Full-Day Monte Alban Archaeological Site and Oaxaca Artisan Experience

Note: Due to COVID, expect to spend about 1.5 - 2 hours waiting to enter Monte Alban.

This was a great tour with a great guide. All of the stop were interesting and lunch was delicious. Because of COVID-19, the line of cars to enter Monte Alban is really long, so we were happy the guide asked us to meet earlier than planned so we could get to the site earlier. Even so, we spent about 1. 5 hours waiting (not a problem, just pointing this out.)

Only downside was the alebrije workshop. It’s in a viallge full of alebrije artisans and we would have liked to have free time to visit a few instead of having to go into the most expensive shop there (everything over $500USD).

Gabriela and José promptly picked us up at our hotel. Gabriela is well versed in the history of the sites we visited: Monte Albán and a 16th century Dominican monastery in Cuilapam de Guerrero. Our lunch (not included in tour price) was a fabulous buffet in the village of Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán with all the Oaxacan specialties. The black mole was heavenly. The tour lasted 8 hours—a bit long. I would have skipped the visit to Arrazola and the alebrije shop and the Coyotepec black clay studio.

I can wholeheartedly recommend this tour and tour guide. Great value for all the ground we covered! Seven of us travelled and met in Oaxaca, and I made reservations for this tour. We were all were delighted! We were all picked up very promptly by Soledad in a very nice van, and Soledad was very patient and supportive throughout the tour! We went to Monte Alban first, and we were able to get a whole lot of information. There were a couple of us who are older in age and some of us disabled, and there was never any pressure to hurry up or do anythi)ng that we were not able to do. We were taken to a wonderful place for lunch (on our own called La Cabana del Indio, and it was not only incredibly reasonably priced (Buffet lunch for $150 Pesos, not including drink, which comes to about $8 dollars, American). Wonderful and delicious selection of food, including all seven moles for which Oaxaca is famous! We also visited the fabrica where the black clay products originated, and also a fabrica for hand made wood objects. All in a all, a great day tour! We each paid around $30 dollars for the day tour, very well worth it!!

Good tour - guide spoke excellent English, was knowledgeable about the sites that we visited and was friendly and helpful. Monte Alban is an absolutely stunning site and our guide gave a detailed and interesting history before giving us an hour or so to look around. After Monte Alban, I’d say the other two stops are basically to local artisanal shops (although they did come with brief explanations of the history of the craft, production process etc) - felt that maybe we stayed there too long, although to be fair others in the group did buy stuff. But the tour is great value for money (especially with an on time pick up and drop off from your hotel) so can’t complain about that too much. Overall, I enjoyed it, would recommend and would book again for another of their trips.