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Oaxaca Market Mornings

Oaxaca, MexicoMira Okonkwo@mira7 min readTravelled With family

Trip notes

If you are going yourself

Everything practical for Oaxaca, Mexico in one place — where it actually is, where to sleep, how to move, what to eat, what the weather does, and what to put in the bag. The story itself follows.

Travelled

With family — My mother, who has opinions about mole and turned out to be right about all of them.

The route

6 stops · 1 slept in · 5 nights · 56 km by road

Stayed the nightPassed throughBy road — follows the actual roadOn foot

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  1. Oaxaca Centro

    5 nights · base

    Five nights walking distance from every market in the story.

    Good signal — 4G and 5G everywhere, plus free wifi in the zócalo.

  2. Mercado 20 de Noviembre

    Passed through · daily

    The smoke-filled grill corridor. Buy meat by weight, hand it over, eat standing.

    Patchy signal — Signal drops inside the halls. Step out to the street to call anyone.

    On foot

  3. Central de Abastos

    Passed through · Sat 08:00

    Southern Mexico's largest market. A small city with a produce problem.

    Patchy signal — The network is swamped on a Saturday. Texts get through; data does not.

    On foot

  4. Teotitlán del Valle

    Passed through · day trip

    Weaving village in the valley. Natural dyes, and lunch better than in town.

    Patchy signal — 4G in the village centre, nothing on the approach road.

    By road · 29.6 km · 26 min driving

  5. Tlacolula

    Passed through · Sunday

    The valley's Sunday market. Go early, eat the barbacoa, leave by noon.

    Patchy signal — Fine early, heavily loaded by mid-morning on market day.

    By road · 11.3 km · 10 min driving

  6. Mitla

    Passed through · day trip

    Zapotec stonework in geometric fret patterns, plus the mezcal road back.

    Good signal — 4G at the site and along the highway back.

    By road · 14.6 km · 14 min driving

Centro Histórico — Mercado 20 de Noviembre is a block south17.0606° N, 96.7255° W

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Weather

Best time to go

October to April, or late July for Guelaguetza

Nov–Apr (best)28 °C / 10 °C
Dry, warm days and genuinely cold evenings at 1,550 m.
Jul–Aug26 °C / 15 °C
Afternoon rain, green hills, and the Guelaguetza festival in late July.
May–Jun31 °C / 14 °C
The hottest stretch, just before the rains break.

Ranges are typical daytime high and overnight low.

What to pack

Warm days, cold nights, and a lot of standing on stone

  • Layers — a 15 °C swing between afternoon and evening is normal
  • A real jacket or jumper for after dark, especially December to February
  • Comfortable shoes closed at the toe for crowded market floors
  • Sun hat and sun cream; the high-altitude sun is stronger than the temperature suggests
  • A tote for market shopping and a small amount of cash in small notes

Where to stay

  • Centro Histórico

    Boutique hotel

    Walk to every market and mezcalería. Noisy in the best way; ask for a room off the street.

  • Jalatlaco

    Guesthouse

    Cobbled, muralled and quieter, ten minutes' walk from the centre. The nicest place to wake up.

  • Xochimilco

    Apartment

    Uphill, residential, and cheaper. Good for longer stays with a kitchen.

Getting around

  • Getting there

    Fly to Oaxaca (OAX), or the six-hour ADO bus from Mexico City. The new highway has cut the drive considerably.

  • In the city

    Walk. The centre is a flat grid and everything in the story is within 20 minutes on foot.

  • To the valleys

    Colectivo taxis and second-class buses reach Mitla, Teotitlán and Tlacolula for very little. Tlacolula's Sunday market is the big one.

  • Altitude

    1,550 m. Not a problem for most people, but mezcal hits harder than at sea level.

Food stops

  • Mercado 20 de Noviembre

    Market

    The smoke-filled grill corridor: buy meat by weight from one vendor, hand it to another to cook, eat standing up.

  • Central de Abastos

    Wholesale market

    Southern Mexico's largest. Go by 08:00 on a Saturday; by 14:00 the good things are gone.

  • Tlayudas

    Street stall

    The size of a bicycle wheel and meant for the table, not one person. Best after dark.

  • Mezcalerías

    Bar

    Sipped at room temperature from a clay copita, never shot. Let whoever pours it talk you through the agave.

Day by day

6 days, start to finish · 8–13 November 2025

  1. Day 1

    8 Nov

    Arrive and walk the Centro

    Drop the bag, walk the grid, and eat a tlayuda after dark. Bring a jumper — 1,550 m means the evening is genuinely cold.

    Visiting1Oaxaca Centro

    Staying Centro Histórico

  2. Day 2

    9 Nov

    Mercado 20 de Noviembre

    The smoke corridor for lunch: buy meat by weight, hand it to a griller, eat standing. Then one mole negro and one coloradito, side by side.

    Visiting2Mercado 20 de Noviembre

    Staying Centro Histórico

  3. Day 3

    10 Nov

    Central de Abastos, early

    In by eight, out by eleven. Tejate, chapulines, and more chillies than you knew existed. Mezcal in a clay copita in the evening.

    Visiting3Central de Abastos

    Staying Centro Histórico

  4. Day 4

    11 Nov

    Into the valley

    Colectivo to Teotitlán del Valle for natural dyes and a better lunch than the city, then on to the Zapotec fretwork at Mitla.

    Visiting4Teotitlán del Valle6Mitla

    Staying Centro Histórico

  5. Day 5

    12 Nov

    Tlacolula, Sunday only

    The valley's big market, and worth planning the whole trip around. Arrive by nine, eat the barbacoa, leave before noon.

    Visiting5Tlacolula

    Staying Centro Histórico

  6. Day 6

    13 Nov

    Last breakfast, then out

    One more tejate and a bag of chapulines for the plane. The airport is fifteen minutes from the centre.

    Visiting1Oaxaca Centro

    Staying — travelling home

The story

Oaxaca has seven moles, three of which will genuinely change your understanding of what a sauce can be. It also has a smoke-filled corridor of grills where you buy raw meat by weight from one vendor, hand it to another to cook, and eat it standing up with tortillas and grilled spring onions.

A morning route

  • Start with a tejate from a market stall — maize, cacao, and a foam that looks impossible.
  • Tlayuda for the table, not for one person. It is the size of a bicycle wheel.
  • One mole negro, one mole coloradito. Compare them side by side while you can.
  • Chapulines, salted and lime-dusted, on the way out. They are excellent and you know it.

Go on a Saturday, go early

The Central de Abastos on a Saturday is the largest market in southern Mexico and is best understood as a small city with a produce problem. Arrive by eight. By eleven it is a crowd, and by two the good things are gone.

Also: mezcal is not a shot. Sip it, at room temperature, from a clay copita, and let whoever poured it tell you about the agave. That conversation is worth more than the drink.

How to eat your way through Mercado 20 de Noviembre without ordering the same thing four times.

  • #food
  • #markets
  • #mexico

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