Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Day Trip from Mexico City: An Encounter with Nature's Wonders
3.4
11 Ratings
Ciudad de México
Embark on a day trip from Mexico City to the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. Witness the incredible migration of these beautiful creatures and explore the charming town of Valle de Bravo. Don't forget your camera!
Duration: 14 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Piedra Herrada Sanctuary - To get to the sanctuary, you will take a walk through the forest and our guide will explain to you what the butterflies feed on, how they reproduce, life time among other particularities of their life and specie.
  • Velo de Novia Waterfall - Continuation to the Velo de Novia Waterfall, which is an impressive waterfall that is fed by the San Juan stream. It receives this name because the forms that its descent takes give the appearance of a huge white “Bridal Veil”.
  • Valle de Bravo - Then we will visit the Magical Town of Valle de Bravo where we can see its main tourist attraction * Valle de Bravo Lake where you can currently practice water sports and enjoy incredible boat or yacht rides. It has been part of the Valle de Bravo basin since 1947, when the dam of the same name was created to trap water from the Avándaro River, which now gives its name to the lake and one of the adjacent towns.
What's Included
  • Round trip transportation from Mexico City
  • Guided visits
  • Tour driver
  • Travel insurance board unit
  • Taxes
What's Not Included
  • Tips
  • Nothing previously unspecified
  • Admission to the butterfly sanctuary “Piedra herrada” Aprox. USD $13.00 in cash
Additional Information

06:45 Meeting point at Barceló Reforma Hotel
10:00 Visit the Piedra Herrada Sanctuary at Valle de Bravo, located in the largest state of Mexico. Monarch Butterfly is arriving each fall on Mexican soil when they start its migration from Canada and the United States. We will also visit the Bridal Veil waterfall, impressive waterfall that feeds the river San Juan. Named because the forms they take their descent give the appearance of an enormous white ‘Bridal Veil’.
Also enjoy a walk through the streets of Valle de Bravo famous for its typical architecture, traditional and colonial and attracts many tourism
21:00 Hrs Approximately we arrive at the Hotel Barcelo Reforma
Recommendations: Wear comfortable shoes and clothes, a sweatshirt or jacket, go for breakfast or take something for breakfast on the way, bring cash since at the sanctuary the only form of payment is cash in case you want to buy something, a camera.

    • The time of return may vary due to traffic situations or the number of people.
    • It is not advisable to book a tour on the same day of the departure of a flight, since we cannot be responsible for the loss of the flight, for any tour delay
  • Please consider it is a shared service with bilingual guide, not exclusive English or Spanish, depending on the number of participants of each language.
  • BE RESPONSIBLE If you suffer from a heart disease, food or nature allergy, when boarding immediately let your guide know to take the necessary precautions for your care. Likewise, if you experience any discomfort during the journey, let us know!
  • COME COMFORTABLE Wear comfortable clothing, a light jacket for the morning and shoes suitable for hiking.
  • COME PREPARED The communities do not have a card payment service, bring additional cash for personal expenses and purchases
  • Comply with the provisions of each sanctuary, which are the same for everyone
  • Do not bring sound devices (recorder, radio, etc.)
  • Don’t leave trash.
  • DON’T FORGET A BATTERY FOR THE CAMERA (OR TWO)
Location
Av. de la República 154
Avenida de la República
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
3.4
(11 Ratings)
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Marcela_s
Jan 23, 2023
Experiencia Única /wonderful experience - Excelente experiencia! Wonderful tour! Gaby our guide and Jorge our driver exceeded our expectations! We really recommend it! Lo recomendamos ampliamente!
Review provided by Viator
Lisa_m
Jan 23, 2023
Definitely worth doing! - The tour was great, but it is a lot of walking, often up hill! You definitely need to be fit to do it, but our day was great, and our tour guide Gabriella was great and very informative. And our driver Jorge did a perfect job. The butterflies and waterfall were beautiful. It was a great experience!
Review provided by Viator
Katia_b
Nov 28, 2022
Too hard to get on the top, not many butterflies to ser in November. Best time is February-March - The wait for an hour for the pick up was not ok. The help center kept saying there was no reservation 😔
Review provided by Viator
Z2090iiemilyb
Nov 28, 2022
Well organised and lovely day trip from mexico city - Very well organised trip, nice schedule with just the right amount of time in each place. Full day out with nice stops and a lovely town. Be warned the butterfly location is about an hour and a half of walking up a steep hill, there is the option of a horse if you like, but you will still need to walk a bit.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Beatriz
Jan 7, 2018
We had a wonderful and safe trip... - <p>We had a wonderful and safe trip! Thanks to our guide and driver. This is my second time using Viator and I will use again next time I go to Mexico.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Rolando
Dec 30, 2019
Physically challenging - To reach the monarchs them return required great stamina and proper footwear. Granted we are 50 and we completed the hike but several others both older and younger could not endure it. Yes, they have the option to take a horse but that only took them halfway and none were able to successfully reach the butterflies. We spent less than 5 minutes viewing the butterflies until we hat to return as there was a constant crush of optimistic viewers. As far As the other two sites, they were very worth ones time. Buy frankly it seemed thAt most fellow travelers we too exhausted to enjoy. Know what your getting into:)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lauren
Jan 4, 2019
Not the tour for you if you're looking to see butterflies - I booked this trip thinking it would have a primary focus on seeing the butterflies. At the butterfly sanctuary, you are provided with too much time to hike up the mountain to see the butterflies - there are horses available, and that is highly recommended, because the hike could take up to 3 hours. If you do take the horses, prepare to have extra time with not much to do in the waiting area.Then, you go to see a waterfall, and then spend free time in Valle de Bravo - both of which were quite beautiful, but took much longer than the butterfly portion. If you were planning on a 12 hour excursion, it was more like 16 hours, so don't plan on doing anything after. While the tour guides were very kind, it was just mis-advertised.
Review provided by Viator
Kattina_r
Feb 13, 2024
No monarchs, and a meh guide. - I am sorry to say that as of February 7, the butterflies in the Piedras herrada flew away. The climate is warmer, so the season on this mountain is shorter. There is little to be done. We can't control the monarchs...but, my tour was on the 11th, so the tour company should have known that there were no butterflies. I would have canceled my tour because this was the primary reason for my visit. The guide said in his first go that "he doesn't like this tour because he really likes doing city tours in cdmx, and doesn't like hiking." The walk to the waterfall was nice. We went to valle de bravo. Our guide lead us through the city on a speed walk where he offered no actual information (we lost two people on the tour and couldn't find them) .... He didn't really seem to know the valle de bravo well, as he asked local for directions. The food at the market was good. I think the guide would have been better if we had just said, meet here at 4 pm, there is the market to buy cheap, yummy eats, and let people to go off and explore this lovely town. Overall it was not a good value for the price.
Review provided by Viator
X6887gvamberr
Jan 3, 2023
Zero customer service - So disappointed in this tour company. Bought tix online for xmas day for our family of four, then flight to Mexico City was delayed & cancelled til the next day. Hubby called to ask if we could reschedule, Vanessa told us yes we could go on the 1st. Great! Later we got an email saying reiterating we couldn't cancel because we missed the 24HR window. Hubby tried calling again & was given the runaround. Overall zero customer service.
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Zaakistan
Jan 1, 2023
Go with anyone else - We all hated it. Waste of a lot of money and time. The tour operators were terrible communicators. I will never book with anyone associated with Mexitours again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor