Oaxaca City

Oaxaca City trip ideas

Monte Albán/half day tour

Oaxaca City, Mexico

5 hours
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Discover the pyramids of Oaxaca in Monte Alban, meaning ‘White Mountain,’ located on a vast mountaintop expanse with spectacular 360-degree views of Oaxaca Valley. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with Oaxaca City, the pre-Columbian archaeological site is considered the most magnificent of the region’s ancient ruins. On this guided tour by coach from Oaxaca, explore the complex filled with pyramids, ceremonial rock carvings, a huge ball court and 170 excavated tombs. Hotel pickup and drop-off included.

Tour of Monte Alban ancient archaeological ruins from Oaxaca
Gaze at panoramic views from a hilltop location
Discover magnificent temples, pyramids and tombs at this UNESCO site
Learn about the Zapotec culture from your professional guide
Hotel pickup and drop-off by air-conditioned coach included

What's Included

Local English- and Spanish-speaking guide
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Food and drinks
Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

08:00 AM

Pickup details

Please specify your Hotel or Airbnb address. We will only cover areas close to the city center due to traffic issues. time: 8-8:20 am If you would like to get to our meeting point on your own, we are at the Quinta Real Hotel, located at 5 de Mayo #300, downtown. Time: 8:30 am Please send your location or send WhatsApp to +52 951 139 7340. If you confirm on the same day of the tour, we will not be able to go to your location and you have to arrive at the meeting point

What To Expect

Enjoy midmorning pickup from your Oaxaca hotel and travel by comfortable coach for about 20 minutes to Monte Alban, a UNESCO site located on a mountaintop boasting panoramas of the city and Oaxaca Valley.

Upon arrival at the archaeological site, explore with your guide the Grand Plaza, a large open area on the flattened plateau. Hear engaging facts about Zapotec history and culture as you gaze at ceremonial platforms, including a series of rock carvings called The Dancers (Los Danzantes). You’ll see some of Monte Alban’s 170 tombs, whose excavations revealed a range of paintings and stone carvings.

Visit pyramids, temples, altars and the I-shaped ball court constructed in 100 BC. Make your way up the South Platform (Plataforma Sur), a large area known for its wide staircase and great views.

Enjoy some free time wandering the well-preserved site on your own and capturing memorable photos. Your Oaxaca pyramids tour of Monte Alban ends with drop-off back at your hotel.

Zona Arqueologica de Monte Alban

2 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
Infant seats available

Transportation is wheelchair accessible
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
It is recommended that you wear comfortable shoes and clothing
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 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.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

301 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 301 reviews

Oaxaca must do activity

Chris_G, Apr 2024

Great experience! Great narrative from Clemente in English. Lots of steps and hiking but even 80 year olds could do it. Comfortable transfer.

Educational and Worthwhile

Jane_R, Apr 2024

Good guide and well prepared. Well timed throughout and organized . Expectation were spelled out and we were notified that the van was coming but a few minutes late. Also got quick email responses.

Top

Alexander_R, Apr 2024

Nice guide wih a lot of knowledge. He was speaking really good english. Id recommend to all my friends

Must See!

lisa_s, Apr 2024

The entire experience was memorable. So grateful to get a glimpse of the ancient culture . Wonderfully guided also!

Great tour guide and a...

Jacob_S, Apr 2024

Great tour guide and a great experience. Would recommend you go in the morning before it gets too hot

Great guide

Alan_A, Apr 2024

The guide Antonio was great the is very knowledgeable and completely bilingual. Highly recommend this tour!

Great tour, highly recommend.

Jamie_O, Mar 2024

Our drivers were great, tour guide was very knowledgeable and engaging. Loved the entire experience!

The best excursion from Oaxaca

Giuseppe_V, Mar 2024

The most interesting excursion which can be done from Oaxaca, Monte Alban is a UNESCO site and we had an excellent tour guide. Recommended.

Our guide was great!!

Barbara_G, Mar 2024

The guide was humorous, knowledgeable and very personable. The sites were wonderful! I would definitely recommend this tour if visiting Oaxaca.

seeing Monte Alban

Alison_W, Mar 2024

Gabriel was a fabulous guide transportation was fine the site is spectacular and having Gabriel discuss history, architecture, astronomy and life in the past made for a wonderful experience

Okay

Kathleen_T, Mar 2024

We spent less than 2 hours at the site. This is not a half day and not enough time. Over an hour was spent picking up, waiting and changing buses.bour guide was fine, but only guided the beginning, then we were on our own to see most of it. I wouldn't choose this again.

Nice half day tour!

Tony_W, Mar 2024

This is an excellent tour of the ruins. A half day is the perfect amount of time. While our guide was very knowledgeable, he could have been more dynamic.

Incredible!

Eleanor_B, Feb 2024

Antonio was an absolutely amazing guide. He knew so much and was so thoughtful. The site itself was incredible and having such a knowledgeable guide made it even better. I would definitely recommend this tour!

Good tour, terrible coordination

Alan_G, Feb 2024

The actual tour was excellent. The coordination leading up to the pick up was a total disaster. Two different tour companies who could not talk to each other. I will be extremely careful when I book with Viator in the future that I understand who is actually providing the tour.

AMAZING EXPERIENCE!

Mila_S, Feb 2024

This place is amazing! I’ve been to Mexico City pyramids but I was delighted surprised with the amount of beautiful exhibits there is a museum before climbing the piramids and the view of the whole city while on the top of the piramids is just absolutely amazing! A big thank you! To Daniel our extremely knowledgeable and very friendly he didn’t let anyone feel left out speaking different languages. Extremely grateful!

Fabulous Monte Alban Tour

Bonnie_M, Feb 2024

A perfect half day tour! Our guide was fantastic & very specific exposing Monte Alban history and archaeology.

Magical 5 hills

Brian_S, Feb 2024

Daniel was a very knowledgeable tour guide. He made the day so educational and fun! A delight to be in the presence of!

Enthralling, engaging and definitely not to be missed!

Annie_D, Feb 2024

We visited Teotihuacan and thought about giving Monte Alban a miss, what a mistake that would have been! What an utterly enthralling and fascinating tour. Our guide Antonio Zarate was brilliant, he brought Monte Alban to life, his knowledge and insight was fabulous, his English impeccable and his command of our group of varying ages and abilities was great. I couldn’t rate this tour more highly. Thank you.

Wonderful Experience

Linda_T, Feb 2024

Our guide Daniel was beyond excellent. He as extremely knowledgeable and shared some personal pics from his phone. I highly recommend this tour as long as he is the guide.. Our tour was in English. My suggestion is to take a morning tour because if you do an afternoon one, the sun is really hot💁🏽‍♀️

Excellent and knowledgeable tour guide

Daniel_R, Feb 2024

Daniel was an excellent guide - very knowledgeable and passionate about the history of Monte Alban. There were no stops, just straight to the ruins, the tour, and then 45 minutes to wander around on our own, which was more than enough. There was no pressure to buy any souvenirs either. Everyone in our group spoke English, so the tour was in one language and flowed well, with lots of interesting facts we would have missed had we caught a taxi up to the ruins. A bilingual tour might have taken longer which might eat into your alone time. We walked to Quinta Real, the last hotel stop for pickups, however lots of your groups meet there. We were a bit worried we would miss the tour as the buses were mostly unmarked and we couldn’t find ours for a while. To their credit, they made sure everyone was aboard before leaving, so I don’t think there was any risk of being left behind, but it may be simpler to arrange pickup from your own hotel if you’re in the centre. All in all an amazing experience, and good value for transport, entry and an excellent tour guide.

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