Monte Alban Tour: Explore Zapotec Ruins
4.7
19 Ratings
Oaxaca de Juárez

Explore Monte Albán’s ancient wonders on a crowd-free morning tour. Climb pyramids, discover Zapotec culture, and enjoy safe, comfortable transport.

Duration: 4 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Zona Arqueológica de Monte Albán - Enjoy a comprehensive tour of Monte Albán’s archaeological site in the morning to avoid the crowds.
    Discover the ancient Zapotec culture with the guidance of an expert.
    During the tour, participants can climb the pyramids and explore the temples, ceremonial center, palace, astronomical observatory, ball court, and…
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What's Included
  • Round trip from Oaxaca City
  • Certified guide in the archaeological area
What's Not Included
  • Entrance to the government archaeological site
Additional Information

Experience the breathtaking archaeological site of Monte Alban with a morning tour designed to beat the crowds.
Led by a knowledgeable guide, participants can ascend the pyramids and delve into the temples, ceremonial center, palace, astronomical observatory, and ball court. This tour emphasizes the vibrant Zapotec culture and its stunning natural…

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Location
City Express by Marriott Oaxaca
Niños Heroes de Chapultepec
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
4.7
(19 Ratings)
5 stars
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1 star
Eft-tapper
Oct 15, 2025
Beat the crowds - Great excursion! We were very happy to have found this early morning trip to Monte Alban. You can beat the crowds and the heat by booking this trip. Buses were comfortable and the guide knowledgeable
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Curious41775288638
Oct 8, 2025
Must do this! - Beautiful experience! Miguel was an excellent tour guide providing lots of education and history while making sure we never got lost. :)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Westofthewater
Oct 6, 2025
Good tour of an amazing place - Monte Alban is an incredible place. Miguel was a good guide, informative while keeping everyone on schedule. We were with him at the site for about an hour, then we had an hour to ourselves to wander and explore the ruins.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
B2834qekarenb
Sep 19, 2025
Excellent tour guide. Must see experience. - Our tour guide was excellent. Very knowledgeable, very thoughtful, and amiable. The site is fantastic and a must-see for anyone visiting Oaxaca.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
167ollij
Sep 14, 2025
Nice morning trip to Monte Albán - Well organized morning trip from Oaxaca center to Monte Albán. Guide spoke both English and Spanish. We learned a lot about Zapotec history and saw the ruins and the scale of the ancient capital 👌
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marianamr5171ze
Sep 7, 2025
A cultural gem - One of the best cultural experiences, we arrived at the meeting point that is waiting centrally, even gave us time to go through a coffee and rich bread (the bodaega) took us to the tour the very good driver, our guide Balam knew everything, explained every detail of the place and answered all the questions, gives you to choose the route with a view or a more accessible one (so knees) I recommend to wear a sun hat but still in the place sell (blocker needed) we will definitely schedule more tours with them, Balam takes some very parents photos and is very friendly... if they are thinking of going to Monte Alban they should schedule with them. September is low season so it's very free and you get a view without so many people.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Maxlm3776os
Sep 6, 2025
Best Tour - Wonderful tour with a great guide who described not only the history of Monte Alban but of the entire country as well! Highly recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cem_m
Aug 15, 2025
Exceptional Monte Albán Tour - I had an incredible experience on the Monte Albán tour truly one of the highlights of my time in Oaxaca. Our guide was not only extremely knowledgeable but also friendly, approachable, and happy to answer every question in detail. What I appreciated most was how they put everything into a wider historical and cultural context, making the ruins come alive with meaning rather than just being stones and structures. Everything ran perfectly on time, yet never felt rushed. It honestly felt like a private tour just the right pace, plenty of time to explore, and personal attention throughout. The car was modern, spotless, and very comfortable, which made the journey there and back very smooth. I couldn’t recommend this tour enough. It’s professional, insightful, and genuinely enjoyable from start to finish.
Review provided by Viator
Quest37014426374
Oct 20, 2025
Insufficient time - While the tour guide was good, the time was too short as it took too much time to find participants in the morning. While there was to be 2 pickups, there were 3 and too much time was spent in traffic. Thus time was short at the site. And then we were rushed out early for reasons we didn’t understand- something about crowds at lunch, while we had only signed up for the half day tour. We should have had more time at the site and felt short changed.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lisarg7426uh
Oct 19, 2025
Not really a "4-hour" tour. - This was our second trip to Monte Alban, our first being in 2024. We returned to Monte Alban a second time (2025) because we enjoyed it so much in 2024 that we wanted to see it again. Unfortunately, not every aspect of our tour went as planned or promised. To begin, we were at our departure site on time for the 8:00 departure which went off without a hitch. Then, unfortunately, our driver had difficulty finding the second location to pick up more passengers. We ended up spending 30+ minutes driving around Oaxaca looking for them. Moreover, this second pick-up location was not even listed in the description so those of us in the van already were surprised to find that we were not, in fact, departing the city at 8:00 as advertised. We did make it to the other scheduled pick-up location with ease and since that site was on the way to Monte Alban that presented no problem. In short, however, we did not even get started at Monte Alban until 9:15. Our guide, Ivan, was wonderful and we appreciated all that he had to share with us. Sadly he did have to advise us that our departure time from the site would be 11:45. Given that, we just wish that we could have had the 4 hour experience at Monte Alban as it was advertised. Please note that we understand that the "4 hour" description would include travel time to/from Monte Alban. However, given that Monte Alban is so close to the city, it should not have taken that much travel time; we should have gotten started long before 9:15 and not been rushed at the site to get out of the parking lot. My advice to other travelers would be to find out more about taking the city bus there and do it on your own.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).
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