Oaxaca

A Zapotec ceremonial city perched on a flattened mountain ridge at 1,940 meters, with pyramids and a ball court overlooking the entire Valley of Oaxaca.

A 16th-century Dominican church whose interior is encrusted with gilded stucco vines and figures, considered one of the most ornate baroque interiors in all of Mexico.

The city's central covered market where vendors sell chapulines by the bag, fresh tlayudas, and Oaxacan string cheese pulled directly from massive wheels.

Housed within the Santo Domingo monastery, this museum displays the extraordinary Mixtec gold jewelry and jade masks recovered from Tomb 7 at Monte Albán.

Every Sunday, this sprawling village market 30 km east of the city fills with Zapotec vendors selling mezcal poured straight from the producers' plastic jugs alongside hand-embroidered textiles.

A Montezuma cypress in the town of Santa María del Tule with a trunk circumference of 58 meters, recognized as the widest tree on Earth and estimated to be over 1,500 years old.

A small free museum in a restored colonial building near the zócalo that documents indigenous weaving traditions through rotating exhibitions of huipiles and backstrap-loom textiles.

A no-sign market stall inside Mercado 20 de Noviembre run by the same family for decades, where the black mole is made from scratch each morning and served over turkey on a plastic tray.

Founded by Enrique Olvera of Pujol fame, Criollo focuses on the daily produce from the restaurant's own milpa farm, resulting in spare, ingredient-driven dishes rooted in Oaxacan peasant cooking.

Set beneath a bougainvillea-draped colonial courtyard, the kitchen builds modern Oaxacan dishes around heirloom corn and foraged mushrooms paired with their estate-produced mezcal.

Chef Rodolfo Castellanos, a Top Chef Mexico winner, serves meticulously plated tasting menus that trace Oaxacan ingredients—chapulines, hierba santa, tejate—through a contemporary fine-dining lens.

A beloved courtyard restaurant on García Vigil that has quietly defined elevated Oaxacan cooking for over two decades with dishes like estofado, chiles rellenos, and seasonal mushroom soups.

A serious mezcal bar on Morelos stocking hundreds of bottles from small Oaxacan palenques, where the staff guides guests through single-varietal agaves including rare tobalá and cuishe pours.

A dimly lit bar co-founded by artist Francisco Toledo that pours only its own house mezcal brand, served in small clay copitas alongside sliced orange and sal de gusano.

One of Oaxaca's oldest cantinas near the zócalo, a no-frills room with high ceilings, formica tables, and some of the cheapest mezcal pours in the city served with botanas.

A beloved live music venue near the Teatro Macedonio Alcalá that books Oaxacan jazz, folk, and experimental acts most nights in an intimate stone-walled space.

An old-fashioned ballroom-style cantina on the zócalo that has hosted cumbia and salsa nights for generations, drawing a mixed crowd of locals who actually dance.

A late-night cocktail bar in Jalatlaco neighborhood where bartenders craft mezcal-forward drinks until the early hours in a book-lined space that draws Oaxaca's creative crowd.