Full-Day Monte Alban Archaeological Site and Oaxaca Artisan Experience

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).

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

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.

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.

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 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 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 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 '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.

Excellence experience! Great value! Great guide! Delicious lunch!