Highlights
- Feast on Oaxacan favorites and discover local delicacies on a market tour
- Hike to the top of Picacho Mountain for a memorable golden-hour view
- Follow the Mezcal Route to learn about the production of Mexico's famous spirit
- Watch turtle hatchlings make their first journey across the sands in Mazunte
- Ride to Laguna de Manialtepec on horseback for a relaxing lunch and kayak tour
Brief Itinerary
| Day | Highlights | Overnight |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Arrive in Oaxaca, Market Tour & Food Tasting | Oaxaca |
| Day 2 | Tour the Artisan Workshops of Teotitlán, Hike Picacho Mountain | Oaxaca |
| Day 3 | Discover the Mezcal Route: Distillery & Tasting Tour | Oaxaca |
| Day 4 | Amaranth Cooking Experience in San Pablo de Etla | Oaxaca |
| Day 5 | Transfer to Mazunte, Turtle Hatchling Experience at La Escobilla | Mazunte |
| Day 6 | Laguna de Manialtepec: Horseback Ride, Regional Feast & Kayak Tour | Mazunte |
| Day 7 | Transfer to Puerto Escondido, Depart |
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive in Oaxaca, Market Tour & Food Tasting
Welcome to colorful Oaxaca, where the best of Mexican food, art, and scenery collide. After checking into your hotel, you'll dive right into Oaxaca's famous culinary scene with a guided tour. Start at the authentic Mercado de Abastos (Center of Supplies), where your local guide will invite you to taste memelas (toasted cake snacks) from Doña Vale, a street food icon from the Netflix series "Street Food: Latin America." Continue to the Mercado de la Merced to taste flavorful empanadas paired with various sauces. You'll also try a hard-to-forget grasshopper omelet accompanied by pennyroyal tea.
Day 2: Tour the Artisan Workshops of Teotitlán, Hike Picacho Mountain
Today you'll get to know the village of Teotitlán del Valle, its natural beauty, and its traditional dyeing and weaving industry. Meet your guide in Oaxaca's city center and then head to Teotitlán, a small village located about 19 miles (31 km) east; its name means "land of the gods" in the Nahuatl Indigenous language. The main square has a beautiful plaza, a charming church, and artisan craft shops where you can admire traditional Zapotec rugs and other arts and crafts.
A few blocks away, a local woman named Josefina will serve you traditional dishes such as mole and memelitas, appetizers made of corn masa topped with beans and cheese. Josefina's family also owns a textile workshop where they'll demonstrate their incredible weaving skills. Finish off this perfect day with a 1.5-hour long sunset hike reaching the top of Picacho Mountain. You'll be rewarded with a 360-degree view of the valley and surrounding mountains as the sun sets, just one of the many memorable views on your trip.
Day 3: Discover the Mezcal Route: Distillery & Tasting Tour
Chat with a local specialist who can help organize your trip.
Today's full-day tour takes you to the fertile Santiago Matatlán region, known as the "World Capital of Mezcal." Made from the agave plants that blanket the area's rolling landscapes, this distilled spirit holds a place of both cultural and culinary importance among the people of Oaxaca. Begin with a visit to an artisan who crafts and paints cantaritos, traditional clay cups for drinking and serving mezcal. From there, you'll move on to the Cruz del Pedimento (Cross of the Miracle), a sacred chapel locals visit to request successful harvests, health, and peace. Dedicate a moment to send your own request for harmony and prosperity.
Continue to San Baltazar Guelavila to explore a small rustic palenque (mezcal distillery), where a master mezcalero will guide you through the production process as you taste the agua de miel (honey water) and learn about the drink's social importance in the region. Your next adventure takes you through more agave-covered landscapes and mountains to the community of San Baltazar Chichicapam. Here you'll dive deeper into mezcal production by helping fill the fermentation vats with another distiller.
Take a short break at a local family's home in the nearby village of Chichicapán to enjoy a few traditional homemade foods before heading west to Santa Catarina Minas. Finish your day of travel at another distillery, where a renowned family of mezcal producers specializes in growing a single range of organic agaves. Explore their greenhouse and taste up to 20 fruit-infused mezcals.
Day 4: Amaranth Cooking Experience in San Pablo de Etla
Switch modes from learning about traditional beverages to learning about a special plant, huautli (amaranth). This ancient grain is native to Central and South America, first used approximately 8,000 years ago. Your tour begins in San Pablo de Etla, north of Oaxaca City, where you'll meet Margarita, a member of Alegria de la Vida. This group consists of women committed to preserving amaranth significance and usage in the community.
Margarita will spend the next three hours explaining the world of amaranth and its cultivation process. You'll witness the grain's transformation into flour and the unique method of popping amaranth seeds, similar to popping corn, on a traditional clay comal—a clay disk that cooks meats, tortillas, vegetables, and more over an open fire or stove. Using a comal, whip up your own dessert of the ancient gods called tzoalli or alegrías, a sweet candied treat made of popped amaranth seeds, brown sugar syrup, and nuts or fruit.
Day 5: Transfer to Mazunte, Turtle Hatchling Experience at La Escobilla
Today you'll embark on a coastal adventure in southern Mexico near Mazunte, a village on the Pacific coast about six hours south of Oaxaca City. Your private driver will take you on a scenic journey through beautiful vistas before arriving at this laid-back beach town and one of the lesser-known of Mexico's famous Pueblo Mágicos (Magic Towns). Get settled into your base for the next two nights, then meet your guide for a visit to nearby Escobilla Ecoturismo Tortugas Marinas. This community cooperative provides safe environments for the region's endangered sea turtles to nest and hatch.
You'll be enchanted while witnessing baby turtles emerge from their shells in a hatching pen as you learn about their life cycle from a member of La Escobilla. Your guide will also explain the risk of turtle egg looting that threatens these little creatures' lives and how thieves steal from nests to sell the eggs on the black market. If the timing is right, you'll even get the chance to watch hatchlings being released, making their first journey to the ocean tides. Afterward, return to Mazunte for a relaxed dinner in one of the many local, family-run restaurants.
Day 6: Laguna de Manialtepec: Horseback Ride, Regional Foods & Kayak Tour
This morning you'll saddle up for a relaxed horseback ride through picturesque fields to reach the isolated paradise of Laguna de Manialtepec, a protected biodiversity hotspot known for its mangrove swamps, unspoiled beaches, and the natural phenomenon of bioluminescence that sets the lagoon's waters aglow in the evenings.
Upon arrival, you'll be welcomed with a glass of mezcal before sitting down to a lunch of favored regional dishes prepared by your host and served straight from the skillet. After some free time to relax on the beach, explore the lagoon by kayak with a local expert as they share the secrets of its remarkable diversity and help you spot rare flora and fauna along the way. Enjoy a spectacular sunset over the beach before the return journey by horseback and a transfer back to your hotel.
Day 7: Transfer to Puerto Escondido, Depart
The day has come to say goodbye to Oaxaca and the Pacific coast. A taxi will pick you up at your hotel and take you to Puerto Escondido's airport to hop on your departing flight. Safe travels!
More Great Mexico Itineraries
Looking for more inspiration for your trip to Mexico? Check out these other Mexico itineraries, explore other ways to spend a week in Oaxaca, or discover the best time to visit Mexico.
Map
