Monarch Butterfly Reserve: Piedra Herrada Magical Valle De Bravo

My friends and I are spending a long weekend in Mexico City to travel and enjoy a break from working mom life. My first day in town, we went on a tour to Piedra Herrada with Sal and had a wonderful day! I had been a little nervous getting outside the city but Sal immediately put us at ease. I felt safe all day and he is not only a good guide but is interesting, fun, helpful and kind. When you go on a tour, your guide isn't just your driver or source of information but also your companion for the day, and spending the day with Sal enhanced our experience. He's a good driver, and we all bonded over music and movies during the car rides. I feel lucky that we had Sal as our guide for the magical hike to visit the monarchs, as well as enjoy local food and scenery.

Absolutely amazing! As someone else said, the photos do not do it justice-this is a magical experience! The sanctuary was so beautiful! Our guide, Alberto, went above and beyond to give us the best excursion ever providing a clean comfortable SUV, water, snacks and hiking poles. The staff at Piedra Herrada were also very knowledgable and accommodating. My husband and I rented horses because the hike up the mountain was a bit steep. Horses were a great deal at just $25 round trip per person! But our teen boys were able to do the full hike on foot. We went early in the morning on a weekday, so the crowd was minimal. We were fortunate to have a sunny day and saw thousands of butterflies flying from their clusters in the trees- truly a once in a lifetime experience! The town of Valle de Bravo was so quaint and scenic. Alberto took us to a beautiful restaurant on the lake with breathtaking views and delicious food. Highly recommend this tour!

We waited a long time to see the monarchs, and had tried to book experiences for several years. I was excited to find this reputable, professional company. A lot of times it is just a Guide driving you in their personal car. For us it was worth it, and we recommend taking a group tour with this tour company. It is a long drive out and back and it helped to pass the time having a group of new people to get to know. The tour is long but the guides were kind and charming and did a good job of making sure we were comfortable, even when enduring long delays for road construction. Once at the park, a park guide took over. She led the expedition and did almost all the explaining. The trek is strenuous but we saw all ages and fitness levels on the trail. Once in the butterfly zone, it was breathtaking. We were given all the time we wanted to take in the amazing phenomenon of the migration. Our group was exhausted after seeing the butterflies and we all agreed to forego the additional visit to Valle de Bravo waterfall and cultural center. This tour makes for a long day, but it is a unique experience and we recommend it. This tour company was very professional in all communication and logistics!

We had a wonderful experience with Mario. The butterflies were incredible to see and he was very knowledgeable about them. Highly recommend renting the horses up the mountain as well. Thank you Mario for an incredible day!

The horseback ride up the mountain and the hike to the top were magical. Getting to see so many Monarch butterflies up close and all around was a peak experience.

this was a bucket list item for our friend group. While the booked day was a bit cloudy, we still had a great time and viewed the remarkable overwintering site of monarchs. Our guide Andres was friendly, informative, and kept in touch the day before so there was no co fusion about the meetup place for our private tour. Driver Gabriel was skilled and friendly also. We also spent some time in Valle de Bravo, where Andres led us to the tastiest food in the marketplace.

Great day! Hike in the preserve was challenging & fun. Butterflies were amazing. Waterfall was beautiful. Alberto was a fine translator and guide. Thank you!

We had a great visit to this Monarch Sanctuary; the weather was perfect and the butterflies were active. Beautiful forest and surroundings. Such a unique and once in a lifetime experience. There was hardly any crowd and seemed like the place to ourselves. We enjoyed the experience very much. We also stopped at Valle De Bravo on the return; it is a beautiful, quaint town and we visited a beautiful church on the main street. Highly recommend taking a break and going there. Our tour guide Andres was excellent. He was knowledgeable, fluent in English, very friendly, courteous and professional. The climb was pretty tough for us event though we hired the horses, we had to stop and get help; he never complained or was reluctant. He communicated well before the tour and shared excellent pictures and videos he took. We were very happy with him. Our driver was also good but we didn't interact very much with him. We could not have completed the climb without horses and recommend them unless you are a seasoned hiker. Our biggest issue was with the car. There was very little leg room in the back and the car was just not suitable for a long drive (3+ hours) even for someone like me who is only 5'8". Also on the way back driver kept adding coolant at every stop; fortunately car didn't break down. WE PAID A GOOD AMOUNT AND I EXPECTED A BETTER VEHICLE. So I am taking one star away because I am not sure if Vibe Adventures or Viator does any quality control on the vehicle. If you are taking the tour make sure you get information about the car in advance.

Alberto was excellent. He was very knowledgeable, very friendly, very accommodating. Highly recommended.

Sal was a wonderful tour guide! He was patient as we hiked up the mountain and it was magical to see the butterflies. It was cold when we got there so they were still up in the trees. It was still wonderful to see! The little town we went to and the museum were wonderful!

Saw thousands of butterflies on this trip. And it included other interesting sites and stops as well. Alberto was an amazing guide. Great communication and prompt. Very informed, courteous, and capable. Definitely recommend!

I am and was very impressed with Ady. She arrived early, with a big smile on her face and immediately I was at ease. She picked us up at our hotel entrance and Guillermo was our driver for the day. Ady made the 3ish hour driving to the butterfly sanctuary go by in a breeze! The experience of seeing the monarch’s was incredible and very moving for me. I’m so so glad this trip was available to take away the stress of driving, renting a car, figuring out traffic and directions. We got to just sit back and relax! The Piedra Herrada sanctuary is wonderful, but be prepared for a challenging hike. It’s a round trip of 3.3 miles, 1400 feet and at very high elevation of 10,335 ft. There is an option to book a horse ride which I would recommend for anyone that isn’t comfortable hiking uphill on sometimes slippery mud. I loved the challenge of it and Ady was so lovely and patient with me as I made my way up slowly. After the sanctuary we headed to Valle Bravo was is a gorgeous town next to the water. We had a lovely lunch and a bit of shopping. I highly recommend this trip with Ady to anyone. I do wish the listing for the tour had a bit more detail on what to expect at the sanctuary but alls well that ends well and I consider myself especially lucky to have had such an incredibly beautiful experience <3

Omar and Alonso were fabulous guides! They shared historical information along the ride to the reserve, and answered all of our questions with kindness. I recommend them for anyone visiting Mexico City and the environs. It was the best day of our vacation!

Alberto was our guide and was so kind and flexible when we wanted to shake things up. He was timely and a wonderful person to show us around!! 10/10