Want to maximize a few days in Oaxaca? Read on for some of my favorite highlights of one of the most culturally rich destinations in Mexico.
Oaxaca de Juarez, the largest city and capital of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, often comes out as one of the best food destinations in the world, and is a hotspot for beautiful artisan work, the mixing of indigenous cultures, and a whole lot of mezcal!
I have wanted to go for years and years and finally got the chance to go in the days after Christmas, on a trip with my boyfriend and his lovely family. Because I was along for the ride on the family tours, I saw the area a bit differently than my usual solo budget traveling on public transport, and got to see a bunch of incredibly unique destinations that I never would have reached otherwise!
Here is how we spent 4 days and 3 nights in Oaxaca City (yes I can’t believe all of this was so fast!) I would not recommend you stay such a short time, we were very limited by our number of vacation days, but I definitely would have needed at least 5-7 days to properly see everything that I mention below.
GETTING TO OAXACA
Oaxaca is mountains and deserts all at once! It is really quite isolated from the rest of the common Mexican tourism route so you need to be a little more intentional about getting here. If you are backpacking Mexico, it makes most sense to combine a trip to Oaxaca City with Puerto Escondido (8 hour windy bus, or a short charter flight), Mexico City (overnight bus OR fast flight) or Chiapas (a 12 hour overnight bus). As you can tell, neither of those destinations are very close either, so plan ahead for how you will incorporate Oaxaca in your travels.
If you aren’t down for the crazy long buses, your best bet will probably be flying into Oaxaca City, a mid sized airport. The airport is about 25-30 minutes from the city center, so you can either order an airport taxi there or pay the 200 pesos for the colectivo which is regularly leaving when flights get in. It’s nice because the colectivo takes you right to your hotel!
And now for all things Oaxaca...
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SEE THE CENTRO AND ZOCALO
This is where you’re gonna want to start out once you touch down in Oaxaca town. Big, colorful, colonial, and clean, Oaxaca has a city center that manages to feel pedestrian friendly, yet still urban. Unlike a lot of colonial parts of Mexico, it luckily does have sidewalks that are more than a couple feet wide.
You will want to prioritize seeing the Zocalo- the main square and bandstand- and the beautiful cathedral. This is such a gathering spot for live music, street vendors, and I even oversaw the most beautiful wedding party celebrating newlyweds with music and dancing in the street!
There are a handful of unique museums scattered throughout the centro. I just didn’t have the time I wanted to pop into any of these museums, but some of the most popular ones are Casa Juarez (President Benito Juarez' old home) and the Museo de las Culturas.
And along with the museums, another great spot that you won’t wanna miss is the Jardin Botanico. Mexico has a handful of “ethnobotanic” gardens sprinkled throughout the country which do a fantastic job of integrating culture, society, and native species all in one fabulous garden. It is required to enter with a tour, you can check the schedule here. It is first come first serve, and there are no reservations, so plan to get there with enough time to grab your spot. I missed my chance to go because I didn’t check the schedule well enough :(
SEE THE MARKETS
Along with its fame for its tasty foods, Oaxaca's artisan goods are high quality and extremely impressive. And so obviously, that gives way to some of the best markets in Mexico, all located within a few blocks of each other:
Mercado de Abastos is the biggest market in the city, over 30 acres in size! We went as part of a food tour (more info below), and we would have definitely been lost without a guide! While we got a safety talk before going in, I would just use your usual wits and be wary of pickpocketing as normal. It's HUGE!
Mercado Benito Juarez is also a go-to spot for buying well-made artisanal goods, more geared towards locals than tourists. I had to rush through but its big and has plenty to see, you could spend the day in here.
Mercado 20 de Noviembre is a great food market to sit down and eat some authentic street food in a fun setting.
Mercado de Artesanías is a little smaller and more oriented towards tourists. Here is where you will find your stereotypical Mexican blouses, woven clothes, and souvenirs to take home with you. It was pretty pricey, so not my first choice of Mexican markets
And there are plenty of tianguis (informal street markets) all throughout the city center where they also have great deals on artisanal goods and souvenirs.
some of my favorite finds: a gorgeous long blue cotton dress, a chocolate mixer, a cute woven blouse, and sal de gusano (salt made from crushed red worms!)
SEE THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES
With a fantastic tour guide from Oaxaca Conmigo, we got great context on the 17 indigenous groups that make up Oaxaca, about 60% of the population. In total, there are an estimated 6000 archaelogical sites in the state, but most have never been explored. As a good practice, spend time researching and learning about the many indigenous people and languages that make Oaxaca such a culturally rich place. The ethnic diversity also makes Oaxaca one of the poorest and most marginalized states in Mexico, as many small indigenous communities continue to be hard to reach and have limited services, as well as discrimination and a lack of work. This interesting social dynamic means that mindful, respectful travel is important as ever when traveling in the Oaxaca region. But I digress.
Here’s all about the top archaeological sites…
Monte Alban: perched just above Oaxaca city, this 2000 year old Zapotec site is one of the most visited archaeological zones in Mexico. In about 2-3 hours, you can explore the site at the top of the hill and climb over several pyramids. Beyond the amazing ruins, I loved the pieces of old pottery that are strewn all around the soil as the zone is still largely unexcavated. Make sure to go early and bring sun protection because it gets hot!
2. Mitla (and its pueblo magico of the same name), is known for its unique and impressive etched artwork on the facades of the Mesoamerican buildings. It is about an hour south of Oaxaca city and makes for a great, half-day trip. It is a quick 45 minute visit because the site is small, but definitely worth a stop! Afterwards, you can enjoy the markets and streets of this pueblo mágico.
3. Yagul caves are another excellent archaeological site between Mitla and Oaxaca that I will have to see next time!
GET OUTSIDE
Since Oaxaca has this crazy environment that is mostly semi-desert with some impressive mountains, it really offers itself to great ecotourism.
1.....Hierve el Agua is your must-see Oaxaca natural area, with photogenic petrified waterfalls and natural pools. It is almost two hours from Oaxaca city so I recommend you take a tour like this one and combine it with other nearby sites. The site is famous for the blue pools and the lone tree that make for a popular instagram shot, and the crowds definitely flock, so arrive early! Pack your swimsuit to wade in the water, but just know the water isn't hot or even warm. After entering the natural area, you have the option to hike down to the base of one limestone waterfall by taking the path on the right, or take the path to the left straight to the pools. I don't recommend hiking down all the way to the base of the waterfall because the view isn't as spectacular as the view from above and it is supposed to take a long time.
2. Ahuehuete “Arbol de Tule” is a huge Montezuma cypress tree that is the widest tree in the world, measuring 137 feet in circumference! It's just a short ride out of Oaxaca city center to the pueblo of Santa Maria del Tule. You can pay one of the local "guides" (a young kid!) a few pesos to point out different faces and images in the tree with a laser pointer.
3. Painted prehistoric caves: for the real adventurous folks, you can visit this protected natural area near Mitla where the locals have spent time uncovering and giving tours of 10,000 year old rock paintings! This collective can be contacted and booked through their Facebook page. There was also corn for domestic use discovered here and dating back thousands of years, proving maize farming is part of the beginning of humanity in Mexico. At this stop, we learned a bit about the complicated relationship between communities with Mesoamerican artifacts and the government, which is likely why so many of Oaxaca's archaeological zones remain out of the public eye.
SEE THE ARTWORK
I am no art expert, but Oaxaca is a haven for artists as it combines so many different regional materials with different colors and concepts. Even if you aren't a huge art guru, there is plenty to enjoy...
Start by just exploring the art galleries and workshops in the centro. Just strolling through downtown, you are likely to come across studios where diverse artwork is on display. From pottery, paintings, weaving, and more, you can spend days just peeping into these artistic spaces.
2. See the alebrijes just south of Oaxaca in San Martín Tilcajete. Have you heard of alebrijes? They are meticulously made, colorfully painted, wooden sculptures of different creatures, especially mythical animals. While you can now find this artwork throughout Mexico, it is said to primarily originate from Oaxaca in this one town where everyone grows up learning the craft. We got to tour the beautiful Zoologico Mágico, a women-run, family collective that makes some of the highest quality alebrijes in the world.
3. Black pottery is another common craft originating in the village of San Bartolo Coyotepec, just south of Oaxaca centro.
FOOD and DRINK
Pretty much whichever travel list you check, Oaxaca City is going to come out with the best food and drinks in the world. I, too, had an incredible time eating here, and let's just say after a year of having a low appetite, eating in Oaxaca for a few days got me back to eating and enjoying it!
The most famous dishes that you must try while in Oaxaca are mole (a chocolately sauce with dozens of spices), chapulines (grasshoppers) and chicitana (red ants), memelas (tortilla with toppings), and tlayudas (a crunchy big tortilla with a bunch of toppings - like a Mexican pizza!) Here are more food experiences I recommend:
Food tour. I would definitely recommend taking some kind of food or drink tour here. We went on a tour with a local guide that started in a traditional Oaxacan kitchen, took us to Mercado de Abastos to eat barbacoa and fried quesadillas, then headed to street tacos, ice cream, and finally, one of Oaxaca's most famous restaurants. It was absolutely amazing and tasty!
Chocolate tasting. Oaxaca is famous for the chocolate beverage, served hot or cold, but funny enough most of the cocoa beans are grown in other parts of Mexico! We visited La Autentica Chocolatería, a delicious and family-run chocolate shop.
Mezcal tasting. It's not pulque and it's not tequila, it's the spirit that comes from the mezcal plant! More popular than ever, the mezcal drink has been taking over Mexico and the US and the hills of Oaxaca are now covered in mezcal crops. Take a tour like this one which includes visiting a mezcal distillery.
Famous restaurants. Many of the best of the best chefs in the world find themselves in Oaxaca, and it's worth it to eat out at a few nicer places and taste just how fantastic their food is! I absolutely loved the mole dish and tamales at La Olla, the cocktails at Criollo, and La Pitiona had delicious food and the most impressive restaurant rooftop I've ever seen!
Coffee. Just like the chocolate, the café isn't technically grown in Oaxaca state but the coffee culture is still super famous. I didn't get to try a ton of particularly amazing cafe's due to our packed tour days, but I just urge you to spend your pesos at Mexican-owned cafes, if possible. Oaxaca City is one of the key cities being gentrified in Mexico, and expensive lattes at foreign-owned coffee shops are part of the problem.
If the culture, food, outdoors, and city calls to you, what are you waiting for to visit Oaxaca? In the last few years, it has come up as one of the most popular tourist destinations in Mexico. In one way, that can be helpful to the economy which has historically been one of the toughest to find good work! On the other hand, foreign tourists and new residents have contributed to the gentrification problem mentioned, and so it is important to make ethical choices when possible so as to not exacerbate the problem. One thing you can do throughout Mexico and especially in Oaxaca is to conserve water. Take short showers and ask not to change your sheets everyday, because the water problem in Oaxaca is very bad and locals are extremely mindful about their usage.
All in all, Oaxaca made me fall more in love with Mexico and I can't wait to be back. The place has so much beauty on the surface, but by being there and interacting with locals it really feels beautiful as well, from the spirit and the soul of the people and place.
Comment below what you most want to see in Oaxaca!
