Oaxaca, one valley at a time.
Mezcal palenques, the ruins at Monte Alban, the mineral terraces of Hierve el Agua and the craft villages of the Tlacolula road. What each day is really like, what it costs, and where to book.
Seven that shape an Oaxaca week.
First visit or fifth, these are the days that anchor a Oaxaca itinerary: the full valley loop east of the city, a morning at the ruins before the heat, a cooking class that starts at the market stall.
Hierve el Agua and Mezcal Distillery
Hike and swim at Hierve el Agua, then tour a top mezcal distillery with free tastings on an Oaxaca day trip.
From $64 per person
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★ 4.7Book this one earlyMonte Alban Half-Day TourFrom $31492 reviews
★ 4.7Valley classicTule, Mitla & Hierve el Agua, & Mezcal TourFrom $75456 reviews
★ 4.5Worth the 7am startHalf day tour to Monte AlbánFrom $32420 reviews
★ 4.2A first-visit stapleMonte Alban Guided Archaeological TourFrom $33419 reviews
★ 5.0Goes out most daysBoil the water and distillery mezcal tour413 reviews
★ 5.0Everyone books this oneImmersion Tour and Oaxaca Markets, All gastronomy includedFrom $59386 reviews
One hill, two thousand years.
Monte Alban sits on a levelled mountaintop above the city, the old Zapotec capital laid out in stone terraces, tombs and a ball court. Go early, before the heat and the coaches, and a good guide turns a field of ruins back into a working city.
Which day out of Oaxaca is yours?
Everyone leaves the city for at least a day. The right direction depends on your trip. Three ways to spend it, each option behind them already reviewed and priced.
The full valley day
The Tlacolula loop
12 hours (approx.) · from $55 · 1,094 reviews
One long day east of the city: the Tule tree at first light, a weaving workshop in Teotitlan, the Zapotec stonework at Mitla, the mineral terraces of Hierve el Agua, and a mezcal palenque on the road home. Most tours run it as a single loop, which is exactly why it works.
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Makers and markets
The craft villages
7 hours · from $52 · 217 reviews
The southern road, village by village: black clay fired in San Bartolo Coyotepec, painted alebrijes carved in San Martin Tilcajete, the Friday market at Ocotlan. Less time in the van, more at the workbench, and every stop sends you home with something made by hand.
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Up in the pines
The Sierra Norte
12 hours (approx.) · from $161 · 143 reviews
Trade the valley heat for cloud forest. The Pueblos Mancomunados sit high in the mountains, linked by old walking trails and run by the villages themselves. Cool air, long views and a slower kind of day, for travellers who would rather walk than ride.
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Oaxaca saves its best for the evening.
Cempasuchil petals down the doorways at the turn of November, mezcal poured neat by candlelight, brass bands winding a comparsa through the zocalo. Around Day of the Dead the whole city stays up late, and these are the nights to walk with someone who knows the calendar.
Oaxaca eats first.
Oaxaca is a food city before it is anything else. Tlayudas off the comal, mole with two dozen ingredients, string cheese pulled by hand at the 20 de Noviembre market. Book a market crawl or roll up your sleeves in a home kitchen.
Everything here is made twice.
First in the valley workshops, then again for you to watch. Wool dyed with cochineal and wild indigo in Teotitlan, alebrijes carved from copal and painted bright, black clay burnished to a shine in San Bartolo. Pick a village and meet the makers.
The historic center keeps its own time.
Green cantera stone churches, courtyards off the Andador, coffee under the laurel trees on the zocalo. Santo Domingo alone is worth a morning, and the grid of the old city rewards anyone who walks it slowly with a guide who knows which doors still open.
The valley, village by village.
Oaxaca works as a hub with a ring of valleys. Monte Alban for the ruins. Teotitlan for the looms. Hierve el Agua for the springs. Mitla for the stonework, mezcal country for the palenques.
Pick the kind of day first.
Twelve ways into the same valley. Pick the kind of day that sounds like yours and every option behind it is already reviewed and priced.
Out early, home for the zocalo.
The valleys fan out in every direction. Zapotec ruins, mineral springs, weaving villages and pine-forest trails are all a morning from the zocalo, and most run as one easy day loop.
Three days, and the order matters.
You cannot see all of Oaxaca in one trip, but three days covers the essentials without a rush. This is the order we would hand a friend landing tomorrow.
Day 1
Settle into the city
Santo Domingo and the Andador at an easy pace, the 20 de Noviembre market for lunch, coffee on the zocalo while the travel wears off. Maximum Oaxaca, minimum effort.
Plan day one →
Day 2
The valley in a day
The Tlacolula loop: the Tule tree, a weaving workshop in Teotitlan, the ruins at Mitla, the springs at Hierve el Agua, then a mezcal palenque before the drive home.
Plan day two →
Day 3
The ruins and the makers
Monte Alban in the cool of the morning, then the craft villages south of the city: black clay, painted alebrijes, and the Ocotlan market if it is a Friday.
Plan day three →
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