Please note: some areas of the Teotihuacan Archeological Area are closed to visitors where climbing the ruins is now restricted. Your guide will have alternatives available on the day of the tour pending further changes on-site.

On this day excursion from Mexico City, we will visit the Teotihuacan pyramids with an expert archaeologist or historian and absorb this UNESCO World Heritage site. An hour from Mexico City, this former metropolis is home to important pyramids, palaces and murals dating back to 100 B.C. In the first half of the day, our expert guide will discuss the importance of this site in the pre-Columbian history of the Americas. We’ll have a local Mexican lunch afterward then head to a second nearby location, Acolman, to see a 16th-century convent that was instrumental during the Spanish conquest in the conversion of indigenous populations to Catholicism.

Starting out in a private vehicle at your accommodation, we’ll leave Mexico City early to beat the city traffic and crowds at the pyramids. Our route around the site will include an in-depth examination into the predominant trio of Teotihuacan structures: the Moon, Sun, and Feathered Serpent pyramids. Our expert archeologist or historian leading the tour, who may be a Teotihuacan local themself, will dig deep into the histories, traditions, and sacred rights stemming back to the Classical Mesoamerican era. We’ll have the option of climbing the steep steps of a pyramid, where our guide will be able to point out the geographic influence of Teotihuacan in neighboring regions. Our path will also take us to a number of important compounds with murals predating the Maya and Aztecs, and we’ll learn about these palace layouts and the artistic style that permeated not just ancient Teotihuacan society but many Mesoamerican civilizations for millennia. 

NOTE: This tour includes a car service that will pick you up at your accommodation. Please tell us your hotel or apartment address in the 'Additional Details' box while adding the tour to your shopping cart.

On our way back to Mexico City we’ll stop at Acolman Monastery, a 16th-century complex with murals that represent the doctrinal points that Augustinian missionaries emphasized in their attempts to evangelize the indigenous peoples of central Mexico. Acolman serves as an important location in linking the pre-Columbian and Spanish eras and provides a historic location for which to conclude our tour. Your driver will then return you to your accommodation in Mexico City.

At a point convenient for your group, we’ll pause our tour of the archeological site for a delicious Mexican lunch at a sit-down restaurant.

Want to learn more about pre-Columbian civilization? Try our Mexico Museum of Anthropology Tour with an anthropologist.

Take-Aways

At the end of our Teotihuacan day excursion, we will have experienced the magnificence of this revered archaeological UNESCO World Heritage Site. We’ll emerge with an enhanced historic understanding of this former worldly city and better mastery of the relevance of its pyramids, murals, and nearby monastery and shrines.

For an overview of Mexico City history from ancient times to today, try our Introduction to Mexico City Tour.

Does this tour include transportation to and from Teotihuacan?
Yes! There is a private car service included in the price of the tour, as are the entrance fees to the site and the guide’s time. Lunch is not included, though we will budget time for a  Mexican meal near the pyramids. 

Where will we meet our guide?  Your expert guide will meet you either at your accommodation or at Teotihuacan. This is because several of our experts are true Teotihuacan locals (as well as professional archeologists) who live in the area. In any case, our driver will meet you at your accommodations and take you directly to the pyramids. 

Can we climb the pyramids?  No, since 2020, it is not possible to climb the pyramids anymore. 

The tour is 8 hours to allow for 1.5 hrs each way for traffic, though it could be just 1 hour if we are lucky. We leave early in the morning so as to avoid traffic. You should be back at your hotel (or another location if you advise us in advance—additional fees may apply) by the end of the 8 hour tour.