San Antonio Missions Historical Tour

This is the most engaging, historically accurate and entertaining missions tour you will find in San Antonio. Guaranteed.
You will learn what life was like at the missions, construction and architectural influences, and the relationship between the Franciscan Friars, soldiers and the Payaya, Coahuiltecan and other indigenous tribes. This is a nuanced and beautifully presented experience about colonialization, but also interdependence. At the end of this tour, you will be impressed with the largest concentration of Spanish missions in the US!

Please consider purchasing our "Missions and More" tour, as it includes all four missions PLUS two more centuries of San Antonio history and diverse cultures. See reviews for that tour please.

Locally owned/operated by professional guide and history teacher, stand-up comic (with Kevin Hart:), performer and world traveler Michael Robinson.

What's included:

• Transportation

What to expect:

Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Mission Espada

10040 Espada Rd, San Antonio, 78214-3815, Texas

Southern-most mission of the five in San Antonio, this location is the start of your tour and will lay the foundational context for the rest of the tour. You will walk into the interior of this mission, hear interesting information about its' inhabitants and the Friars, as well as, the construction and layout of the mission. You will also have an opportunity to walk into the church that looks as it did in the 1700's.

15 minutes

Mission San Juan

9101 Graf Rd, San Antonio, 78214-3625, Texas

Just five minutes from the first stop at Mission Espada, this mission has a fully renovated church that is not only charming, but impressive in its' reconstruction and the highlight of this stop. Hear about the inhabitants at this location, the construction of this mission, and what life was like for them. You will visit a small museum that has wonderful displays of materials used by the inhabitants, the use water for agriculture, among interesting other information.

15 minutes

Mission San Jose

San Antonio, Texas

The "Queen of the Missions" is the largest and most renovated mission in San Antonio, the finest example of Baroque architecture in Texas. Here, you will learn about its' function as a mission, as well as, the impressive revitalization by the WPA in the 1930's.
You will experience the living quarters of all groups that lived and worked at the mission, have an exclusive interior guided tour of the Church, and learn so much more! Over 2000 of architectural, religious and cultural influences, and a reverence for the indigenous labor that made Mission San Jose the "Queen".

45 minutes

Mission Concepcion

807 Mission Rd, San Antonio, 78210-4528, Texas

Mission Concepcion is hands down the most charming of all the missions. Hear about its' inhabitants, what life was life at this location, and learn about the creation of its' duel bell tower church, the oldest stone church in the US!
You will see a 250 year old fresco, a fascinating ocular display, and the interior of the church where you will be humbled by its' beauty. You will see some other architectural highlights here, but those a secret and I can't wait to tell you all about them!

30 minutes

The Alamo

300 Alamo Plaza, , San Antonio, 78205-2606, Texas

Short EXTERIOR visit to the Alamo to discuss its function as a mission, and of course, the battle. This is optional if you do not plan on visit the interior of the Alamo.

15 minutes