Things to do in Oaxaca City: 11 experiences

2 to 3 hours with the museumNo booking needed

Oaxaca's most visited church glows with gilded decoration, and its old convent holds the treasure found in a Monte Albán tomb.

About 2 hours with the tourBook ahead

Behind Santo Domingo, an old army base became a garden of Oaxaca's own plants, designed by the painter Francisco Toledo.

1 to 2 hours with the tripNo booking needed

A Montezuma cypress in a churchyard east of the city, with a trunk wider than any other tree measured.

Half a dayGo alone or with a tour

A Zapotec village where families weave wool rugs on hand looms and colour the yarn with cochineal, indigo and marigold.

Half a day with the tripGo alone or with a tour

The religious centre of the Zapotecs, covered in geometric mosaics of cut stone fitted without mortar, unlike any other site in Mexico.

A full day from the cityGo alone or with a tour

Two cliffs above a valley where mineral springs have built white formations that look like frozen waterfalls.

Half a dayGo alone or with a tour

A town on the Mitla road that calls itself the world capital of mezcal, with distilleries you can walk into.

About an hourNo booking needed

Chocolate has mattered in Oaxaca since before the Spanish, and here it still comes in a bowl, beaten with water.

Three or four nights, 30 October to 2 NovemberBook ahead

On the night of 31 October, families in Xoxocotlán cover the graves in marigolds and candles and keep vigil into the early hours.

A morning or evening show, about 4 hoursTimed entry

Dance delegations from Oaxaca's regions fill an open-air auditorium above the city and end by throwing gifts into the crowd.

1 hour for lunch, another evening for a tlayudaNo booking needed

Pick your meat in the smoke aisle and have it grilled over the coals in front of you, then find a crisp tlayuda at night.