ugh I've never understood the desire for tile on a kitchen countertop surface.. sure it can look nice for the first 6 months or so.. but the grout lines will be bacteria traps.
If your old laminate counter tops are the "newer" desired 90deg flat front ones, and you don't have any large chunks i.e. it looks bad but still pretty smooth.
I'd just resurface it with a newer more appealing laminate. Wilsonart makes a nice line of slate looking laminates, as do Formica.
You can buy a good dewalt laminate router for $99 a roller for $25 several disposable brushes for $5 and a gallon of contact adhesive for about $25ea one should do it buy two and return the second if you don't need to crack it open. (best to have it on hand in case the job calls for more) About $25 for a hand cutter (or you can buy an air nibbler for $30 if you have a bubble, or just use the router and spend the extra time to clamp up jigs to cut your laminate..the hand shears are the simplest), $20 for a palm sander, $10 for a file, $8 for a scratch and snap edge tool.
The laminate itself in the newer designs you will be looking at around $60-120 per 5x8 or 5x10 sheet depending on the brand and design. They come in larger or smaller sizes. Just rough up the old counter top surfaces, cut your sheets to size leaving about 1-2" overhang rip 2" strips for your edges and your ready to go.
glue both the laminate and the roughed up surface.. let dry then stick and roll out with the roller. edge strips go on first. Planning out which ones to go on first depends on which corners are most visible. i.e. most kitchen counter top end edges are done first.. routed sanded smooth and then the front edge is stuck.. routed then filed/sanded smooth on the top (a belt sander with 80grit is much quicker but it can be done with the palm sander) then you stick your tops and router the edges and sink hole. (oh yeah you need to remove the sink to do this) If you have a counter top too long for the standard sheet sizes.. then plan a seem at the center of your sink.
*edited to add* the scratch and snap tool is for all the wall edge and hard to reach corners where the router won't reach.
I had never done laminate before and picked it up on one job and made a living installing new tops for several years.
I would just consider the resurface option rather than more complicated and potentially less desirable outcome like tile. JMHO
edit * oh yeah and if it's the prefab rolled over edge style.. then I'd consider replacing the top by pulling the old one and building a simple mdf or particle board top with pine or oak 1x2 edges.. then sand smooth with a belt sander and do the steps above. If you use oak edges you can opt to use a wood router to cut a profile after just applying a top laminate sheet and then stain the edge. That looks good too. I have resurfaced the rolled edge style counter tops but its a gib PITA and requires extra hands and lots of heat guns. Oh and you'll want a few clamps for the previous mentioned steps. Mainly for keeping corner edges tight until they dry.
