Perfect day - Monte Alban was a wonderful experience. Having a local tell the stories made them very real. Also getting to visit the artisans and see traditional methods was wonderful. All in all this tour was more than worth it.

Maravilloso Oaxaca - A very competent guide, provided well documented information, the place is simply spectacular, the Zapotec world of the best in the world!

Full day Monte Alban and artisans tour - Fantastic trip. Enriching, educational, and engaging. We saw Monte Alban and various artisans (textiles, alebrijes, and black pottery). Pre-tour communication was clear. Pickup was one-time, easy and convenient. Other tourists canceled that day, so we luckily got a private tour. Car was comfortable, clean and driving was professional. Zenón was very knowledgeable and entertained all my questions. He kept the info coming and conversations moving. Fantastic host. Monte Alban speaks for itself. Big site, very cool. Mitla has much more detailed stonework, but Monte Alban has the scale. Its super impressive. I'd personnaly to try to get much of the info walking rather than stationary. The alebrijes workshop was the most impressive artisan. Just beautiful intricate work.

A must go if you’re in Oaxaca - The guide, Zenón (hopefully I wrote that right) was incredibly knowledgeable, patient and kind. He explained a lot of history behind Monte Albán and the other places he took us to as well. He is fluent in both Spanish and English which is a huge plus. If you want an in depth history of Monte Albán with additional cultural tours after, definitely go!

Absolutely excellent tour! - Zenon was an amazing guide, his perspective was very unique since he is Zapotec himself and is fluent in it. He is great in English and Spanish. His knowledge base is huge, he taught us so much. I was very grateful to have him driving us around, the driving here is crazy compared to what I am used to in the USA and he is very good at navigating it. We saw Monte Albán, alebrijes being created and they were masterfully done, textile weaving on a back-strap loom (the pre-Spanish conquest, traditional way), and black pottery being created. He got us to Monte Albán first, which was good because it was getting busy as we left. I only wish we could have spent several more hours there, there was so much to see and Zenon knew so much. 5 stars, book it for your trip to Oaxaca!

Do not regret booking this tour - well worth it! - Monte Alban was the highlight. Our tour guide there was so well informed and loved answering all our questions and happy to share his heritage. The other tour guide who did the Spanish language tour was equally lovely. The shorter trips to various artisans were also wonderful. The included lunch was delicious! It was a full day so it was nice to recharge with lunch. You will be pleasantly tired.

We learned a lot! - We learned so much! Everyone in my family enjoyed the tour. Zenen is passionate about the topic and really knew his stuff!

Oaxaca full of tradition and culture! - The excellent guide! With a lot of knowledge, taking the time to explain in detail, he was always attentive to us. The tour was great, we learned a lot and we highly value our people and our Mexico.

Monte Alban excellent, the visit to the craft villages not so much - The guide Zenón is very friendly, bilingual and has good knowledge of the archaeological site. The visit to the craft towns, which are 3, makes the tour very long and exhausting since they are far from each other. The buffet lunch was good and varied.

Don't buy from Monte Alban artisan vendors! - This is a review that I wish I did not have to write. My husband and I took a trip to Monte Alban with Continental Istmo Tours in August, 2024. Let me begin by saying that our guide, Zenon, was fantastic and we wish that we could say only good things about our trip overall. Zenon was extremely knowledgeable about Monte Alban and other related historical sites, and he shared his wisdom in intriguing and relatable ways. His command of English, Spanish, and Zapotec was impressive, and it was wonderful to hear him speak in Zapotec, a beautiful language. We learned a great deal about Monte Alban thanks to Zenon. Unfortunately, one significant development from our tour was disastrous. Near the very beginning of our tour, while inside the Monte Alban boundaries (not in the parking lot), Zenon led us to local artisans selling their goods along the pathway. My husband and I actually thought that Zenon knew these vendors because they struck up a conversation right away and it was a very relaxed chat. One of the vendors was a young man selling clay representations of statues that had been found at Monte Alban and that are now in a local museum. Since they were very well done and we wanted to support a young artisan, my husband and I purchased one for $2,000 pesos. We assumed that this would be a safe transaction because Zenon appeared to have known the vendor and also, because it was being sold within the bounds of Monte Alban, we thought that the vendors would have been vetted. I originally thought that they were representations that could be purchased in the museum gift shop, and I asked about that, but Zenon told me that these items could only be bought at this site along the walkway and that we would not be returning to that particular area. So we happily bought a statue on the spot. That was an enormous mistake and we are now out of $2,000 pesos. The statue had been wrapped in newspaper and padding, and I carried it with extreme care throughout the day. I got it safely back to our Oaxaca apartment at the end of the day and it was in good condition. I went out to a local market and bought bubble wrap and a heavy-duty plastic storage box for it and immediately put the statue in it, complete with the padding around it. Then I left it for two days. That’s when things got bad. When I took the statue back out in to inspect it one more time and to prepare it for our return to the United States, I found that the statue was falling apart. It crumbled in my hands as I gently touched it and it fell into multiple pieces and scraps . Clearly something had gone wrong with the clay preparation or manipulation by the artisan. I contacted Zenon and he was very responsive and said that he would talk to the vendor about it. He asked if we could take it to the office of Continental Istmo so that he could pick it up and take it to the vendor himself. My husband took the statue pieces to their office and the woman at that desk scolded my husband for buying it in the first place and told him that she would not help us. She told him that they would just throw it away, even though Zenon had asked us to take it to the office. She called the manager who was equally indifferent, unprofessional, and rude toward my husband. We understand that not all artisans are reputable but the fact that this young man vendor was within the bounds of Monte Alban and that Zenon presented their goods as worthy, we thought that this would be a safe purchase. Obviously it was not. If you visit Monte Alban, please do not buy anything from the vendors there since they do not seem to have been vetted in any way. We do not wish to hurt any of the other vendors there but we also do not want anyone else to have the same experience that we did. Also, please note that the jewelry in the gift shop is extremely overpriced and that you can get the same pieces of the same quality in shops right in Oaxaca. (Just google “Monte Alban jewelry, Oaxaca.”) We do plan to return to Oaxaca and we had hoped to use Continental Istmo for other tours in the future. However, after the experience that we had with the statue purchase and, more importantly, the experience that my husband had with the office staff member and manager (who was called on the telephone in order to be part of the conversation), we will never trust or recommend this company again. Zenon is a superb guide, but we highly recommend that he lead his clients away from the vendors and stay focused only on the Monte Alban historical sites.