Puerto Escondido Adventure Guide #4: North on the New Highway to Oaxaca City
A monthly guide to give you fresh ideas for adventures just outside of PXM
Preface: I’ve lived in Puerto Escondido for over three years, and at this point have been to most of the small towns, beaches, and points of interest in the area. I used to help lead trips for the Hikers of Puerto group, led by my friend David (you can find them on Facebook), which certainly helped to that end.
Every month I’ll be sharing a weekend adventure idea here on my newsletter, in hopes that it inspires you and your loved ones to pack the car, jump on the moto, or flag down a colectivo with the goal of making new memories.
Listo por una aventura amigos!?
North to Oaxaca City:
I love Oaxaca City. I was there two weeks ago. I was also there this past November for my older brother’s bachelor party during the Day of the Dead. It was a wild few days with 10 of my brother's closest friends and a lot of mezcal.
After the city, we took off for the coast. On the drive through the mountains down to Puerto Escondido, we hit over 100 speed bumps (aka topes). At some point, all the passengers started getting out of my brother’s Prius, while he slowly scraped over the top of each one. On the other side, the four of us would pile back into the clown car, and carry on another 50 meters until the next tope. It was funny the first five times … and then it wasn’t.
It took us about 10 hours to complete the drive.
Now, you can fall asleep in a plush reclined bus seat for a few hours, and wake up in Oaxaca City. The new highway has dramatically changed how easily the capital of Oaxaca connects to the coastline of the state.
My chosen home, Puerto Escondido, feels like a relatively new place in the world, one that’s been developing especially quickly over the past five years. Oaxaca City certainly does not. It feels like it’s been there forever. The old stone walls and tree-lined streets are enchanting, but the charm doesn’t stop there.
How to get to Oaxaca City:
As mentioned above, the answer is quite easy now.
Take the brand new highway.
The first few years I lived in Puerto you had 3 terrible options:
Driving 8 to 10 hours through winding mountain roads.
Booking a colectivo van from centro. That ride took about 10 hours and was rather uncomfortable.
Taking a small single-prop puddle-jumper airplane. Aerotucan, which you’ve likely never heard of, flies a twelve-passenger plane a few days a week. It seems like an aviation company from a Wes Anderson film. There was also a private pilot’s WhatsApp number that would be passed around in various group chats. You could book his four-passenger plane directly through him.
Normal people with normal jobs were booking private planes to get from Puerto Escondido to Oaxaca City. That’s how rough the old road was.
Now, the highway takes around three hours and you can take an ADO bus from the terminal in centro for around $20 or 400 pesos one way.
Protip: I use Busbud for all bus bookings in and around Mexico. The app or website gives you every available option and has always worked perfectly for me.
What to do:
I’ve been to Oaxaca City six times now. It’s hard to separate the trips in my muddled memories. It’s also difficult to recall what happened on that first trip over five years ago.
I love that when I visit Oaxaca now, there’s nothing I should do. I’ve ticked every important box. Some boxes have been ticked three or four times. From these multiple visits, I do have a few stronger recommendations of things I think you really should do. In general, these suggestions below are about how I think you should approach your time in the city.
Eat everything. I’ll include a list of places you might want to try in the Insider Info section below, but honestly, the internet is already full of that. I will say, it’s one of the best food cities in the world, so you can’t really go wrong. Google some stuff and try a bunch of different things. Be sure to check off Oaxacan mole (try a few types), chocolate, cheese, and different varieties of artisanal mezcal. You’re doing great if you consume all of those things. La Cosecha (pictured above) is the one specific food rec I will share. It’s an open-air food court with big shared tables and a bunch of lovely affordable options.
Drink everything, especially mezcal. Oaxaca City is surrounded by mezcal farms, fábricas, and vendors. It’s probably the best place in the world to explore the magical clear liquid. Go for a tasting at Mezcaloteca if you want to really learn about the different mezcal varieties and production methods. They run a top-notch tasting operation that’s basically a one-hour graduate course in mezcal. Also, if you have time, visit one of the farms on the outskirts of the city. (More info below.)
Visit the markets! Oaxaca City is jammed full of markets. I could write an entire “market guide” if I wanted to focus only on this aspect of what the city has to offer. For this guide, I’ll just say, do a bit of research based on your specific interests, and go wander through a few of the markets. They’re all exploding with colors, smells, and lovely people selling their wares. Some of the major ones to check out include Mercado Benito Juarez, Mercado 20 de Noviembre, Oaxaca Artisan Market, Mercardo de la Merced, and el Mercado de Abastos.
There's art everywhere. Take in the street art. One of my favorite things to do in Oaxaca City is to simply wander. Every single street is interesting. Every single street has beautiful art.
Visit Arbol de Tule, the fattest tree in the world (photo above). It’s not the tallest, but it sure is the girthiest. It’s located about 9 kilometers to the east of the city center. When you arrive, you’ll find a whole small world built up around the tree. There are restaurants, beautifully manicured parks, and vendors of all types. According to Wikipedia, It is so large that it was originally thought to be multiple trees, but DNA tests have proven that it is only one tree… The age is unknown, with estimates ranging between 1,200 and 3,000 years. It’s a sight to behold, so definitely go check it out.
Bike Recco: On my first visit to the tree I rode a bicycle that I borrowed from my hostel. If you want more of an adventure and a workout, I’d recommend that plan! There’s a very affordable bike rental shop in town as well, right next to La Cosecha.
Other fun stops to make:
If the new highway didn’t exist, there would be too much to say in this section. The old road that connects Oaxaca City to the coast is full of beautiful little mountain towns covered in Pine Trees. I’ll save San Jose Del Pacifico and San Mateo for future Adventure Guides. Both places are so charming they deserve their own write-ups.
As it is now, the highway takes you directly into Oaxaca City. It’s not that there aren’t any stops worth visiting on the new highway, it’s that there aren’t any stops. I don’t think there’s a noteworthy on- or off-ramp for the entire three-hour drive.
So, instead of sharing stops along the way, I’ll give you a fun mission just outside of the city. And you guessed it, it involves mezcal.
One of the more memorable events from my brother’s bachelor party was a tour and tasting at Fábrica de Mezcal Mal de Amor. It’s almost an hour east of the city center, but very much worth the effort. The tour is fascinating, and after learning about the farming, production, and distillation methods, you get to sample a wide variety of mezcal in a beautiful setting. I forget the exact cost of the tour and tasting, but I remember thinking it was a very fair price.
This mezcal fábrica (factory) outside of the city is the only one I’ve personally visited, but there are many other fábricas, tasting rooms, and ways to learn about the sacred liquid in this general direction from Oaxaca City.
Make a day of it, friends!
Pro tip: If you set off for this plan, it’s probably best to hire a driver for the day!
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Insider info: (The Botanic Gardens and all of my Oax City starred locations on Google Maps)
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