Oaxaca City

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Full-Day Monte Alban Archaeological Site and Oaxaca Artisan Experience

Name: Full-Day Monte Alban Archaeological Site and Oaxaca Artisan Experience
Brand: Enjoy Oaxaca
SKU: 36200P4
Price: 44.99 USD
Rating: 4.5 (76 reviews)

Badge of ExcellenceOaxaca City, Mexico

Monte Alban Archaeological Site and Oaxaca Artisan Towns Trip

8 hours
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Overview

The ancient Zapotec city and UNESCO World Heritage Site of Monte Alban sits about 9 miles (6 kilometers) west of Oaxaca. With this tour, explore the hilltop archaeological site with a guide and enjoy views overlooking the Oaxaca Valley. That leaves enough time to visit the artisan towns of Arrazola, Cuilapam de Guerrero, and San Bartolo Coyotepec. Plus, round-trip transportation from your hotel in downtown Oaxaca is included.

Visit outlying towns in Oaxaca that are difficult to find on your own
Travel between attractions with ease in an air-conditioned minivan
Views of the Oaxaca area from the hilltop Monte Alban archaeological site
Round-trip transportation from your hotel in downtown Oaxaca included

What's Included

Professional guide bilingual.
Hotel pickup and drop-off (selected hotels only)
Transport by air-conditioned minivan

Food and drinks
Gratuities
Admission in Monte Alban and Cuilapam

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

09:00 AM

Pickup details

We have pick up in almost all the hotels in the city, if you stay in an apartment (a b & b) we indicate the address, so that our operdador picks you up there. If your apartment or hotel is out of our coverage, we will indicate the address or the nearest place to go through you.

What To Expect

Zona Arqueologica de Monte Alban

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

San Antonio Arrazola

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Ex Convento de Cuilapam de Guerrero

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

San Bartolo Coyotepec

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
Children must be accompanied by an adult
Wheelchair accessible
May be operated by a multi-lingual guide

Near public transportation
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 18 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

76 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 76 reviews

Beautiful place to visit

scaplaza, Mar 2024

Monte Alban is a must do tour. The times on the site and lunch were a bit short and time in the factories was too long. Lunch was great. It was a buffet that mostly caters to non-vegetarians. But there were sufficient vegetarian items in the menu. Our guide Jeshua and driver Marcos were wonderful and courteous.

A tour not to be missed in the Oaxaca region

Melanie_M, Mar 2024

Great tour, well balanced between visits od archeological sites and the different workshops. I particularly liked Monte Alban and the black pottery workshop in San Bartolo Coyotepec.

Fun to meet and chat with other tourists

Mark_S, Feb 2024

Very personable and knowledgeable guide. Nice to meet and chat with other tourists. On time, and clean vans. I would rather pay extra than stand in lines, or pay for lunch. The tours should be all-inclusive.

Great tour!

Cassie_B, Feb 2024

This was great! Tour guide (Jeshua) was very knowledgeable and gave us lots of details about various sites.

Loved the Monte Alban...

Donna_G, Feb 2024

Loved the Monte Alban segment of the trip. Ede was increfible! She was very knowledgeable and her ability to switch back and forth between English and Spanish was truely amazing. She has a lot of energy and enthusiasm which was contagious.

Fun, informative, and delicious!

Katya_A, Jul 2023

I am so grateful to Enjoy Oaxaca. I was supposed to go on a Monday, but I got very sick on Sunday night. I sent a very early text to the company on Monday morning asking if I could reschedule, and sure enough, I received a reply a few hours later confirming that since there was room on Tuesday's trip, I could reschedule! I am so grateful for this, especially because Tuesday's group was so lively and kind, and our group leader, Edelmira, was fantastic! Thank you, Enjoy Oaxaca, for being accommodating and flexible. Most of all, thank you, Edelmira, for being such a great, informative guide!

So much history

Nahiely_G, Jun 2023

What a phenomenal experience. Our tour guide Ede was so animated and knowledgeable. Truly you can feed off her energy. She genuinely cared about sharing the great history of Monte Alban. She was perceptive and made sure all guest we set up to the comfort level in activity. She offered alternatives for those unable to climb. Additionally she hosted the tour in Spanish and English flawlessly. Because of her, the driver, and clean and well maintained tour bus we booked second tour. Highly recommend!! Some tips: We went in June (I know it’s hot) our tour started in Monte Alban. This was perfect as it’s before the sun’s glare isn’t as intense. Bring water, not that there isn’t areas where you could purchase some there but I found myself constantly thirsty to combat the heat. And my cooled water cateen was perfect. Wear comfortable light fabrics preferably longer sleeves and pants. Linens do best. Bring plenty of sunblock and reapply! As well as bug repellent. You’ll thank me.

Trip to Monte Albion

Blair_G, Jun 2023

The experience was wonderful and varied and we got to see things I would’ve never known to look for. My only complaint was it was very difficult to understand the English of the guide.

MUST DO!!

Gladys_G, May 2023

Must do if you’re in Oaxaca. Eda was great, and made the experience fun (even though it was HOT). Recommend !!!

Response from Host, May 2023

Hello Gradys, thank you so much for your review, we are so glad you enjoyed the tour. Yes, this past weeks have been a little bit hotter than normal, we always suggest to take sunblock and a hat.

Great small group tour

Ginny_C, Mar 2023

The crafts places were great and also good lunch! Small group, great guide (Ede) and driver (Alan). Lots of interesting information about Mount Alban.

Don’t miss it.

carynronis, Nov 2022

David and Alberto were amazing! A wonderful experience. We got to experience the beauty with an informed and wonderful guide

It Was Okay, There Are Better Tours

ROB, Nov 2022

So Mont Alban is definitely a must see. This tour gets a 3 stars for several reasons. I have for a tour like this 3 times now, and the previous times, the tour guide walked us around and gave brief descriptions of each structure and then left us to read up on them for more info. The briefing was given, but there was so much more that needed to be explained. He had a Spanish/ English mixed group and that may have caused some communication problems. The Spanish speakers knew where to meet for the bus and the English speakers had no idea where to go after exiting. He clearly forgot to translate that part. Afterwards we saw the Alebrijes. Honestly, not that great. I have been to 2 other workshops that were much better. The black clay stop was okay. I would find another Mont Alban tour that is guided throughout the site. There are many others to choose from

Incredible experience!

Stacy_P, Aug 2022

We had a fantastic day, what a great experience! Monte Albàn was incredible! We could've spent all day there. The artisan colonies were beautiful. It was fascinating to see the artists at work and learn the history of their crafts.

Wonderful experience

Mona_Y, May 2022

The site was amazing and our guide was very knowledgeable. It involved a lot of walking and the scenery from the Monte Albán site was amazing

Response from Host, Jul 2022

Hi Mona. We are so glad that you enjoyed visiting one of the most important arqueological sites in Oaxaca. Thanks for your feed back and hope you come back soon!

Bertha Birthday

Bertha_R, Apr 2022

My family and I had a wonderful time because the tourist guide Roberto with his knowledge and his very nice. Attitude make my Birthday wonderful., Monte Albán, the food and the environment around the places were fantastic, thank you.

A Master Guide

Janet_L, Mar 2022

Our guide Ede took this experience from interesting to fascinating! A highly skilled story teller and a masterful leader, conscious of the different belief systems and interests in the group, she allowed enough freedom balanced with guidance to make for a perfect day.

Great tour!!!

Victoria_B, Nov 2021

Our guides were absolutely incredible and so friendly would 100%take a tour from them again they were extremely knowledgeable

This was supposed to be an English tour - it was not!

Joanna_C, Nov 2021

This is NOT an English tour! I can’t believe it’s advertised on Viator as such. The guide showed up late. Didn’t speak English, and was unapologetic about it. My friends speak Spanish so they were ok but I don’t so I was bored all day. The line to get in to Monte Albán was long and our guide kept telling us we might not get in and we should just turn around. We waited in line and finally got in over an hour later. At the end of the tour the guide didn’t even drop us off at our hotel because he said he was late for another tour. The booking said we would get an English tour with hotel pick up and drop off. I didn’t get what I paid for. I don’t recommend this tour and I hope Viator takes them off the site!

Monte Alban/Artisan Tour

Joan_B, Oct 2021

I would have given this more stars were it not for our guide Angel. It was booked as a tour in English. Turned out to be in both Spanish and English, both spoken very fast, and English with a heavy accent. I understand both languages, and it was clear that he spent more time explaining in Spanish, cutting short the info provided in English. If you only understood English, you would not be able to follow the flow, and if you were hard if hearing, impossible. The sites visited were interesting and informative and should be seen. The convent was not open for visitors, which came as a surprise to our guide. That shouldn’t happen. Monte Alban was only allowing a certain numbers of visitors due to COVID, which is understandable. We waited for an hour in a vehicle lineup before being able to enter. The alebrije and black pottery sites were very visual, and the goods for sale reasonably priced.

Great tour experience! But terrible communication

Alice_C, Aug 2021

The tour itself was FANTASTIC! I love the guide (spoke very good English and engaged the English group 50/50), Monte Alban is probably the best ruins I've seen, the artisan stops were fantastic, the place for lunch was yummy and reasonably priced compared to other tours. Would definitely recommend! The only flaw, however, was significant. I booked this tour at least 3-4 days in advance, and according to the website pickup at hotel is at 9:30 am. However, we woke up to 2 calls at 6:30 am telling us in Spanish that pickup was actually at 7 am, and we needed to be ready. We received one text and one email at 12:03 am that day (after we had all gone to sleep) stating that we'd be picked up at 7 am. This is really poor communication on the part of the tour company - how difficult is it to send the email earlier? Also - this might be quite pricey comparatively. I booked a Mitla tour in town from an operator next to the Zocalo for just 200 pesos per person. I assume others got lower prices because their tours didn't seem to include entrance to Monte Alban (~75 pesos).