Oaxaca is one of Mexico's most culturally rich states, home to 16 recognized indigenous groups, the archaeological capitals of Monte Albán and Mitla, and a coastline stretching from the surf town of Puerto Escondido to the calm resort bays of Huatulco. Oaxaca de Juárez, the colonial capital, is celebrated for mole, mezcal, and some of the finest regional cooking in the country.
Top attractions
The most popular and significant attractions in Oaxaca.
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1
Monte Albán
Monte Albán is the hilltop capital the Zapotecs carved out of a leveled mountaintop overlooking the Oaxaca valley, occupied for over a thousand years before the Mixtecs later reused parts of it for elite burials. The core is a vast plaza ringed by platforms, ballcourts, and the observatory-like Building J, set at an angle that doesn't match the rest of the site. Walking the site means covering real distance across open, high-altitude ground with little shade.
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2
Mitla
Mitla was a Zapotec and later Mixtec religious center known for geometric mosaic stonework unlike anything else in Mesoamerica, made from thousands of individually cut stone pieces fitted together without mortar into repeating step-fret patterns. Unlike Monte Albán's scale, Mitla is compact and dense, with several separate architectural groups spread through the modern town that grew up around the ruins. The Group of the Columns is the best-preserved section open to visitors.
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3
Hierve el Agua
Hierve el Agua is a set of mineral-rich springs that have deposited calcium carbonate over centuries, creating rock formations that look like frozen waterfalls spilling over the edge of a cliff. The name means "the water boils," referring to the bubbling appearance of the spring water, not its temperature. There are small natural and constructed pools to swim in at the clifftop, with views down into the valley below.
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4
Zócalo de Oaxaca
The Zócalo is Oaxaca city's main plaza, framed by the cathedral, government palace, and arcaded portales lined with cafés, and it functions as the social center of the historic center rather than just a monument to look at. Vendors, shoeshine stands, marching bands, and occasional political demonstrations all pass through depending on the day. It's the natural starting point for exploring the surrounding grid of colonial streets.
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5
Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán
Santo Domingo is a former Dominican monastery church whose exterior's heavy, fortress-like stone walls give no hint of the gilded interior inside, where the Rosary Chapel and a genealogical tree of the Guzmán family cover the ceiling in relief and gold leaf. Built over more than two centuries starting in the late 1500s, it's the most elaborately decorated colonial church in the city. The attached former monastery now houses the Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca and its botanical garden.
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6
Museo Textil de Oaxaca
This museum is dedicated to the textile traditions of Oaxaca and Mexico more broadly, showing woven and embroidered pieces from indigenous communities across the state alongside rotating exhibitions on specific techniques, dyes, or regions. It occupies a restored colonial building a few blocks from the Zócalo. The collection is smaller and more focused than the Museo de las Culturas, making it a manageable visit rather than a sprawling one.
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7
Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca
Housed in the former Dominican monastery attached to Santo Domingo, this museum covers Oaxaca's cultures from pre-Hispanic times through the colonial era, arranged around the monastery's original cloisters. Its best-known holding is the treasure recovered from Tomb 7 at Monte Albán, a Mixtec burial found intact with gold, jade, and turquoise objects. The rooms themselves, with vaulted stone ceilings and courtyard views, are part of what makes the visit worthwhile.
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8
Árbol del Tule
The Árbol del Tule is a Montezuma cypress in the town square of Santa María del Tule, believed to be well over a thousand years old and among the widest tree trunks in the world by circumference, wider than it is tall. It stands next to the town's church, dwarfing the building beside it. The site is a quick stop rather than a destination in itself, usually visited on the way to or from Mitla.
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9
Jardín Etnobotánico de Oaxaca
This botanical garden occupies the former orchard grounds of the Santo Domingo monastery and is planted entirely with species native to the state of Oaxaca, from towering cacti to cycads and agaves used for mezcal. It was developed after the monastery complex was returned to public use in the 1990s, with landscape design led by artist Francisco Toledo, so the layout reads as much as a work of art as a scientific collection. Access is only by guided tour, walked in a group through pathways bordered by regional flora with a guide explaining traditional uses of the plants.
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10
Mercado Benito Juárez
This is Oaxaca's oldest continuously operating central market, occupying a full block just south of the zócalo, with narrow aisles packed with stalls selling produce, mezcal, chocolate, textiles, and prepared foods. It functions as a working neighborhood market rather than a tourist bazaar, so vendors and shoppers doing daily errands outnumber visitors. Expect close quarters, overlapping smells of chocolate-grinding and spices, and stalls stacked with regional products like chapulines and quesillo.
Tips for visiting attractions
Make the most of your sightseeing time.
Visit popular attractions early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid crowds and harsh midday light.
Book tickets online in advance for major attractions to skip long queues and sometimes save money.
Many cities offer multi-attraction passes that include public transport. Calculate whether they save you money based on your itinerary.