Travel Guide: Oaxaca 🇲🇽
Up there on my list of favourite places in the world!
So we’re all clear from the get go Marjorie - Oaxaca is pronounced Wa-ha-ca. Ok let’s get into it…
Oaxaca is an hour flight from Mexico City. Although the reviews are dodgy, we found Viva air absolutely fine. Luxury tbh for a budget airline!
If ceramics, leather goods, textiles and amazing food are you jam, brace yourself (and your wallet) for Oaxaca. The vibe is totally different from Mexico City - it feels more authentic. The region itself is one of the poorest in Mexico but the craftmanship one of the greatest.
Unlike Mexico City, Uber doesn’t work in Oaxaca so you have to trust your gut a bit and remember that life functioned pre-Uber.
Where we stayed: Fiesta Americana. We loved it, big spacious rooms, a gym (I didn’t realise the pavements would be so uneven in Mexico so running outdoors didn’t happen, plus…the heat babes), the hotel also has an amazing concierge. There are endless boutique hotels ofcourse. We stayed on a friends and family rate.
What We Did:
My highlight of the whole trip was visiting Teotitlan del Valle - a community up in the mountains who weave the most incredible fabrics you have ever seen. If you’re interior taste is like mine, you’ll want to buy everything. We booked a taxi via our hotel and paid by the hour, I think our total for 4 hours was £70. You absolutely need a taxi or a car to get there and back.
We researched the sellers before going and decided the two for us were a father and son weaver who have been weaving rugs for 7 generations: Balmaro Perez and womens weaving corporation Vida Nueva who help create work for women who have encountered struggles within their life. The two luckily it turns out, are on the same street.
On the way back we also stopped off at The Tule Tree - one of the oldest trees in the world! It was amazing, absolutely HUGE and predicted to be over 2,000 years old. I loved it, I kept thinking about how awesome trees are and how much change that tree will have seen! Worth it!
We visited the Botanical Gardens, which was a bit stressy. They’re beautiful however make sure you book your tour in a language you understand - I’ll just leave that there! If you don’t get chance to visit them, I wouldn’t worry.
Where We Ate:
The street food in Oaxaca was amazing, and the food markets are not to be overlooked! I don’t eat meat so don’t feel I can properly advise you on where to go here - we had no plan when it came to street food and markets - and every meal was amazing. Generational recipes, served with smiles, alongside people from all walks of life, sat together eating. I loved these experiences!
Loz Danzantes - right in the centre of town this is modern Oaxacan food and it was incredible. We tried to move our 3pm forward an hour, but it was full. Thinking we’d be the only table in there we slinked in only to find the place is back to back fully booked the whole time you’re in there. Book ahead!
Tierra Del Sol - the experience of this restaurant starts off strong, but it soon plateaus. High prices, nice food but a little lacking compared to the other places we sampled.
Onno Bakery - if like me you have a husband that needs a bread situation first thing, this is where to go. It gave Australian, Californian bakery infused with a hit of Mexico. We went back more than once! 10/10. We didn’t realise there was a restaurant close by we only visited their take away place foolishly!
Sabina Sabe - a Mezcal bar of perfection. Perfect for winding down after a day exploring. Cocktails are AMAZING.
Levandura de Olla Restaurante - I chanced this on our last day and had to be on a waitlist for a few hours before we got our table. I wish we’d booked as we were sat in the reserve seating area near the bathrooms (a Virgos HELL), the food was unreal. We both LOVED.
Oaxaca is also known for it’s chocolate! We sampled a hot chocolate in Mercado de 20 Noviembre
Other places that were recommended but we didn’t have time to visit:
Casa Oaxaca El Restaurante, Cantina Salon de La Fama, La Cocina de Humo, La Giralda, Ama Terraza, Teocintle-Tika’aya, Almu Oaxaca, Cefinita, Restaurante Coronita, Terraza Istmo, La Mezcaloteca, Taco Sireno, Tortas La Hormiga, Sirilo, Boulenc, Lechoncito de Oro, Mezcaleria In Situ, Muff Cafe, Tacos Del Carmen.
I also wish we’d bought some pottery. Most of the restaurants we ate in had ceramics from La Chicharra Ceramica
Ok now here’s where it gets fruity…
We agreed before we let we wanted to stay at a Mezcal distillery and found Casa Silencio. It wasn’t cheap so we stayed for one night, WOW. We loved every single second.
We hired a car with Culture Unlimited who spoke perfect english (our Spanish is embarrassing) and made the whole process super easy. HIGHLY rate them. We dropped our car off in Peurto Escondido two days later. We were nervous hiring a car at first, and GPS is slightly rogue in Mexico and at one point I swerved a pot hole, then went over a mountain of a speed hump only to swerve a cow - but my advice is just go with it. We felt safe 98% of the time!
Casa Silencio was incredible for so many different reasons - our hotel price included a mezcal tour and tasting, lunch, dinner and breakfast, beers, mezcal and spirits (although I think this has changed now to not include alcohol). The hotel was empty for our stay meaning we had to whole place to ourselves. Fire pits, mezcal, stars - I’ll leave that there!
Peurto Escondido guide to follow. Don’t forget comment your questions!
Love Always xx Jules
