Quick Details
Go beyond the usual tour bus experience on this tour. See the pyramids of Teotihuacan and learn about Teotihuacan culture from our experts. Visit the city off the beaten path and meet local artisans and their workshops, taste local “delicacies” like cactus sweets, old pre-Hispanic beers, and dine with a local family in their own home.
Language: English
Inclusions: English-speaking local guide, public or private transportation (depending on the size of the group), entrance fee to the Teotihuacan pyramids, samples of cactus products, dinner in a local home.
Exclusions: Lunch, drinks, items of a personal nature, souvenirs, tip/gratuities for the guide.
As we head out of Mexico City, we make a stop at the archaeological wonder that is the Teotihuacan pyramids, where your guide fills you in on the mysterious history of this sacred site. As you tour the grounds, you see the Moon Pyramid, the Calzada de los Muertos (Dead Pass), and the Sun Pyramid, which is the tallest and most spectacular in the area — it’s 63 meters to the top (and yes, we’re going up).
After exploring the pyramids, we make our way to a family-run factory/shop that specializes in local products. We learn about obsidian — the material that the Teotihuacan people used to make their tools, idols, and decorations — and you are encouraged to take a sip of an ancient, sacred drink called pulque, which is extracted from the heart of the maguey (another kind of cactus), considered by some to be the great-grandfather of tequila. On top of those gems, you can find jams, candies, spicy lollies, and plenty more products made by local people from the endemic vegetation around them such as nopal, xoconostle, and tuna (a cactus fruit, not tuna fish!). Souvenir shopping has never been this much fun!
After working up an appetite climbing pyramids and shopping for souvenirs, we take you to a friend’s house for a memorable dinner. You are welcomed into their traditional home, where you can try authentic local flavors (the family runs a very successful catering business, so you are in the right hands!) and experience traditional Mexican dinner customs. This is also a fabulous opportunity to test your Spanish!
After dinner, we head back to Mexico City happy, full, and relaxed from our wonderful day exploring life outside the hustle and bustle of the big city.
Dress standard: We recommend dressing comfortably and wearing comfortable walking shoes. Bring a light jacket or sweater, and during the rainy season (May to September), we recommend bringing a raincoat or umbrella. Leave your valuables, such as passports and credit cards, in the hotel and bring a small amount of spending cash. Keep large cameras discreetly stored in a backpack. Along the way, you can purchase drinks (energy drinks, beer, pulque, water, etc.), so bring some extra money for that, if you’d like.
Your trip: For your Urban Adventure, you are in a small group of a maximum of 12 people.
Confirmation of booking: If you have your voucher, your booking is confirmed. See you at the starting point. Get in touch if you have any concerns or require more information via the email address or phone number (business hours only) on your voucher.
Additional information: Please note that we may use a mixture of public and private transport during this tour, depending on the number of travelers in the group (if there are eight travelers or more, we use private transport).
Closure of sites: Some of the places visited along the route are local houses and businesses, which have irregular opening hours. Our route and stops may vary to make sure you have a unique and genuine Mexican experience.
Child policy: Children between the ages of 6 and 11 inclusively are permitted on this tour at the rate listed here. Please select “child” above when booking. Children below the age of 6 are not permitted on this tour.
Office phone number: International dialing: +52 1 55 1632 0847 Local dialing: 044 55 1632 0847
Email address: [email protected]
Ms. Anita D. from Australia travelled on 08 Apr 2019:
The Teotihuacan Day Trip was a highlight of my 3 week stay in Mexico. Urban Adventures never disappoint! Ulysses was such a passionate guide, his knowledge was incredible. A guided tour of the pyramids makes for a fascinating experience, you just can’t do on your own. Meeting local artisans who work with obsidian, the opportunity to sample pulque, sweets and dinner prepared in a Mexican home, l can’t speak highly enough of this tour. Thanks Ulysses and Intrepid!
Ms. Elizabeth M. from USA travelled on 25 Oct 2018:
I had a great time on the Teotihuacan tour. Our tour guide was very relaxed, but at the same time had great knowledge of the site and was a good communicator. It definitely didn’t feel like a hectic tourist day, but rather a nice outing with a great group of people. The only critique I would have is that I thought we were going to be able to spend a bit more time at the pyramids, the tour started later than I realized!
Mr. clive T. from United Kingdom travelled on 22 Oct 2018:
Rodrigo was brilliant so knowledgeable and very freindly
Mr. Edward J. from USA travelled on 31 Jul 2018:
The tour was by far the highlight of the day. Our tour guide Rodrigo Duluoz was incredible as far as showing us and informing us the very detailed explanation of the tour itself and its culture. Very informative and educational. Our tour guide is very knowledgeable and very smart and polite and also a funny guy…Lolll. He wants us connect with him as well as to connect with the environment and the history of the place. I would definetly coming back and book a tour with your company. I higjly recommend your company to my fellow friends.
Mr. Wessley M. from Australia travelled on 26 Jul 2018:
We were blessed with Ady as our guide and Julio (in training) who were fantastic, enthusiastic, entertaining company. A great day of history capped off with a fantastic dinner with a local family who served us some of the best Mexican Food we had in the whole time we were there. The hours flew by and the whole day was unforgettable. Can say enough about how good it was to do it with a local as our guide.
Mr. Vito D. from USA travelled on 01 Jun 2018:
Adriana brought a lot of passion and genuineness to the tour. Great guide.
Mr. Richard P. from USA travelled on 03 Apr 2018:
Ady was amazing and very knowledgeable. She was patient and concerned with our overall experience. I appreciated that.
Ms. Gabriela M. from Puerto Rico travelled on 28 Mar 2018:
Exceed expectations food transportation. Enthusiast tour guide
Mrs. Tiffany R. from USA travelled on 16 Mar 2018:
We really enjoyed this tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable and was able to answer all of our questions. We would definitely recommend this tour to anyone.
Mr. Michael A. from USA travelled on 17 Jan 2018:
Guide was excellent!
Mr. Robert B. from United Kingdom travelled on 08 Nov 2017:
Rodrigo was so informative and fun! Think he would make an ideal tour guide for longer trips too. Our driver, Beno, also spoke excellent English and I enjoyed having the opportunity to discuss travel with him at dinner.
Ms. Elsa S. from USA travelled on 30 Oct 2017:
Leon was great and our group was only two people so very personal! The family was nice, but I felt like I was pushing the interaction a little. I loved our pulque tasting while we learned about obsidian and got some beautiful earrings. The stop with all of the jam tastings was also nice.
Ms. monica j. from Australia travelled on 01 Sep 2017:
Friendly enthusiastic guide. Helpful and a very fun trip.
Mr. Paul H. from United Kingdom travelled on 28 Aug 2017:
I did the markets tour too and it was great I was the only traveller that day and a great personalised experience
Mr. Qofa Wayne Y. from USA travelled on 06 Jul 2017:
What an amazing tour! It had everything… history, culture, and exercise (natural stair master)! It was amazing to learn about all the wonders of the agave plant! I loved the interaction with the three local families. I never felt rushed and my husband and I could take all the photos we wanted. Leon, our tour guide was so knowledgeable, funny and entertaining! He taught me so much. I highly recommend this tour. We were a large group and Leon arranged for a tour bus instead of traveling on the Metro. This was a treat as it protected us from the rain. A bonus. But then I think Leon talked to the gods because somehow it only rained when we had shelter
Mr. Amy C. from USA travelled on 30 Jun 2017:
Rodrigo was awesome! Great at making the group feel like a group & making sure everyone was cared for.
Ms. Jill W. from USA travelled on 25 Jun 2017:
Astrid was a true delight! Her educational training in archeology was incredibly valuable and made my tour incredibly memorable and informative. My friends who are historians even commented on my incredibly detailed knowledge relative to other friends who went on larger tours. As a person, Astrid was fun which made the tour fun, especially because there were only three of us. After hanging out with Astrid for the day, I still wanted to have cocktails and continue hanging out!
Ms. Marcela J. from United Kingdom travelled on 17 May 2017:
Excellent trip, we had a great time! Astrid our guide was really friendly and loads of fun – she was studying archeology so had good knowledge and detail about the site. Also answered our random questions about Mexico City, living there and culture as well as giving us a tip on where to go for a drink when we got back.
The local workshops we went to visit were interesting and the locals we met very friendly and inviting, as was the family for dinner! They have obviously been working with UrbanAdventures for a while which was nice to see.
Advice would be, take a hat! Very little shade and it gets very hot…
Ms. Marlene D. from USA travelled on 09 May 2017:
We were very impressed with Rodrigo’s breadth of knowledge, which was quite incredible, even outside the tour’s subject matter (we are from various artistic and education fields and we had great discussions). He was also friendly, funny and kept the group organized but in a loose way, which is exactly what we wanted. He is one of the best guides I’ve ever had and is a credit to Urban Adventures. This tour exceeded expectations in every way–it did not feel commercial or touristic.
Ms. Doris L. from USA travelled on 08 May 2017:
It was the highlight of my try trip. Rodrigo was a wonderful and fun guide.
I would highly recommend this tour, like me, you will take with you an awesome experience. I got so much more than I expected on this tour, worth the money three times over.
Mr. Rodney F. from USA travelled on 05 May 2017:
Our guide was excellent. We had two tours with Rodrico and cannot say enough good things about him. Learned a lot.
Mr. Craig G. from Australia travelled on 02 May 2017:
Informative and fun guide and great way to see the major sites without the crowds.
Mr. Georges O. from Canada travelled on 01 May 2017:
This was a great day tour. Astrid is trained as an archeologist, so that was super interesting to have her as a guide! She was enthusiastic and full of energy. I definitely recommend this tour. (please take note that this is a tour that starts around 1pm and you are back in Centro Historico around 10pm. Combining this with the market tour on the same day might be too much!)
Ms. Samantha H. from Canada travelled on 26 Apr 2017:
Leon was great! He is very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about Mexican history. The tour exceeded my expectations. I had a wonderful time.
Mr. Matthew N. from United Kingdom travelled on 21 Apr 2017:
Rodrigo really made the tour for me. He was extremely knowledgeable and friendly and added different aspects to the tour that I really didn’t expect, but were very welcome. I have already recommended the tour to many people I’ve met.
Ms. Nicola M. from Australia travelled on 21 Apr 2017:
Leon was such a great guide – not just great at providing info on Mexico City and Teotihuacan, but also friendly and easy to get along with. Fantastic opportunity to see more than just Teotihuacan as well, meeting local people is so much better than just ticking off the big sights!
Ms. Sarah F. from Australia travelled on 17 Apr 2017:
Pilar was a great guide with excellent knowledge of the Teotihuacan site and history. She was eager to talk about life in Mexico and it was a pleasure to spend the day with her. The family dinner would have been more enjoyable if it wasn’t quite so rushed and if we had eaten with the family and could talk with them.
Ms. Kat T. from Canada travelled on 08 Apr 2017:
A suggestion for improving this tour. I read some of the comments before going and some people said that the visits to different businesses felt too “sales-y”. It’s a shame because they are all lovely people who deserve to earn good income for their work, but I understand where the commenters are coming from. I would suggest to these businesses (and, I suppose, to the guide) that they begin with their story – why they do what they do, how they got there, what meaning it has to them – before getting into specific products. We were in a very small group with a lot of ability in Spanish and so were able to coax these stories out of the people we visited, even looking at photos of planting cactuses on a phone. But I’m sure not every group gets to hear these things! I think the tours would be more successful (and they might make more sales) if each visit started with a story.
Mr. Eric L. from USA travelled on 04 Apr 2017:
Rodrigo was an excellent host . I’d happy recommend both him and this tour to others without hesitation.
Ms. Jean C. from Singapore travelled on 01 Apr 2017:
Would be great if we can have opportunity to chat with the local.
Ms. Elizabeth C. from USA travelled on 26 Mar 2017:
My daughter and I really found the tour to be exactly what we’d hoped and more. Taking the city bus, and meeting artisans made the experience much more engaging. Cesar, our guide, has studied preColumbian history and was super knowledgable about the site, Mexico City, and so much more.
Mr. Robert B. from USA travelled on 18 Mar 2017:
BEST DAY EVER!!!
Ms. Juilette M. from USA travelled on 16 Mar 2017:
Leon was fantastic, accommodating and very informative.
Mr. Robert L. from Canada travelled on 05 Mar 2017:
Great tour. Rodrigo is a great guide and most likely the best one.
Mr. Jacob L. from USA travelled on 04 Mar 2017:
Leon was one of the best tour guides I have ever had. He was knowledgeable, enthusiastic and had a great personality. I would highly recommend him as a tour guide to anyone.
Mrs. Brianne F. from USA travelled on 21 Feb 2017:
Fantastic!! Nathan and Astrid were amazing. The tour was super informative and gave me a glimpse into Mexican history, culture, and life that I would have otherwise never seen. I’m not usually big on group tours, but this one was awesome & exceeded all of my expectations.
Mr. Jarret A. from Canada travelled on 07 Feb 2017:
Leon was such a great guide with so much info and hiatory of the Aztec people and their religion. The views from the pyramids were stunning! Walking through the town was so peacful compared to the noise and traffic of Mexixo City. Long day but so fulfilling!
Mr. Pedro M. from USA travelled on 28 Jan 2017:
Leon was a wonderful, knowledgeable, friendly guide.
Ms. Madhulika S. from USA travelled on 23 Jan 2017:
I absolutely loved this trip. It was sensitive, our guide was articulate,knowledgeable, responsible,dynamic,good humored and, kind. I did private expensive tours all over Mexico, and this was by far the best.
Ms. Sarah w. from Australia travelled on 11 Jan 2017:
It would have been great if at the family dinner- we got to meet the family and they spoke to us about their lives.
Ms. Sharon M. from New Zealand travelled on 08 Jan 2017:
Absolutely outstanding guide. Rodrigio is the best. Highly recommend Urban Adventures.
Mrs. Hilary P. from New Zealand travelled on 08 Jan 2017:
Rodrigo is a brilliant guide. Nice dinner.
Urban adventures a great way to go.
Mr. Ankit J. from India travelled on 31 Dec 2016:
Our guide LEON was AMAZING. He really took out time to explain everything and make everyone have an excellent time. He was generous with his time and energy. He was truly the best guide we have ever had! Thank you, Leon!
Mr. Malcolm W. from Mexico travelled on 31 Dec 2016:
Milton was outstanding in every way!
Mrs. christina m. from USA travelled on 24 Dec 2016:
Our guide Sophia was AMAZING. She was extremely knowledgeable and very enthusiastic! Would highly recommend this tour!
Mr. Paul L. from Canada travelled on 06 Dec 2016:
This tour far exceeded my expectations, as it was not your typical organized day tour. Our guide Leon answered all our questions, kept us entertained, and made everyone feel welcome. Teotihuacan was very interesting, and I did not feel like we were being rushed through the site. The stops for tequila sampling, the obsidian workshop, and the cactus factory were enjoyable (perhaps the tequila helped!) and were a great way to help local industries and pick up some souvenirs. A “family dinner” is a bit of a misnomer, as dinner consisted of only our group. This is one of the best day tours I have ever been on, and would certainly do this one again!
Mr. Timothy G. from Australia travelled on 29 Nov 2016:
Leon was an excellent guide and very knowledgeable of local history. He was very lively and was very talented in keeping the tour from getting boring. I would definitely go on any tour
Leon’s hosts. Thanks Tim.
Ms. Sara L. from USA travelled on 26 Nov 2016:
Sergio was knowledgable and an excellent guide. Pyramids, Obsidian carver, tastings all great. Dinner at host family’s was disappointing because the food was not all that interesting or tasty. Great day overall!
Mr. Laura B. from Canada travelled on 01 Nov 2016:
Rodrigo made the trip fun and informative. He was enthusiastic and genuine. I would recommend this trip to anyone
Ms. Alpa P. from USA travelled on 18 Oct 2016:
Our tour guide was excellent. He handled a large group of females (who wanted to stop and take more than the average amount of photos) with ease and patience, and also while still moving the tour along on schedule.
Mr. Sam H. from Australia travelled on 01 Oct 2016:
This trip was excellent. The use of local transport gave me the flavour of the city and its people from the beginning. My guide, Leon, provided the historical detail that gave context to what I was seeing and experiencing. The pyramids were amazing and the experience absolutely exceeded my expectations. Leon was very patient as I dragged my very unfit self to the top of each one. The view was stunning. I loved visiting the cactus ladies and sampling their delicious food. The food at the family dinner was also great – the tortilla soup was the best I have ever had – delicious with crunchy tortillas. Yum. A long exhausting brilliant day. Thanks for sharing your beautiful city with me Leon.
Ms. Cynthia D. from USA travelled on 16 Sep 2016:
Great trip! The local craftsman and family where we had dinner were so kind and genuine. Our guide César was knowledgeable and considerate.
Mr. Henry K. from USA travelled on 09 Sep 2016:
Sergio was excellent, full of knowledge and passionate about sharing his country and culture with us. Would recommend him as a guide 100% Very satisfied with his service and our experience.
Mr. Adam S. from USA travelled on 06 Sep 2016:
León was outstanding. I’m looking forward to keeping in touch with him and returning for more tours next time we’re in town. What a brilliant, intelligent, talented guy. He’s truly got a natural gift for work with tours of this sort.
Mr. Oliver L. from USA travelled on 05 Aug 2016:
This tour exceeded expectations. Rodrigo was an amazing host – great attitude, so knowledgable, and opinionated (in a good way). The group of people we were with were all like-mind, curious and up for adventure. It was my husband’s birthday and this was his choice of what he wanted to do and he said it was his best birthday ever. Rodrigo even got him a gift – an obsidian necklace that matched his own. Really fun experience and great information that we couldn’t have gotten any other way.
Mr. ARDA U. from USA travelled on 01 Aug 2016:
we had the tour with Navarro. He was very friendly and energetic. he showed us everything that we expected.
Ms. Danielle P. from USA travelled on 30 Jul 2016:
Our tour guide, Rodrigo, was AMAZING! He was so enthusiastic and knowledgeable. It was clear that he loves his heritage and was excited to teach us about the culture. The pyramids were incredible, but my favorite part of the tour was spending time with local families who made pulque, demonstrated their work with obsidian, and created an amazing meal for us. We got to try pulque, mezcal, tequila, and various jellies and liquors made from cactus. It really was the best day I had in Mexico City!
Mr. Matthew D. from USA travelled on 22 Jul 2016:
Our guide was insanely knowledgable and personable. He made our tour fun and memorable.
Ms. Joanie G. from USA travelled on 08 Jul 2016:
The tour was a lot of fun! I had a great time.
Mr. David F. from USA travelled on 04 Jul 2016:
This was out second tour with Leon! We had a bigger group and he made the day really fun and informational.
Ms. Juliana Palacio V. from Mexico travelled on 20 Jun 2016:
el guia leon es de lo mejor me enseño demasiado aparte e ser una gran persona
Mrs. Marivic P. from USA travelled on 18 May 2016:
Urban Adventures exceeded our expectations. Rodrigo was an awesome guide! We enjoyed and appreciated his respect and passion for his hometown history. His connection with the families we met was sincere. We immediately felt comfortable with him and trusted his guidance and knowledge of the Teotihuacan tour.
Miguel and his family (the family who we bought awesome obsidian from) were lovely. What an artist! And the fresh pulque was to die for. Much thanks to he and his family for their time and treats.
We did not interact too much with the family who made the jellies, salsa, drinks from nopal and tuna, but what a treat. Rodrigo is apparently a nopal and tuna expert and did a great job of explaining the foods and drinks we ate. We’re looking forward to the groceries we brought home with us!
And Dora , who cooked the BEST dinner we had in Mexico, was very sweet and funny. We wish we could have stayed for breakfast the next morning!
Looking back, this was probably our BEST DAY EVER during our trip to Mexico City. Rodrigo and everyone involved made it an unforgettable experience.
Ms. Mirja G. from Germany travelled on 30 Mar 2016:
This trip was an excellent one. I work myself in typical mass tourism for a big tour operator and was simply enjoying not being a number, being close to locals, enjoying rich culture and magic moments without the crowds. It was enjoyable having a guide by my side, who made this experience special, with his own love for the sight, with interesting insight information and being spontaneous to whatever was occuring in the small group. Going the extra mile in a natural way, hugely recommendable. Thank you for a magic day, excellent food and pure happiness.
Mr. James C. from USA travelled on 29 Mar 2016:
Our family so enjoyed our visit to the pyramids and driving/walking through the villages. It was fun using public transportation. Our family group with young teenagers would never have tried it without the help of a guide, so this was fantastic! Rodrigo was energetic, fun, knowledgable, spoke both English and Spanish fluently, and had good rapport with all four of us. We loved visiting the family for dinner – they graciously welcomed us and the food was delicious; since our own daughter is close to having her quince años celebration, we all enjoyed going through their photo albums of their own daughters’ party and talking about all the details. It was a completely different eating experience than we had anywhere else during our stay.
The only moment that was a little over-the-top or pressured was our last stop on the tour of family businesses before dinner – while we enjoyed what we saw, and happily tried and bought products, by that point we were hungry and a little information-saturated, so we could have spent half as much time on discussion there. But we appreciated the quality and friendliness of each stop.
We recommend it highly!
Mr. Matthew P. from USA travelled on 26 Mar 2016:
We had a great adventure. Rodrigo was a the perfect host and guide. Thank you for the experience.
Mr. Nikola P. from USA travelled on 01 Mar 2016:
Sergio was super knowledgeable guide. This was the best tour on my short trip to Mexico.
Mrs. Sarah Z. from USA travelled on 09 Feb 2016:
We had two days (one weekend) to explore Mexico City. After scouring the web for tours we landed on the Urban Adventures Beyond Mexico City: Hidden Teotihuacan & Family Dinner. We were looking specifically for an intimate small group tour and this sounded like a good fit. There were 8 people total in our group – 2 Brazilians, 2 Australians, 3 Californians and the tour guide from Mexico City. We met our guide, Caesar, around 12pm on a Sunday in the city center and strolled through town to public transportation. This part was easy and painless. Caesar carried the bus and metro tickets, all we had to do was hop on! He made sure to connect with each person on the bus journey and shared more information about the area. Once we arrived in Teotihuancan, we explored the underground temples and climbed the pyramids. There’s also a Teotihuacan museum that you can explore. Caesar has a passion for ancient history and is extremely knowledgeable about the pyramids. We then walked to the charming town of San Francisco, at the base of the archeological site, where we met local families. It was so special to sit in a family’s backyard, drink tequila and agave liquor from their own agave plants, and learn more about the history of the land. The family dinner was delicious – best meal we had all weekend (and that’s saying a lot considering how delicious the food is in Mexico City) ! We would highly recommend an Urban Adventure tour and will look out for the company in other cities we visit.
Mr. stewart l. from USA travelled on 03 Jan 2016:
Great way to incorporate History and sense of area with Families Hospitality
Mr. Craig B. from Australia travelled on 21 Dec 2015:
This rates as one of the best day tours I have done. The structure of the tour was great, little things that made a big difference included entering through gate 3 and then leaving through the back gate, the late afternoon walk through San Francisco and the local businesses we visited. The commentary and information provided was just the right balance. I have to say how impressed I was with Rodriguez, having worked in hotels for many years I have seen the good and bad of customer service, he was fantastic, what really showed his great customer skills was the way he gently persuaded one of our group to climb the Pyramid of the Sun even though she was afraid of heights, it was a perfect example of how to look after your customers and you could tell she was incredibly happy that he talked her into doing it and then made sure she was OK through the whole experience.
Mr. Stephen D. from USA travelled on 02 May 2014:
dinner with local family exceeded expectations. Guide Eva was very skilled at bus and subway procedures, which was more fun than taking a private van.
Ms. Andrea R. from Peru travelled on 10 Jan 2014:
Víctor and Antonio were excellent. We got to see Teotihuacan, but also experience something difference by visiting local families and supporting their projects. It was an overall good experience.
Mrs. Wendy B. from USA travelled on 19 Oct 2013:
We had a fantastic experience with Milton and Juan, our tour guides who both spoke excellent English. They were very passionate and knowledgeable about the culture and history and went out of their ways to ensure we were having a great time. We loved Visiting the local village families and learning a little about their lives and community. Milton and Juan shared many funny stories along the way to keep it entertaining. Thank you so much Milton and Juan, you guys rock !!!!