We’re going to Mexico City in January and since this is good monarch viewing time looking to add a day trip to visit a sanctuary.
Has anyone got a recommendation for a day trip tour or a private car/guide? Or is this doable on a day trip by independent means?
Not really interested in a horse ride or culinary class tour add on, just the butterflies.
Not sure it's realistic to do this as an out-and-back day trip from the city. Check your logistical expectations carefully.
We spent 4 days for this. Day 1, rent car and drive to Angangueo. Days 2 and 3 were spent at the two nearby reserves (one day each). Day 4 was the drive back to the city and car return. That seemed about right for us (and we often travel at a bleeding pace that would make many folks here question our sanity - just sayin', it's absolutely worth it, but be careful about your expectations for the time required).
We rented a car in Mexico City (driving in the city itself is not for the faint of heart, bing your A game - but once outside the DF is easy enough). We drove out to Angangueo in nearby Michoacán, spent three nights there, and used it as our base to visit the reserves (we did Sierra Chincua and El Rosario, both were incredible and well worth the time and effort invested). No tour or guide, on our own (not my first Mexican rodeo).
It'll be very helpful if you can manage some basic Spanish.
Of course, it's serious business, so do be smart in all your choices and behaviors. But take all the dire warnings you will undoubtedly soon be receiving (that you're gonna be kidnapped, tortured, ripped-off by cops and drug gangs, and will surely die a horrible, grisly death) with a grain of salt. Well-meaning and sincere those warnings will be, but probably not from anyone who has had any actual experience in the region. Lots of "a friend told me" and "I saw it on the internets." YMMV.
We had a magical, wonderful experience. So awesome. 🦋❤️😎
Be prepared for it to be surprisingly cold up in the mountains at that time of year (we were there in mid-February). Our hotel had no heat other than a fireplace (the fire was atmospheric, but we couldn't keep a fire going all night and man, it got COLD!). I was afraid that the water in out toilet would freeze overnight, It didn't, but we did. My wife still compares any cold night we experience to the night we slept in that room. Brrrr.
My Son and some of his friends did a great Gate 1 Tour of Mexico that included Mexico City and some of the surrounding sites.
They loved it. I did all this 40 years ago when Mexico was much safer than it is today.
My Son reported to me that his guides warned they about going out on their own. From what he said more than half of Mexico City is NOT SAFE for tourists.
Acapulco is not safe anymore and Cancun has issues as well.
Still, I think if you stick with a tour, you should be fine. But note that the homicide rate in Mexico is more than double the rate in the USA and Mexico has 1/3 the population of the USA.
Rent a car, NOT.
David: It’s 4+ hours each way to El Rosario sanctuary (just over 3 hours on the turnpike, $25 EW), so yes there are both big bus and private car tours from Mexico City that are day tours. Don’t really want to have a cold sleeping night in the mountains, trying to get away from cold is part of the purpose of the trip.
George: For such a well-traveled person you worry a lot about crime. I find that traveling, at least independently, lessens my worry about crime.
Edit: The big bus day tours go to the Piedra Herrada sanctuary which is not one of the big 2.
Eight hours or more on a bus, that would be a pretty long day for me, and you would get at best just a couple of hours at the sanctuaries - during the hours when they are most crowded with (wait for it...) day trippers. No thanks, not the kind of visit I would relish. Except for a couple hours mid-day, there are not many people in there and the experience would be quite different. I was glad we were able to arrive at the sanctuaries in the morning and stay into the afternoon. I'm not familiar with Piedra Herrada, but we loved our 2 days at Sierra Chincua and El Rosario; if the tour you've identified works for you, great.
Yes, it was cold at night in Angangueo (an interesting town in itself with some charm, an old mining center). But hey, cold is relative - come on, you're from Minnesota, it would probably feel positively balmy for you! ;)
As you can see, the predicted firehose of fearmongering has begun. Expect a lot more of that. Use your head and you'll be fine. Vaya con Dios!
<<<.....said more than half of Mexico City is NOT SAFE for tourists.
Acapulco is not safe anymore and Cancun has issues as well.>>>
Wow!! Fear mongering at its worst. Ok, if you are talking about places in the DF like Itzapalapa, or Tepito, or the other districts where few tourists venture...those are poor but you'd have to be a very unlucky visitor to have something negative happen. I've walked around there with no problems at all......of course something COULD happen but plenty of tourists have been robbed in central Rome. Would you advise not going there? I imagine you'd steer clear of Barcelona, too.
What city does not have "issues??"
The butterfly sanctuaries in Michoacan are too far to be visited on a day trip from DF.
Michoacan are too far to be visited on a day trip from DF.
In a similar vein, people say the Grand Canyon is too far to visit from Phoenix on a day trip (just under 4 hours EW), but it can be done. A few years ago we were warned off a 2 hour train stopover in Dresden but it ended up being well worth it.
https://aztecatraveltoursart.site123.me/tour/mariposa-monarca-santuario-el-rosario
Check the weather forecast before you commit to a specific day. We were up there on a cold, partly overcast day in January and the little guys barely moved out of their colonies in the trees. You need plenty of sunshine to guarantee the spectacular show of thousands taking wing at once.
I see Angangueo is in my weather app so possible to check easily.
The TripAdvisor "Things to Do" menu has several options for day trip providers out to one of the butterfly sanctuaries. It'll be a long day but a relatively pleasant one as long as someone else is doing the driving. I personally wouldn't try to drive it on my own, but that'll be your call.
I will say that it is worth the long day. It's one travel experience that my wife still talks about years later.
The big issue, as mentioned above, is the weather. You arrange for a driver/guide on a certain day and then you wakeup and it's cloudy........there's no real way around that, unless you have a few days in a city closer to the butterflies, like Morelia.... We had a few days there and were able to do the trip on a sunny day.....
You probably know this, but it's quite an uphill walk to the butterfly hangouts....they used to offer mules but not sure ifs this is still the case.
We did Sierra Chincua and El Rosario. No animal transport at El Rosario, but there were horses (pretty sure no mules) available for the long slog up and back at Sierra Chincua (and we did avail ourselves of that option). At least that was our experience a few years ago, things do change.
But OP is now looking at a closer option (one that I had not heard of), which I'm guessing is primarily optimized for it's (relative) closeness to Mexico City, rather than other features (possibly including quality of the butterfly experience). Can't say for sure but if it's as good as the more distant and less-conveniently located (more famous) reserves up in the mountains...it may offer a shorter day-trip at the expense of seeing a lot of butterflies. For wildlife, the best options are often (usually) those that may be harder to reach and include other inconveniences (being far away from people is usually good fro critters). At least that's generally been my experience with wildlife viewing.
Of course you gotta make tradeoffs and set priorities for all travel choices. A more proximate place may be less impressive but if you can't/choose not to spend the extra time getting to/from a "better" option (in terms of the experience) then getting a less impressive display does beat not going to see them at all.
Last comment: Domestic airfares in Mexico are not cheap as I was told, expect to pay $180 for a one hour flight one way. Airlines like Volaris list airfares on their website that do not include fees and taxes, so the $69 fare jumps to $150 on the payment screen, and that's without a checked bag or a seat assignment. I thought that Delta SkyMiles redemption at 10,000 for this flight (OAX to MEX) was an OK on AeroMexico, with seat selection and checked bag.
We've found the long distance buses in Mexico to be an economic and pleasant alternative to domestic flights - think Business Class seats on an airline. We've used them quite a lot to get around between Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende, Queretero, and Guanajuato. Can recommend them.
There are several companies to choose from. We typically used Primera Plus but there are others that a google search will turn up.
Robert: I would be on the bus but wife says no, despite recent experiences with deluxe buses in Peru. She is easy to motion sickness that lasts 2 days (ie the next full day after bus ride).
We just happened to be at Lassen National Park for the migration of the tortoise shell butterflies. Absolutely amazing.
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George: There’s so much lying coming out of the federal government that I don’t take any federal website seriously anymore.
