We spent 10 of our last 14 days in Mexico in Oaxaca City in Oaxaca state. This was one of the places we were most excited for on our Mexican adventures because we had heard amazing things from everyone we had talked to who had been!
Oaxaca is known for it’s beautiful beaches (a few hours outside of the city), cute mountain villages, textiles, and food. If you know us, you know we were most excited about the food!
Although we spent most of our 10 days in Oaxaca working (#digitalnomadlife), we had a chance to get out and explore the city and surrounding area, and of course eat at a ton of different places. Here are our recommendations for Oaxaca:
Where to Stay:
There is no ride sharing in Oaxaca, so the more central you can stay the better, especially if you don’t speak Spanish. The centro is small, quaint and super beautiful and it’s worth it to stay as close as you can!
There are a ton of gorgeous hotels that you could stay in if you have the budget for it, but we opted for an AirBnb (as usual!). We stayed in neighborhood of Xochimilco, just north of the centro and it was about 15 minutes walking to the center of town.
We met up with some friends while we were in Oaxaca and they stayed at an AirBnb right in the city center, so there are plenty of options for AirBnb’s close to the action that are reasonably priced.
If you haven’t tried AirBnb and you want to check it out, you can get $45 off your first stay here!
Where to Eat:
It’s a good thing that we didn’t base ourselves in Oaxaca for the entirety of our stay in Mexico, because I don’t think our clothes would have fit after a few months there! The food is that good, and it’s worth every bite and every penny spent! Here are some our favorite restaurants that we discovered while in Oaxaca:
La Matatena – this pizzeria has gluten free and vegan options and the GF pizza crust is really good! This was one of our favorite places in Oaxaca, and the staff is really friendly and kind!
Boulenc – This is an amazing bakery and restaurant! Their breakfast, brunch, lunch, pastries, and coffee were all phenomenal!
Casa Oaxaca – We ate here on our very first night in Oaxaca. The salsa was made table side and served with a fresh tortilla with Oaxacan cheese and it was amazing!
Los Danzantes – This is a beautiful space and the food is amazing! We enjoyed cocktails, an appetizers and two mains and everything we had was unreal. This was one of our favorite places that we ate at in Oaxaca. If you’re there at a busy time, make a reservation, as it fills up fast.
Hierba Dulce – We ate here after a day of adventuring outside the city and the food was to die for! If we had more time in the city, we would have come back for more.
La Biznaga – This is a nice restaurant close to the center of town. Get the Gordita – it’s delicious!
Tierra del Sol – This came as a recommendation from a friend and it didn’t disappoint! They menu is very traditional Oaxacan and it was a great opportunity to try traditional Oaxacan soups and empanadas, and eat amazing, freshly made salsa!
Calabacitas Tiernas – We were staying very close to this restaurant and we ate her a bunch! It has a super cute courtyard and the most amazing, vegetarian-friendly food. The chicken curry was our personal favorite! They also do really affordable menu del dias.
Mezquite – We walked by this restaurant a couple of times before we decided to visit and we did not regret it! The guacamole was delicious, the cocktails are nice, and the food was unreal. On top of that, if you sit upstairs you get an incredible view of the city!
Where to Drink:
Cafe Brujula – This place came highly recommended to us as a great place to grab a coffee or tea, and after a long day of touring around Oaxaca, their iced teas were the perfect way to relax and end the day!
Sabina Sabe – We went for tapas and mezcal here and it did not disappoint! Their tlayudas are on point and so far their mezcal cocktails! We would highly recommend visiting Sabina Sabe while you’re in Oaxaca.
Mezcaleria In Situ – This place is more traditional. They serve the mezcal straight and are not known for their cocktails. This isn’t our favorite way to drink mezcal, but it was a really fun experience and a great way to learn more about mezcal and taste the different flavors of each type of mezcal we had.
What to Do:
Templo de Santa Domingo:
Visiting the catherdral in the center of town is a must when you are in Oaxaca. It is beautiful both inside and out and there are always fun things happening around the church that you can stay and watch. We visited on a Saturday and had the pleasure of watching a few different weddings taking place.
Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca:
The museum entrance is right next to the entrance to the cathedral and it costs 70 pesos to enter ($3.5 roughly). You enter into a massive courtyard and then can make your way upstairs where you have amazing views of all of Oaxaca from all of the different windows and hallways. We enjoyed the views more than the museum, but the entrance fee was worth it just for the views.
The Botanical Gardens are also right by the cathedral and the museum and you can see all types of plants native to Oaxaca and snap some beautiful photos with the different plants and cacti! The English tours are at 11am Monday – Saturday and cost 100 pesos (about $5).
Everyday at 10am there are free (by donation) walking tours taking place in Oaxaca. They take you through some of the main sites in the city and give you a feel for the culture and history of Oaxaca.
Hierve el Agua:
Hierve el Agua is one of 2 petrified waterfalls in the entire world, and it’s located about 2 hours outside of Oaxaca. When you arrive, you walk through a number of food stalls and down a path to get to the waterfalls. There are 2 different waterfalls and a set of pools that you can swim in, so don’t forget your bathing suit.
The views from Hierve el Agua are stunning! You really get a sense for the landscape of Oaxaca when you’re there, and it’s also really nice to cool off with a dip in the pools after hiking around the sites.
You have a few different options on how you can get there:
- Bus
- Taxi / collectivo
- Tour
- Hiring a private driver
We opted to take a taxi that was acting as a collectivo (ie. full of people and then we shoved in too) to Mitla, and then catch a taxi to Hierve el Agua. On the way down, we took a collectivo to Mitla and then a public bus back to Oaxaca. This was was pretty affordable (less than $30 for both of us roundtrip), but we would NOT recommend this option if you don’t speak Spanish. Our Spanish was crucial for this option.
Most people opt for a tour or hiring a private driver, and although these options will be more expensive, they will allow you to choose what else you see and do en route to Hierve el Agua.
The entrance for Hierve el Agua is 50 pesos (about $2-$2.50).
Where to Work:
Starbucks – There is one Starbucks in Oaxaca and it’s on the north side of town in Xochimilco where we were staying. This was one of the only places we visited with A/C and the wifi was strong and dependable here. It’s a small location, but we never had any problem finding a place to set up for a couple of hours of working.
Convivio – Convivio is a relatively new coworking space in Oaxaca, and it’s a really great location, just outside of the centro. The cost is 100 pesos (about $5) for the day and they provide filtered water, coffee, tea and mezcal. The space is big and homey with plenty of plugins and the wifi was solid. We would definitely recommend working here if you are a nomad in Oaxaca!
Have you been to Oaxaca? What did you do? Do you have anything else you’d add to this list?
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