Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Day Trip from Mexico City
Description
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.
Tour Options
Itinerary
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.
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".
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.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- - 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)
Reviews(13)
We had a great time visiting the Monarch Sanctuary. Travelers should be prepared to bring some money for entrance fee, vendor stations, and to use the bathroom. The experience stated pickup was included but we were told there was no hotel pick-up. The meeting point wasn’t too far from where we were staying so we took an Uber to the meet-up location. We went the 3rd week of February and some of the monarchs were starting to migrate north. So perhaps the ideal time is the 2nd week of Feb. we were still able to see many butterflies when we got to the top. Be prepared to hike uphill for about 1.5 miles to the top. They have horses for those that don’t want to hike but you will have to pay for those. We also visited a waterfall and stopped at Valle de Brava. It was a good experience.
We had a great time. This tour was a long day of driving with 3 stops. The monarch sanctuary was the highlight, and it was a fairly steep but decent trail. We also stopped briefly at the bridal veil waterfall and then had dinner and a boat ride at Valle del. bravo. The whole day was long but worth it.
Thank you for sharing your experience! We're so glad you enjoyed the day, especially the monarch sanctuary, it truly is something special. It is indeed a long outing, but we’re happy to hear it felt worth it with the beautiful stops along the way. We hope to see you again on another adventure!
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.
Dear Kattina, Unfortunately, this year with the climate change the Monarchs emigrate before of time. Every year the season of monarch is form November to March, but with these changes we found this kind of situations. Is very sad to hear your tour wasn’t something enjoyable. We’re definitely take your feedback for the next season.
Excelente experiencia! Wonderful tour! Gaby our guide and Jorge our driver exceeded our expectations! We really recommend it! Lo recomendamos ampliamente!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us, we are glad that you had a fantastic time. Your comments are much appreciated and will help other travelers to choose and experience our tours. Best
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!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us, we are glad that you had a fantastic time. Your comments are much appreciated and will help other travelers to choose and experience our tours. Best
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.
Dear Zaak, Thank you for your comment, it is very important to us. You called our 24 hours cellphone at night asking to reschedule your Monarch Butterfly tour to January 1, due to your flight was delayed and you could not show up for it. Since this is a seasonal tour, Vanessa couldn't confirm the date you required because it was not available until January 22. Unfortunately the cancellation was not possible since it was not within the stipulated time. We are terrible sorry for this situation.
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.
Dear Zaakistan We are sorry to read your comment. We would have liked to know what your situation was. We hope that you will give us the opportunity to improve your experience on your next visit to Mexico.
The wait for an hour for the pick up was not ok. The help center kept saying there was no reservation 😔
Dear Katia, Thank you for your comment. This tour is seasonal and we have different dates. In the month of November begins the beautiful visit of the Monarch Butterfly and it ends on March. When you arrived at the meeting point, you marked us commenting that you were lost. After looking for you for 15 minutes, we found you. We regret that the tour has been tedious for you, since it is an alternative tourism tour, where you walk a lot inside the forest and have direct contact with nature. We invite you to know our variety of tours for your next visit.
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.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us, we are glad that you had a fantastic time. Your comments are much appreciated and will help other travelers to choose and experience our tours. Best!
The trip was with my dad who walks a little slower than normal. And I loved having time to enjoy butterflies and not being pressured because they understood their mobility.
Muchas gracias por compartir su experiencia con nosotros, nos alegra que haya pasado un tiempo fantástico. Sus comentarios son muy valiosos y ayudarán a otros viajeros a elegir la experiencia Mexitours con nuestros tours. ¡Saludos!