Oaxaca is the epitome of all things Mexican. With bright colour and palpable energy all around, you should not skip this picture-postcard city.
But why specifically should you visit Oaxaca? Read on for six reasons to add Oaxaca to your Mexico itinerary.
1. Colours
Oaxaca makes most other places pale into insignificance – quite literally, as it is a city bursting with colour. With each building painted a bold block shade, strings of coloured flags hanging over each street, and vivid flowers draped haphazardly over walls, Oaxaca has an unrestrained, happy-go-lucky atmosphere.
How can you not feel cheerful when you’re surrounded by bright colours?
2. Street art
To add yet more life to Oaxaca’s colourful décor, you can find street art at every turn. Much of this features skeletons in a nod to Mexico’s Day of the Dead, looking friendly rather than scary when grinning on the city’s brightly coloured walls. There is also a generous scattering of Frida Kahlo portraits, a homage to her status as a Mexican icon.
Something I particularly liked about Oaxaca’s street art is that the artists often include their Instagram handle in their paintings. This reinforces Oaxaca’s focus on art and feeling of freedom, almost as though artists are encouraged to paint on the walls.
3. Markets
Wandering around Oaxaca’s markets is an experience in itself. Oaxaca has markets for everything from food to clothes to souvenirs. Its main markets are the Mercado 20 de Noviembre and the Mercado Benito Juárez.
Your trip to Oaxaca would be incomplete without a meal at one of its food markets, packed full of families in search of a slap-up meal. A highlight for me was a meal in the smoky meat hall of the Mercado 20 de Noviembre. The system for choosing your food seems chaotic: one person provides you with a menu and a basket, another person takes the basket away and takes charge of grilling the meat, a third person provides toppings such as fresh guacamole and spicy green sauce, a seemingly-unrelated woman supplies tortillas, another person directs you to a table, and entirely different people bring everything to your table when it is ready. The end result, though, was some of the most delicious tortillas.
As well as the meat market, Oaxaca’s markets sell all kinds of classic Mexican fare such as quesadillas, tacos, empanadas and piles of crispy grasshoppers in tubs at the entrances.
The artisan stalls sell everything from hand-sewn traditional Mexican clothing to skulls moulded from black Oaxaca clay. They’re a prime spot to pick up any souvenirs.
4. Mezcal
Oaxaca’s special drink is mezcal, a spirit similar to tequila. Oaxaca produces the majority of the world’s mezcal, mostly on family-run farms in the hills.
Head to a mezcal bar to try a mezcal cocktail when you visit Oaxaca. It’s the most authentic mezcal experience you’ll get. Read more about Oaxaca’s mezcal traditions here.
5. Celebratory energy
Oaxaca is always celebrating something. When I was there, the sounds of fireworks were almost continuous. When I looked up exactly what they were celebrating, it could have been any of several festivals in the calendar. It doesn’t seem to matter what it is, as long as there is something to celebrate.
Because of this all-round celebratory atmosphere, you never know where to look as there is so much energy everywhere. At night, when I was there, the main square was ablaze with disorderly tangles of Christmas lights strung across any available space. Children scurried around, dressed for a nativity play that was drowned out by a brass band parading through the square blasting upbeat music, in turn drowned out by the bangs of homemade fireworks. The coloured flags hanging over every street add to the celebratory atmosphere.
6. Inclusivity
The best bit of Oaxacans’ habit of celebrating is that you feel part of it.
One of my favourite things about Oaxaca was that weddings are very public. After the church ceremony – often conducted with the doors open, and passers-by stopping at the door to watch – the wedding party parades into the streets. The parade is usually accompanied by a loud brass band and the groomsmen are lifted onto the crowd’s shoulders to dance. Huge paper mâché models of the bride and groom complete the scene. Members of the public can stop and watch, or even participate in the dancing if they want.
Because Oaxaca seems to receive comparatively few tourists, this makes you feel part of the real Oaxaca. None of these ceremonies are being put on for the tourists – they are truly part of Oaxacan life.
Ready to visit Oaxaca?
If these tips don’t persuade you to visit Oaxaca, I don’t know what will! Let me know your experiences in the comments.
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