The best things to do in Oaxaca are Monte Albán, the Santo Domingo complex, the two market halls off the zócalo and a run of craft villages in the valley. Give the city four to five days, come between November and April for dry weather, and set aside at least two of those days for the valley: the ruins, the weavers and the mezcal all sit within an hour of the centre.
Oaxaca is a colonial grid you can cross on foot, with a Zapotec capital on the ridge above it and a valley of craft villages spread out around it. Below are the ten experiences worth your time, plus where to eat, where to drink mezcal, and how to reach the ruins and the weavers without booking a coach tour.
Ruins· Carretera Dr. Ignacio Bernal s/n, Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán, Oaxaca
The Zapotecs levelled an entire ridge above the valley floor and built their capital on top of it, and the Gran Plaza still reads as one deliberate act of engineering. Founded around 500 BC, it held the valley for more than a thousand years. Come for the ball court, the carved Danzantes slabs and the view down three arms of the valley at once.
Santo Domingo de Guzmán and the Museo de las Culturas
Landmark· Macedonio Alcalá s/n, Centro Histórico, Oaxaca de Juárez
The church stops people mid-sentence: every surface gilded, and a family tree of the Dominican order spreading across the ceiling above the door. The former convent next to it holds the Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca, whose room of Tomb 7 gold from Monte Albán justifies the ticket on its own.
Market· 20 de Noviembre s/n, Centro Histórico, Oaxaca de Juárez
Two halls sit back to back a block off the zócalo. Benito Juárez is the dry side: mole pastes, chocolate ground to order, chapulines, baskets, quesillo pulled into balls in front of you. Mercado 20 de Noviembre is the eating side, and its smoke-filled corridor of charcoal grills is where you buy tasajo by weight and eat it at a shared table.
Garden· Reforma esq. Constitución, Centro Histórico, Oaxaca de Juárez
The convent garden spent most of the twentieth century as a military barracks. A campaign led by Francisco Toledo stopped a hotel scheme from taking the site, and it became a garden of Oaxacan plants instead. Every species in it grows somewhere in the state, and the walk explains which ones became mezcal, cochineal dye and the glaze on the black pottery.
Two mineral cliffs that look like waterfalls frozen mid-fall, with spring-fed pools on the terrace above them and the Sierra opening out beyond. It sits about 70 km east of the city on communal land, and access is run by the communities that own it, which has meant temporary closures in the past. Confirm it is open before you commit a day to it.
Where Monte Albán is scale, Mitla is surface. The palace walls carry more than a hundred mosaic panels of cut stone fitted without mortar, every one a variation on the step-and-fret motif, and the Spanish built a church directly onto one of the courtyards. It is 45 km east of the city and pairs naturally with the mezcal road beyond it.
Museum· Av. Hidalgo 917, Centro Histórico, Oaxaca de Juárez
A small museum doing serious work. Rotating shows of Oaxacan and international cloth, with the back-strap loom, the treadle loom and the dye plants explained clearly enough that the rugs in Teotitlán make sense afterwards. Come here before you shop, not after.
Neighborhood· Barrio de Jalatlaco, Oaxaca de Juárez
Ten minutes east of the cathedral the grid narrows into cobbles, low colour-washed houses and murals that are repainted often enough to be worth a second visit. It is the neighbourhood people photograph, and it has enough cafés and small kitchens to justify staying rather than walking through.
The weaving village, half an hour east. Families work treadle looms in their own courtyards and will show you the cochineal, indigo and marigold behind the colour, which is the reason to come out here: a naturally dyed rug and a chemically dyed one cost different money, and now you know why. Buy at the workshop rather than in town.
The town calls itself the world capital of mezcal and the highway into it is lined with palenques. Ask to see the roasting pit, the stone tahona and the still before anything is poured. Understanding the process is what separates an afternoon here from a bar back in the city, and it is also the argument for hiring a driver.
Four to five days is the right length: two for the city and two for the valley, where Monte Albán, Mitla, the craft villages and the mezcal are. Three days works if you accept picking one valley day and letting the rest go.
What is the best time of year to visit Oaxaca?+
The dry season runs roughly November to April, and those are the easiest months for walking the city and the valley. May is the hottest. June to September brings afternoon storms that usually clear the mornings. Late July for Guelaguetza and the days around Día de Muertos are the busiest and priciest weeks of the year.
Is Oaxaca expensive to visit?+
Budget roughly $60 to $120 per person per day mid-range: a small hotel in the centre, market meals with one restaurant dinner, and shared transport out to the valley. Guelaguetza and Día de Muertos push accommodation well above that, and they book out months ahead.
Where should I stay in Oaxaca for the first time?+
The Centro Histórico, inside the UNESCO grid, puts nearly everything in this guide within a twenty-minute walk. Jalatlaco is quieter and prettier and still ten minutes from the cathedral. Colonia Reforma is better value for a longer stay but has no colonial sights.
Do you need a car in Oaxaca?+
Not for the city, which is flat and walkable. For the valley, colectivo vans cover the main villages cheaply and a hired driver covers the rest, which is the sensible choice on a mezcal day. A car only earns its keep if you want to string several villages together on your own schedule.
Where to eat
Best restaurants in Oaxaca
Six tables that cover the range, from a heirloom-corn tortillería to two Michelin-starred kitchens.
The former Dominican convent beside Santo Domingo, and the Tomb 7 gold recovered from Monte Albán is the strongest room of pre-Hispanic craft in the state.
Holy Week processions through the centre, including the silent procession on Good Friday. The dates move with Easter.
Late Jul
Guelaguetza
The state dance festival, staged on two Mondays at the Auditorio Guelaguetza on the Cerro del Fortín, with delegations from all eight regions. Tickets for the main shows go early.
Jul–Aug
Feria del Mezcal
The mezcal fair runs alongside Guelaguetza, with producers from across the state pouring espadín, tobalá and tepeztate.
Jul–Aug
Festival de los Moles
The third of the late-July trio, built around the state’s moles and the cooks who still make them from scratch.
31 Oct–2 Nov
Día de Muertos
Comparsas through the streets, sand tapestries in the courtyards and family vigils in the panteones of Xoxocotlán and San Miguel. The busiest week of the year.
Dec
Las Posadas
Nine nights of neighbourhood processions before Christmas, with piñatas, punch and buñuelos at the end of each one.
23 Dec
Noche de Rábanos
Carvers spend the day turning oversized radishes into scenes on the zócalo, then the whole city queues to see them. The tradition is more than a century old.
Year-round
Calendas
Street parades with brass bands, giant marmotas and monos de calenda, thrown for weddings, saints’ days and most other excuses.
Getting around
Oaxaca transport & airports
How to arrive and move around the city.
OAX
Oaxaca International
Xoxocotlán International sits about 13 km south of the centre, roughly 20 to 30 minutes by road. There is no rail or metro link, so it is a shared colectivo van, an authorised taxi booked at the arrivals desk, or a hotel transfer.
The first-class terminal is on Calzada Héroes de Chapultepec, a little north of the centre, and is how most people arrive from Mexico City and Puebla. Book ahead around Guelaguetza and Día de Muertos.
The historic grid is flat, compact and closed to cars along the Alcalá. Almost everything in this guide that sits inside the city is within twenty minutes on foot of the zócalo.
Shared colectivo vans to the valley villages leave from the second-class terminal and from around the Central de Abastos, and are the cheapest way to reach Teotitlán, Mitla or Tlacolula. City taxis do not run meters, so agree the fare before you get in.
