Oaxaca pairs the colonial city's mole and mezcal cuisine with Monte Albán's Zapotec hilltop ruins, the Pacific surf at Puerto Escondido and Mazunte, and Hierve el Agua's mineral cliff above the Mixtec valleys.
Highlights
Oaxaca City
Monte Albán
Puerto Escondido
Hierve el Agua
When to Visit
Oct-Nov
Day of the Dead late October-early November turns Oaxaca City into Mexico's most photogenic Día de los Muertos celebration with cemetery vigils at Xoxocotlán.
Dec-Apr
Dry season with Pacific surf at Zicatela, Guelaguetza folkloric festival is July, but the Noche de Rábanos December 23 carves giant radishes for the Zócalo.
Jul
Guelaguetza folkloric festival the last two Mondays of July fills Oaxaca City with regional dance from across the state's seven ethnic regions.
May-Sep
Rainy afternoons but mornings clear, Oaxacan landscape green, and the Sierra Norte cloud forest at peak with Pueblos Mancomunados eco-tourism cooperatives full.
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