TAILOR-MADE LUXURY TRAVEL TO OAXACA
Oaxaca runs from markets, mezcalerías and Zapotec villages in the highlands to surf, serious food and wild beaches on the Pacific coast.
At its heart is its beautiful capital, Oaxaca City, its streets lined with flame-red poinciana trees, pastel-hued colonial mansions and imposing 17th century Baroque architecture. The food in Oaxaca is some of the best to be found across Mexico, and the affable Oaxaqueños will treat you to a culinary journey through their culture, most famously chapulines (crickets!) con mole (with sauce).
Outside of the city are the valleys of the lofty Sierra Madre mountains, where rows of spiked agave plants are cultivated to create mezcal – tequila’s smoky cousin – which Oaxaca is famed for. To the south, the mountains give way to fishing villages, surf beaches, and a clutch of great hotels and restaurants.
In Oaxaca City, eat your way through the markets with a local chef, learn the secrets of mole in a private kitchen, and leave plenty of room for our favourite restaurants.
In nearby Teotitlán del Valle, meet Zapotec weavers who still work with traditional looms and natural dyes and visit potters and other artisans in their workshops. Explore the great sites of Monte Albán and Mitla with an archaeologist guide, along with the mineral pools and petrified cascades of Hierve el Agua. Head out into the valleys to small mezcal producers, walking the agave fields and tasting rare, small-batch mezcals with the families who make them.
From there, make for the Pacific. Around Puerto Escondido there is excellent surf and a surprisingly serious food scene; farther along the coast, visit the artists’ studios and exhibitions at Bosco Sodi’s Casa Wabi, head out by boat to see dolphins and turtles, or swim in a bioluminescent lagoon after dark.
ELSEWHERE IN MEXICO
Explore more of our favourite places in Mexico, from the steaming jungles of Chiapas to the ancient Maya cities of the Yucatán.
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