The magical feeling you experience when walking around the beautiful streets of Oaxaca, Mexico, is impossible to put into words. The colonial architecture, bustling markets, impressive street art, and exciting day trips close-by, all make this my favourite destination in Mexico!
I arrived into Oaxaca straight off a 7-hour night bus from Mexico City. I instantly fell in love as I slowly wandered to my hostel through the colourful streets in the early morning light as the city came to life.
This is a city that you could never get bored in, and I would recommend a minimum of four days to fully take in the sights and culture. I was lucky enough to be in Oaxaca during the incredible Day of the Dead festivities, which was my favourite travel experience to date, and I have an entire blog dedicated to visiting during this time here.
https://onheradventures.com/2023/12/22/ultimate-guide-to-day-of-the-dead-in-oaxaca/
However, fear not! No matter what time of year you find yourself in Oaxaca, there is an endless supply of sights to see and activities to experience.
My top 8 things to do in Oaxaca
1. Hierve el Agua Tour
I first saw these natural pools nestled into the mountains on Race Across the World and instantly added them to my bucket list! Cooling off in the waters of these infinity pools, looking out over the vast mountainside was an amazing moment. I have never been anywhere like it.
As well as the pools, there is a calcified waterfall that you can hike down to, this is one of only 2 calcified waterfalls in the whole world! The 20-minute hike takes you down to the bottom of this rock formation and it is even more impressive when you are up close.
I visited Hierve el Agua as part of a tour. I am normally an advocate for doing day trips by yourself without a guide, I don’t like being rushed and it normally works out much cheaper. However, I believe this is an activity that is worth doing as a tour.
It takes about 2 hours to get there from Oaxaca if you drive directly, which you can’t do by public transport. The staff at my hostel told me getting there by public transport is a real hassle and you spend most of your day travelling.
Going by tour meant we also had time to fit in other activities such as a rug-making workshop and visiting a mezcal distillery. I spent £14 on this tour, which didn’t include entry fees, and have a more detailed blog on this day trip here. You can book this tour through any agency in town.
2. Visit Santo Domingo Cathedral
Although the Metropolitan Cathedral in the main square is the most historically important church in the city, Santo Domingo is the most beautiful, both on the exterior and interior.
Walking down the aisle, looking up at the intricately decorated ceiling, you feel like you are inside a regal building. There is normally a hub of activity in the square in front of the striking building, especially in the evenings. The church is free to enter but is closed on weekends and between 13:00-16:00.
3. Museum of Cultures of Oaxaca
Next door to the Santo Domingo Church is the Museum of Cultures. Although most of this museum is in Spanish and so I couldn’t read much, there are a couple of reasons this was one of my favourite places in Oaxaca.
Firstly, it is set over multiple floors inside a beautiful convent built in the 16th century, overlooking the botanic gardens and main square in front of the cathedral, there are so many photo opportunities!
Secondly, the biggest exhibition was dedicated to Tomb 7. This was the only part of the museum that had signs translated into English and it was so interesting. The Tomb was found in Monte Alban, a site close to Oaxaca and was one of the richest burials to be found in the America’s!
The discovery quadrupled the number of pre-Hispanic gold pieces known at the time. You can see some of the treasures from the tomb, including a jade mask, incredibly detailed bone carvings, and gold fake nails. Entrance to the museum cost £4.
4. Relax at a terrace bar
One of my favourite things about Oaxaca was the abundance of terrace bars dotted around the city. They are a great place to spend an hour at the end of a day full of sightseeing, especially at sunset as the city has a golden glow over it.
My two favourites were Gozobi, and Los Andantes Terraza, which has an amazing view overlooking Santo Domingo Cathedral.
5. Free walking tour
Exploring a city through a free walking tour is always one of my must do’s and Oaxaca is no exception. My tour was centred mostly around Day of the Dead due to the time that I was there, but we also visited some other sights including the Metropolitan Cathedral and the theatre.
To be completely honest, this was not the best walking tour I have ever done, and it did take us 2 attempts because the first time the guide lost half the group! But nevertheless, it was a great overview of the city, and I learnt some interesting facts that I wouldn’t have known otherwise.
I use the app GuruWalk to find my walking tours across the world.
6. El Mirador del Cerro del Fortin
If you are looking to stretch your legs whilst in Oaxaca, you can take the short walk up to a lookout point over the whole city, I had no idea how big Oaxaca was until getting to the viewpoint! This small hike only takes 20 minutes from Santo Domingo Cathedral. At the top there is also a restaurant called El Mirador with a balcony and great view that you can rest and have a drink at.
Update: There have been reports of muggings near the top in recent months, so it is probably a good idea to leave the valuables at home and not go alone. I wasn’t aware of this when I went and luckily didn’t have any trouble.
7. Get lost inside a market
Oaxaca is full of markets, and you will inevitably stumble across many as you explore the city. The two main ones that I visited were Mercado 20 de Noviembre and Mercado Benito Juarez, both were overwhelming but interesting mazes that I loved getting lost in. I also came across many smaller, less hectic markets all over the city, selling local crafts and jewellery.
8. Explore Jalatlaco and Xochimilco
To the Northeast of the city are the neighbourhoods of Jalatlaco and Xochimilco, both renowned for their incredible street art all year round. These were my favourite areas in Oaxaca to walk around.
Full of cute café’s and coffee shops, they are the perfect neighbourhoods to spend a slow morning exploring the quaint streets and relaxing in a café garden. You might even get lucky and spot locals painting their houses whilst you are there.
The art was themed around Day of the Dead when I visited but is constantly changing throughout the year.
There is so much to do in Oaxaca, even though I had a full week I couldn’t fit it all in as I was prioritising Day of the Dead activities.
One very popular thing to do is visit Monte Alban ruins. I didn’t do this as I had been to Teotihuacan a few days before and had a couple of other ruins coming up during my trip. However, this is where the treasures inside the Museum of Cultures come from and it is classed as a must-do day trip in this area.
Another thing I accidentally ended up missing out on was the Botanic Gardens. I tried visiting on my last day in the city, it was a Sunday and I didn’t realise the gardens are closed on Sundays!
Oaxaca was my highlight of Mexico and one of my favourite cities I have ever visited. It has a charm that will only be understood if you visit yourself, and is an area of Mexico absolutely jam-packed with things to see and do.
