Monte Alban - Full Day Guided Tour with or without Food - Oaxaca

Great guide, good organisation, excellent food. Got lot of information on archeology site. Hotel pick up offered. Communication before the tour went smooth and easy

The pick up was timely. We were a total of only 4 people. Our guide, Zenón, spoke very good English and his knowledge of the region was exceptional. So much as we requested him for our second day trip a couple days later. The trip went by without a glitch. We chose the option to include lunch. The buffet lunch gave us the opportunity to taste different traditional foods that we may have otherwise not tasted. Besides the Monte Alban ruins the trip included onsite demonstrations of hand weaving, wood carvings, and black clay pottery. We didn’t feel rushed and all our questions were answered thoroughly. We highly recommend this trip.

This was a great full day visiting ruins and craft studios! Xenon was timely in the pick up, and the car was comfortable. His explanations and storytelling are detailed and interesting for all the ares of the ruins. It’s clear that he really cares about Oaxaca and sharing it with visitors. I mostly picked this tour to see Monte Ablan, and the craft studios were a nice addition since you get to see the artists at work.

Pick up was timely. We spent the perfect amount of time at each location for it to be fascinating but not overly done. It was a full day but it didn't feel like it. Juan is fun and knowledgeable. Good group of guys!

The tour was very nice. As of 9 August, 2021, Monte Alban now only allows 400 people a day on site and to ensure entrance, we were picked up at 0700 with others along the way. We reached Monte Alban at 0800 and sat for 2 hours until the gate was opened. If that condition continues, be sure to have a book or something available to fill that 2 hour block of time. Viator needs to let perspective clients know of the period of down time. Zenon, our driver/guide, did play a DVD of the movie "COCO", which was cute, but it was in Spanish~ so closed captioning for a mixed language audience would have been more helpful. The site is a wonder, and shows the great efforts put forth by the earlier inhabitants. The tour was a bit distracting at times during the day in that Zenon, had to do the presentation in both Spanish and English, as it was a mixed language audience. If there was bottled water available during the day, it was never offered. Xenon was extremely knowledgeable and helpful thought out the day, and was particularly kind in assisting my wife in and out of the van and with the stairs at Monte Alban. The wood carving stop at San Antonio Arrazola was very professional, watching carvings and painting being done. The work there was amazing! The buffet lunch was quite good, with a fine mix of vegetable and meat meals, and included a small taste of Mescal, if you wished. It did run a bit long though, as we are light eaters but some folks sure did like to eat. Unfortunately the Church at Ex Convento de Cuilapam de Guerrero was closed, but it was truly an intimidating structure with a rich and colorful history. The black clay pottery exhibit was incredible and well worth the stop to watch a pot actually being made. The tour does make for a long day, but was full of information, sites and a view of the local area along the drive. We have done VIATOR tours all around the world and have never been disappointed. This tour was no exception. Thank you!