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

Additional Info

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

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

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 cancelled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveller Photos

Reviews

4.0

42 reviews

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

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-10 of 42 reviews

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, July 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).

Great Experience

Marla_S, June 2021

Gabriel was a great guide. This was a good balance of activities! Monte Alban is impressive and seeing the artisans was a good stop also

Sightseeing? No, shopping for souvenirs

Guide18901730592, Mar 2019

Good: English guide in Monte Alban was fantastic (I think his name was Mario) Bad: Too short free time for Monte Alban & Monastery with strict time limit (1h & 15 min, respectively) but no time limit for shopping place. Lunch was also no good. Pick up ban was late for over 40 min without any contact.

Fabulous

Roger_L, Mar 2019

Great small group tour of Monte Alban and other attractions with Gabriel our guide and driver in a brand new vehicle. We were picked up on time and given an excellent commentary on the site and the museum with plenty of free time to explore on our own. There were visits to a couple of craft workshops which were enjoyable and low pressure. The buffet lunch stop was excellent in a beautiful garden setting. Gabriel is an outstanding guide with excellent English who kept the tour on track throughout the day.

Amazing place to visit

Doris_O, June 2018

We requested an English speaking guide and Gabriel was knowledgeable, well informed, and patient with our group of six people. We stopped at Monte Alban first and walked across the site while he explained what the structures were used for. We had enough time to walk around, climb the tallest ones and explore on our own. We also visited an alebrije artists' area, and another one featuring black pottery. We were able to purchase some lovely things to bring back home and took many pictures.

Very nice trip overall - the guide...

Danielle_A, Jan 2018

Very nice trip overall - the guide was extremely knowledgeable. I was the only person in our group that didn't speak Spanish, but the guide did a wonderful job of making sure to keep me included and translating conversations to English. I would highly recommend this trip.

It was an amazing experience. Monte...

Irma E Solis S, Aug 2017

It was an amazing experience. Monte Alban was even bigger and more beautiful than I thought! And since July is the rainy season in Mexico, the valley bellow was very green. The Zapotecs chose a perfect place for their pyramids. Our guide was very knowledgeable and pleasant. I travel with my sisters and we all learned and shopped a lot. And the alebrijes wood carvings in the town of Arrazola were beautiful, although I would have liked to see more of that town. I highly recommend this tour

This turned out to be a private tour...

robert t, Mar 2017

This turned out to be a private tour as my group of 5 were the only people on the tour. We visited Monte Alban guided tour. Cathedral could skip , local buffet lunch, , a special wood carvings workshop and black pottery workshop. All very interesting and time spent was on our schedule. I was a bit surprised when we had to pay extra for the entrance fee to monte alban. As viator is selling this package a monte alban tour and it does not state that entrance fee is not included.

My only comment would be that I was...

Stephanie_H, Mar 2017

My only comment would be that I was 'spoiled' with my previous day's tour as it was exceptional. This was, in my mind, far more 'touristy' and the places for the Alebrijes handmade and hand painted wood items as well as the Barro Negro fabrica were designed specifically for the tourists. Our guia guide Moses at Monte Alban was EXCELLENT and I enjoyed having him relate stories and the history VERY much. This tour was enjoyable and everything was as advertised I am simply 'picky' and enjoy exploring the more rustic roads and places.

Monte Alban es precioso,...

Jazmin_M, July 2022

Monte Alban es precioso, muy lindos guía muy linda solo la comida no estubo tan rica pero de ahí en más vale mucho la pena

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