people at another hotel who had just booked the tour. We had to wait for them for quite awhile, but then we were on the way to get our van. He dropped us off at a convenience store and told us we would need to check in at the back of the store. We waited in line behind the other four people who were purchasing their tickets there for the Grand Tour and then I showed my paid voucher to the lady for the San Antonio Highlights Tour. I questioned the name when I heard it was different from the other group and she said it was the same tour. Then, she told us to wait for our ride out front. I asked her what to look for and she said it was a van and they'd know us. All 7 of us waited outside for fifteen minutes and the lady came out to tell us our driver was on his way. Then, she came back out a while later and said he was sick and wasn't coming, so she would walk us to the Alamo....... What?!? It would have been much quicker and closer! for us to have walked to the Alamo on our own from the hotel. She walked us to the front, pointed out where we needed to go, told us we had 45 minutes to tour, then said our driver would meet us on the street to the side of the Alamo. We did a self-guided tour would have loved some intro. information before walking in ourselves in order to know what to look for and then met our driver, Perry. Thankfully, he was absolutely wonderful and gave us an informative overview of the missions and what we were seeing in the areas we passed. When we arrived at the Market, he told the four people in the other group where to meet and gave some suggestions of where to eat, then asked us to stay on the van a few minutes. He told my husband, me, and our son age 11 that he would be taking us back to the hotel after the Market because we had only paid for the half-day tour. I showed him the Viator advertisement and confirmation where it said our tour included Texas Adventure. The description said, feel like you are at the Battle of the Alamo with Colonel William Travis and Davy Crockett at Texas Adventure. Then, there was a full description of Texas Adventure under What You Can Expect. He said he hadn't heard of that, but he was taking the other group to something that sounded very similar after the Market. He told us that wasn't included in our tour and would be about 20 more a person. I, again, showed him the information I had received and he told me he would take us to a cathedral on the way back to our hotel, but that was all he could do. He told me I could call the tour company, if I had concerns. Although he certainly didn't satisfy my concern, he was nice about it. I did call the tour company and, once again, had the issues with their phone lines. I talked to the owner and explained all that had happened that day and my concern that we didn't get to do the Texas Adventure portion. He told me that isn't part of the tour and told me I'd have to take that up with Viator. He didn't apologize for the disorganization of the tour either. I finally got in touch with a lady from Viator That was hard to do by phone. I guess they prefer e-mail. The lady I talked to was nice, but she said she'd call the tour owner and find out what happened. She returned the call and said that, on our tour, the owner said it didn't include Texas Adventure and we were just supposed to feel like we were there when we visited the missions. The description is certainly misleading! Our son wanted to smell the smoke of canon shot as it was advertised. I've enjoyed Viator tours in the past, but I should have read through all the comments about this one. It sounds like others have had a similar experience with the tour company.
Review by: Connie D, July 2017
The tour was great and our tour guide, Perry, was very informative about all of the sights we saw. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because we didn't have enough time at the Alamo.
Review by: carols4139, May 2017
If you don't want to spend a full day touring, this is ideal. Tour guide Perry gave historical background on the Alamo and two missions._br/_ Half day ended at Market Square but since we were going there the next day we wanted to see the Menger Hotel, heaped in history. Perry was not only kind enough to drop us off there but gave a mini-tour inside the hotel. A must see. Very enjoyable.
Review by: william L, April 2017
Great tour of the missions, Leroy the bus driver and tour guide was very funny. The company was not organize and we started half hour late but we got our time in.
Review by: Dawn F, April 2017
Let me start with the positive. Our guide Leroy was very good. We enjoyed his commentary, and he was knowledgeable. Other than that, I don and #39;t have much good to say. The pick up was chaotic, late, and confusing. The tour started 45 minutes late due to the disorganization.
Review by: Tours, January 2017
I thought at first that visiting three missions would be too much of the same thing. Not at all! Each one was so uniquely different. Renee was our driver, and was excellent. Another superb tour booked through Viator!
Review by: Robert W, January 2017
Our bus driver, Terri, was great. She told us lot about each stop. However, once off the bus, each stop, except for the river cruise, was essentially self guided. _br/_ Air conditioner on the bus was broken.
Review by: Jacquelyn E, December 2016
It is hard to give a fair evaluation as the weather was so bad during our tour. The guide did the best he could as also there was a marathon in San Antonio which had a lot of the streets blocked. We did see two missions as well as the Alamo. By noon we were soaked and left the tour early to go back to the hotel to get dry and warm.
Review by: David W, September 2016
This review has nothing to do about the tour guide as he was fantastic! It has everything to do about the state of Texas and the City of San Antonio. Why on earth was the Alamo and the Missions not preserved? These attractions are a joke. Selling bricks for 10? Wow!
Review by: Marc, July 2016
I had a limited amount of time in San Antonio, so I booked this mini-City Tour. I cannot say anything but so happy that Perry was my guide. He was funny, informative and was a local. He provided us with an 'insider' point of view with what we were seeing and experiencing. The Alamo was definitely one of the highlights of the tour. If you're in San Antonio, book this tour and ask for Perry.
Review by: Denzel B, July 2016
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Jamie L, March 2016
We had a group of 16 so we had a private bus which was great. We also had the best tour guide. He really knew his history and was funny too. I would go on any tour he was giving.
Review by: Maiga P, November 2015
There were some misunderstanding on the meeting place so we waited outside of Alamo for 1/2 hr doing nothing.
Review by: Maiga P, November 2015
There were some misunderstanding on the meeting place so we waited outside of Alamo for 1/2 hr doing nothing.
Review by: martinnguyen, June 2013
nice tour
Review by: Debra U, March 2013
Don't waste your money on this one. Love Viator and will continue to use them, but they are not necessary in San Antonio. You can easily do these stops on a hoho bus. But, regardless, the tour guide was very confusing - multiple times didn't know what he wanted us to do (follow him or be on own).
Review by: Dennis D, April 2011
Informative tour. The tour guide seemed knowledgeable about the missions. The day before we did the Hill country tour, with a different tour guide, both were very informative, most especially at San Antonio's festival time downtown.
Review by: Mary Jane D, June 2010
The first hour and a half was on our own at the Alamo prior to meeting the guide. The missions were free and the market as well. We could have done them as well on our own. We thought this would be more an overview of the San Antonio area. Not worth the money paid for 1 12 hour bus ride. We left the tour at the market.
Review by: Mary Jane D, United States of America, May 2010
The first hour and a half was on our own at the Alamo prior to meeting the guide. The missions were free and the market as well. We could have done them as well on our own. We thought this would be more an overview of the San Antonio area. Not worth the money paid for 1 12 hour bus ride. We left the tour at the market.
Review by: Antonio C, Portugal, April 2009
Important things were shown.
Review by: , April 2009
The tour guide/driver was excellent, very informative, very nice and interesting. The admin staff at the office were horrible. I had booked via Viator and was told to email or call a number to confirm. I emailed and NEVER received a response. I called and talked to someone to confirm the date and my name._br /__br /_About 15 minutes after I was supposed to be picked up, I called the office and received the first of many lies. I was told there was traffic and they should be there within 10 minutes. When I called again, the 2nd lie I received was they went to the wrong hotel. Another 10 minutes passed after I called another time and was put on hold multiple times. The bus driver picked me up and told me he had just been told I was waiting. I wasn't on his list to be picked up, and he just found out. When I told him the excuses I was given, he agreed that they were just excuses._br /__br /_Anyway the tour was good. We had our own time at the Alamo. Then we were driven around San Antonio and out to two missions. The excellent tour guide gave us a history about both missions.
Review by: Nancy A, April 2009
The tour guide/driver was excellent, very informative, very nice and interesting. The admin staff at the office were horrible. I had booked via Viator and was told to email or call a number to confirm. I emailed and NEVER received a response. I called and talked to someone to confirm the date and my name._br /__br /_About 15 minutes after I was supposed to be picked up, I called the office and received the first of many lies. I was told there was traffic and they should be there within 10 minutes. When I called again, the 2nd lie I received was they went to the wrong hotel. Another 10 minutes passed after I called another time and was put on hold multiple times. The bus driver picked me up and told me he had just been told I was waiting. I wasn't on his list to be picked up, and he just found out. When I told him the excuses I was given, he agreed that they were just excuses._br /__br /_Anyway the tour was good. We had our own time at the Alamo. Then we were driven around San Antonio and out to two missions. The excellent tour guide gave us a history about both missions.
Review by: Anonymous, April 2009
The tour guide/driver was excellent, very informative, very nice and interesting. The admin staff at the office were horrible. I had booked via Viator and was told to email or call a number to confirm. I emailed and NEVER received a response. I called and talked to someone to confirm the date and my name._br/__br/_About 15 minutes after I was supposed to be picked up, I called the office and received the first of many lies. I was told there was traffic and they should be there within 10 minutes. When I called again, the 2nd lie I received was they went to the wrong hotel. Another 10 minutes passed after I called another time and was put on hold multiple times. The bus driver picked me up and told me he had just been told I was waiting. I wasn't on his list to be picked up, and he just found out. When I told him the excuses I was given, he agreed that they were just excuses._br/__br/_Anyway the tour was good. We had our own time at the Alamo. Then we were driven around San Antonio and out to two missions. The excellent tour guide gave us a history about both missions.
Review by: Anonymous, United States of America, October 2008
The tour guide/driver was excellent, very informative, very nice and interesting. The admin staff at the office were horrible. I had booked via Viator and was told to email or call a number to confirm. I emailed and NEVER received a response. I called and talked to someone to confirm the date and my name._br /__br /_About 15 minutes after I was supposed to be picked up, I called the office and received the first of many lies. I was told there was traffic and they should be there within 10 minutes. When I called again, the 2nd lie I received was they went to the wrong hotel. Another 10 minutes passed after I called another time and was put on hold multiple times. The bus driver picked me up and told me he had just been told I was waiting. I wasn't on his list to be picked up, and he just found out. When I told him the excuses I was given, he agreed that they were just excuses._br /__br /_Anyway the tour was good. We had our own time at the Alamo. Then we were driven around San Antonio and out to two missions. The excellent tour guide gave us a history about both missions.
Review by: Nancy A, October 2008
The tour guide/driver was excellent, very informative, very nice and interesting. The admin staff at the office were horrible. I had booked via Viator and was told to email or call a number to confirm. I emailed and NEVER received a response. I called and talked to someone to confirm the date and my name._br /__br /_About 15 minutes after I was supposed to be picked up, I called the office and received the first of many lies. I was told there was traffic and they should be there within 10 minutes. When I called again, the 2nd lie I received was they went to the wrong hotel. Another 10 minutes passed after I called another time and was put on hold multiple times. The bus driver picked me up and told me he had just been told I was waiting. I wasn't on his list to be picked up, and he just found out. When I told him the excuses I was given, he agreed that they were just excuses._br /__br /_Anyway the tour was good. We had our own time at the Alamo. Then we were driven around San Antonio and out to two missions. The excellent tour guide gave us a history about both missions.
RSS Feed