Oaxaca
Mexico
The best food in Mexico, seven kinds of mole, mezcal from the village that made it, and the Day of the Dead
Photo by ryan doyle on Unsplash
Photos by Austin Curtis, Seema Miah, Ashley Galeote and Seema Miah on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Mexico
October to April — and late October for Día de Muertos, booked a year ahead
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 180mm in Sep
Where it is
17.07°N, 96.72°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Weeks of it- Eat your way through the 20 de Noviembre market smoke hall
- Stand on Monte Albán early, when the valley is still in haze
- Visit a palenque and drink mezcal where it is made
- Come for Día de Muertos and book a year out
- Take a cooking class — this is the city to do it in
Oaxaca travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Mexico
Good valuePesos, and cash matters more here than on the coast — the markets, the comedores and the village mezcalerías are cash-only, and those are the reasons to come.
ATMs & cards
Santander, BBVA and Banorte machines inside branches around the zócalo. Decline the conversion. Draw before heading into the Valles Centrales, where a village may have one machine and it may be empty.
Avoid these
- the machines in the smaller valley villages, often empty
Use these instead
- Santander
- BBVA
- Banorte
Draw around the zócalo before heading into the Valles Centrales. The markets and the palenques are cash-only.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Mexico
SafeOne of the calmer states in Mexico and the historic centre is comfortable to walk at night. Ordinary precautions with taxis and bags apply. The altitude is 1,550m and catches people out on the first day. Teachers’ union protests periodically block roads and occasionally the airport road — they are announced and peaceful, but they will cost you a day if you have a flight.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (9 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the streets around the Central de Abastos — crowded, disorienting and the commonest place for bag-snatching
- the roads into the Sierra Norte at night — unlit, unbarriered and with livestock on them
- protest blockades on the highways — a normal part of Oaxacan politics; they close roads for hours and are best waited out, not driven around
- mezcal poured freely — it is stronger than it tastes and the palenques are generous
A city with a strong civic culture and very little crime against visitors. Plan around road blockades rather than anything else..
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Mexico visa rules
No visa neededup to 180 days
The officer writes the days granted on your entry record, and it is often far fewer than 180. Check what you were given before leaving the airport.
Other passports
Visa required in advance
Holders of a valid US, Canadian, UK, Japanese or Schengen visa can usually enter Mexico without a Mexican one.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Mexico
Good and affordableRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Rabies for rural or long stays
Getting treated
Private hospitals in Mexico City, Cancún and the resort areas are good and cost a fraction of US prices; public ones are variable. Resort clinics are notorious for aggressive billing, so call your insurer before agreeing to treatment where you can.
Do not drink the tap water. Dengue is present on both coasts. Altitude in Mexico City (2,240m) affects some people for the first day or two.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
OutstandingThis is the point of the trip. Seven moles, tlayudas the size of a bicycle wheel, chapulines — toasted grasshoppers with lime and chilli — and quesillo, the string cheese. Eat in the market comedores. Mezcal here is not a cocktail ingredient; it is sipped, and the good ones are not exported.
Nightlife
Mezcalerías rather than bars, rooftops over the cathedral, and a city that treats an evening as something to sit down for.
- the Centro, around Santo Domingo — rooftops and courtyards
- Mezcalería In Situ — the serious one, and an education
- Calle García Vigil — a run of small bars and mezcalerías
- Jalatlaco — the quiet neighbourhood version, a few streets east
Closing: Most places by 01:00 or 02:00. Sunday is quiet, and the city gets up early.
A beer in a bar: MXN 45–70
Mezcal is sipped, not shot, and it is much stronger than the pour suggests.
Getting around
Workable- UberWorks here
- DiDiWorks here
- CabifyWorks here
DiDi usually the cheapest
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper than a street taxi, and safer — not hailing one off the street is the standing advice in the big cities.
At the resort airports the taxi unions keep the apps off the kerb; the pick-up is a walk away, or a transfer booked in advance.
Time zone and your working day
America/Mexico City — 2 hours behind you
6 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 11:00–17:00 your time, 09:00–15:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 11:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 11:00–19:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Mexico
Why these are Mexico's numbers and not Oaxaca's
Home broadband — Good. Comfortable for two people working, streaming in the evening, large downloads. Broadband here runs at about the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fair. Maps, calls and streaming; tethering a laptop works for an hour, not a day. Mobile runs at 43% of the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Oaxaca, so these are medians for all of Mexico. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Mexico, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Spanish (Latin American)
- HelloHolaOH-la
- PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
- Thank youGraciasGRA-syas
- Yes / NoSí / Nosee / no
4 more phrases
- Excuse meDisculpedees-KOOL-peh
- How much is it?¿Cuánto cuesta?KWAN-to KWES-ta
- The bill, pleaseLa cuenta, por favorla KWEN-ta
- Cheers!¡Salud!sa-LOOD
The c and z are said as an s here, not the Spanish "th" — gracias is GRA-syas.
Religion
Catholic
Around 78% Catholic, blended with pre-Hispanic tradition in ways that are most visible at Día de Muertos. The Virgin of Guadalupe is a national symbol as much as a religious one.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Greet everyone on entering a small shop or waiting room — buenos días to the room
- Tip 10-15% at restaurants, and a few pesos for baggers and attendants
- Accept food when offered; refusing outright can feel like rejection
- Use usted with older people and anyone in authority
Don't
- Do not call yourself American as though Mexicans are not — say estadounidense
- Do not drink the tap water, and be wary of ice outside established places
- Do not make cartel jokes; for many people it is not abstract
- Do not be brusque — a request without a greeting first lands badly
Where to stay in Oaxaca
No Holistay rentals in Oaxaca yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Oaxaca on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Oaxaca OAX
30 minfrom the airport· 8 km as the crow flies
30 min to the centre.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
