Oaxaca (Southern Mexico)
Oaxaca
A food-and-culture trip, not a beach one: connect through Mexico City, sleep between the Centro and Jalatlaco, climb Monte Alban and tour the mezcal valleys, and book Day of the Dead by spring.
Best length
4 nights (3 minimum)
Airport
Oaxaca (OAX), ~8km south of the Centro
Airport to centre
Prepaid taxi ~25 min, Zone 1 ~390 pesos (~£17); colectivo ~100 pesos
Getting there
Via Mexico City (MEX) — connecting hop ~1h10, no UK directs
Best base
Centro Historico for first trips; Jalatlaco for a quieter local feel
In short
Oaxaca at a glance
Oaxaca City is a food-and-culture trip, not a beach one: a compact colonial centre at 1,550m, the Zapotec ruins of Monte Alban on the ridge above it, and a valley of mezcal palenques, weaving villages and the petrified falls of Hierve el Agua within an hour's drive. There are no UK direct flights, so you connect through Mexico City on a cheap one-hour hop. Stay in or beside the Centro Historico, give it four nights, and pick your dates around the two events that change everything: Day of the Dead in late October and the Guelaguetza in July, both of which triple hotel prices and need booking months ahead.
The short version
- No direct UK flights: fly to Mexico City, then connect onto the ~1h10 hop to Oaxaca (OAX) with Aeromexico, Volaris or VivaAerobus.
- Stay in or just off the Centro Historico; Jalatlaco is the cobbled, artsy alternative a 10-minute walk away.
- Give Monte Alban a half-day and go before 10am: 209 pesos (~£9) entry plus a 120-peso shuttle, 20 minutes from town, before the coaches and the ridge-top heat.
- Give a full day to the Tlacolula valley loop: Mitla, Hierve el Agua, Teotitlan weavers and a mezcal palenque.
- Day of the Dead (around 31 Oct-2 Nov) and the July Guelaguetza are spectacular but need booking by spring; rates run 2-3x normal.
- This is gastronomy first: tlayudas, seven moles and mezcal tasting are the reason to come, not sights you can tick off.
Oaxaca is the trip people fly to Mexico for and then never make. Most UK visitors land on the Caribbean coast and stay there, but the country’s gastronomic and cultural heart is inland and south, a compact colonial city sitting at 1,550m with a valley of Zapotec ruins, weaving villages and mezcal palenques fanned out around it. The food alone — tlayudas off a market grill, the famous seven moles, chapulines if you’re brave, and small-batch mezcal poured by people who distilled it — is reason enough. There are no direct flights from the UK, so you connect through Mexico City on a cheap one-hour-ten hop, which puts off the casual crowd and is part of why the city still feels like itself.
Four nights is the comfortable length: a day for the Centro Historico, its markets and mezcalerias on foot; a half-day for Monte Alban on the ridge above town; and a full day looping the Tlacolula valley for Mitla, the petrified falls at Hierve el Agua, a Teotitlan rug workshop and a palenque tasting. The one planning call that overrides everything is your dates. Day of the Dead in late October and the Guelaguetza in July turn Oaxaca into the best version of itself, but both fill the city completely and push rates to two or three times normal, so they need booking by spring. Below, the structured detail — how to connect, where to base yourself, the day trips and a realistic budget in pounds — picks up from here.
Keep a first trip focused: book the big timed sights, then leave room for neighbourhoods and food.
Top things to do in Oaxaca
Monte Albán
You don't need to book Monte Albán in advance — there is no timed entry and no online ticket — so the real decision is how you get up there. The official shuttle from the city is the cheap, flexible option; a guided tour costs more but gives you the Zapotec history that the bare ruins won't tell you. Go on the first or second departure to be on the ridge before the coaches and the midday heat, allow two to three hours, and bring a hat and water because there is almost no shade up top.
Centro Historico and the Zocalo
Oaxaca's Centro Historico is the heart of the trip and best done slowly on foot: the gold-leaf interior of Santo Domingo, the pedestrian Andador Macedonio Alcala, the leafy Zocalo, and the 20 de Noviembre and Benito Juarez markets for tlayudas and mole. Wandering is free; the Santo Domingo cultural museum is a separate ticket of around 95 pesos.
Where to stay first
The areas that make a first visit easier — not an exhaustive directory.
Centro Historico
££ mid-rangeThe colonial core: walkable to Santo Domingo, the markets, the mezcalerias and the best restaurants, with rooms for every budget. The obvious first-trip base, though the streets near the Zocalo can be noisy at night during festivals.
Best for: First-timers, food-led trips, short stays
Jalatlaco
££ mid-rangeCobbled lanes, street art and a slower local rhythm a 10-minute walk east of the Centro. Independent cafes, family kitchens and live-music bars; the better pick if you want atmosphere over being on top of the sights.
Best for: Couples, repeat visitors, a quieter base
Xochimilco (the Oaxaca barrio)
£ valueThe city's oldest quarter, uphill north of the Centro, with aqueduct arches and muralled walls. Quiet, characterful and better value than the core, but the climb home after dinner is real.
Best for: Value, character, slower mornings
Colonia Reforma
££ mid-rangeA modern, residential, un-touristy district north of the centre with supermarkets, gyms and international food. Choose it for a longer or work-from-here stay; it is a taxi or 20-minute walk from the sights, not a sightseeing base.
Best for: Longer stays, living-like-a-local trips
Airport to city centre
| Option | Time | Cost | Book ahead? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prepaid airport taxi (Zone 1, the Centro) | ~25 min | about 390 pesos (~£17) | Buy the ticket at the kiosk inside arrivals |
| Prepaid taxi (Zone 2, Reforma) | ~25-30 min | about 520 pesos (~£22) | Same kiosk; Reforma is the dearer zone |
| Colectivo shared van | ~45 min | about 100 pesos (~£4.30) | Cheapest, but slower with multiple drops |
| App ride / private transfer | ~20-25 min | usually £8-£15 | Good for late arrivals or groups |
When to go
Sweet spot: The dry season runs October to April, and late January to early March is the sweet spot: warm sunny days, cool evenings at altitude and the lowest humidity. October to December is lovely too but books out around Day of the Dead. The rains (May-September) bring heavy late-afternoon showers rather than all-day washouts and leave the valleys green; June is the wettest month.
Two dates dominate the calendar and both need booking months ahead. Day of the Dead, roughly 31 October to 2 November, is the headline event — comparsas, market altars and cemetery vigils — with hotels filling completely and rates 2-3x normal; book by spring. The Guelaguetza, the indigenous dance-and-culture festival across mid-to-late July, fills the city again and pushes rainy-season prices up. Outside those windows Oaxaca is uncrowded and good value, and at 1,550m it never gets Cancun-hot.
What it costs
There are no direct UK flights to Oaxaca. You fly London to Mexico City (~11h40 nonstop, roughly £475-£800 return), then connect onto a domestic hop with Aeromexico, Volaris or VivaAerobus — about 1h10 and often £30-£90 each way if booked ahead. Build in a comfortable connection at Mexico City, ideally with the international and domestic legs on one ticket so a delay is the airline's problem, not yours.
Daily budget per person
| Tlayuda from a market stall | ~£3-5 |
|---|---|
| Mezcal tasting flight | ~£6-12 |
| Monte Alban entry | ~£9 (209 pesos) |
| Full-day Tlacolula valley tour | ~£55-70 + cash site fees |
| Sit-down dinner with mezcal | ~£12-20 |
All peso figures use £1 ≈ 23.3 MXN (June 2026). Carry cash: the markets, tlayuda stalls, colectivos and many palenques are cash-only, and the city runs on small notes. Hotel prices double or triple for Day of the Dead and the July Guelaguetza, so the dates you pick matter more than the hotel you pick.
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