Juan is not only an extraordinary tour guide but also an utterly delightful man. He has deep…read moreknowledge of Oaxaca which comes wrapped in a completely natural and comfortable manner. I wish we'd had another day or two with him. We had time to add on an additional couple stops and even had an earthquake during an excellent lunch!

Juan was an incredibly thorough tour guide. We used him for three days recently - one day at Monte…read moreAlban, one day at Mitla and one day to explore the artisan villages to the south of Oaxaca. His knowledge about the history of the area is incredibly deep. We learned so much and he was able to adjust his itinerary for us as he learned more about our interests. On an operational note, Juan was always really responsive via email, he arrived on time every morning and his car was really clean and comfortable. Strong recommend all the way around!

David was a great host and gave us a great welcome introduction to the city. Highly recommend,…read moreparticularly in the first couple days in town to give better context and appreciations for the city.

This 2.5 hour walking tour offers a leisure walk around centro of oaxaca and history and…read moreinteresting facts of Oaxaca. Our tour guide Dijan (sp?) was Mexican but spoke fluent English. He was casual, helpful and offers many good facts and tidbits on Oaxaca..and if you want more info, he was happy to give you more information as well. At first I wasn't sure if the 2.5 hours was going to be too long for me, but the tour went by fast and I learned a lot more about life and living in Oaxaca than I ever did before joining the tour! It was casual, friendly and enjoyable. Everyone in the same walking tour group stayed the entire 2.5 hours tour! Definitely check this tour out. The tour was very available...meaning..they offered multiple tours a day...so...take some time out to learn more about this wonderful city in Oaxaca!

Did 2 tours with this company on consecutive days…read more Tour 1 went to a mercado, a collective of local artisans making and selling woven things, a knife maker ( totally interesting) and wood carving and painting. Marlena was the guide and was fabulous, along with this excellent tour. Tour 2 went to Monté Alban, Arbol de Tule, a swimming hole, a rug weaver, mescal factory and a buffet. Not good at all. Very commercial and the opposite of the first tour. Too many great restaurants in Oaxaca to eat a big meal at some out of town buffet at 5 pm. We sat that one out. Go during the week because Mexicans come here on the weekend and it's crowded.

We just took a 2 day tour to Apoala. We had a great time. Hiked about 4 hours each day, meals in…read morethe puebla. Jumped over a lot of rocks in the river, wear good shoes! Yves and Claudia have been doing this over 20 years and know the villagers and routes very well. We will be back for another tour in the future!

Yves and Claudia operate a truly exceptional service. Yves has an incredible wealth of history,…read morescience and personal connections to offer and made our day in the Sierra Norte the highlight of our two months in Oaxaca, and of the several extended annual vacations here.

We had a fabulous experience with 4 day hike with Expediciones Sierra Norte. The cabanas far…read moreexceed anything I have ever experienced on trails in the States, done right luxurious by hiking standards. Beautifully sited with great views, super clean, tiled floors with lovely hot showers and fires every night in April. The hikes are demanding but gorgeous with some amazing views. Temescal, trout dinner and pulque all highly recommended. Note- altitude sickness is real. If you live at sea level I highly recommend a couple of days at Mexico City altitude before venturing to the Highlands. Second note- I can't imagine this would ever happen again but the cabana at relatively low altitude Altamira (sp?) had just been fumigated for pine beetles in the rafters, sparking a bad reaction for chemically sensitive me but not for anyone else. Staff was apologetic and accommodating- we wound up spending the night in the Temescal room. If you are similarly sensitive and traveling to the lower altitude villages at the beginning of April, you might just want to check in about this.

My husband and I needed a break from Oaxaca city so we booked a two day, one night trip with Sierra…read moreNorte. It was wonderful! Antonio, a jovial and friendly fellow, picked us up at our house and drove us one and a half hours up to the mountains. We were not so much interested in hiking but in the life and community of the people. So our guide and translator, Celestino, led us around the villages explaining how ecotourism works for and benefits these people. He also went into much fascinating detail (in English) about the Zapotec culture. He is a treasure!! We had two interesting planned activities...cooking and eating a meal with a local senora and visiting a medicine woman. We were housed in a lovely private cabin with fireplace. Our meals were prepared by a local woman and were simple yet delicious. I highly recommend Sierra Norte. You will enjoy the mountains as you help the native people maintain a robust economy. PS...bring rain gear. Expect mountain showers at most times of the year.

Randall was an unbelievably great tour guide, and made Oaxaca come alive for us. He took us to…read morethree local distillers chosen to compliment and contrast each other, and we tried over 60 mezcals throughout the day. His personal relationship with each distiller made it feel like we were visiting good friends, and the entire experience was deeply meaningful. Randall also filled the tour with amazing discussions on everything from history to chemistry to mythology stories, gave us surprise additional mezcal tastings to test our palates, and extended the tour because we were all enjoying it so much. He is overflowing with knowledge on mezcal and very generous in sharing it. Mezcal Educational Tours was fantastic, and you should specifically request Randall. The entire day was the highlight of our trip to Mexico - we walked away wanting to return to Oaxaca and drink mezcal with Randall again.

Randall was our guide and his experience and deep wealth of knowledge made this the most fun and…read moreeducational mezcal adventure you could ever dream of. Didn't know a lot about this spirit but now feel I can speak about the origins, distillation process, variations, and a little bit about the culture surrounding the mezcaleros. It's a crash course! Randall is a gem and a really great guy, honored to have had his presence for the day and the meszcal legends he introduced us to. He really knows how to read the room, encouraged me to try more (try the pulque!) and I'm glad he did. Highly recommend!