11 Tasty Reasons to Escape the City

One of the charms of visiting Oaxaca is the short day trips to neighboring towns, each just a quick drive away. Each community takes great pride in its culinary traditions, leading to unique flavors and textures in staple dishes like mole, empanadas, and aguas frescas that vary widely from place to place. Many towns boast regional delicacies that are best experienced locally, such as a tlayuda topped with savory foraged mushrooms in San José del Pacífico or a crispy empanada de San Antonino in Ocotlán de Morelos.

This guide highlights the top day trips (or two-day adventures) from the capital, aimed at discovering these local delights. The ideal time to visit each town is during the tianguis (open-air market) day, as it serves as the community's heartbeat and guarantees access to authentic food and drink specialties.

Helpful tips: Oaxaca’s public transportation system is convenient, with bus stops scattered throughout the city leading to your destination. The concierge at your accommodation can guide you, and fellow travelers at bus stops are usually eager to assist. If you're opting for a rental car, take advantage of the numerous food and drink stalls along the route.

Heading south from Oaxaca City:

Zaachila Village

Distance: 15.6 km southDrive time: 39 minutesMarket day: ThursdayMust-try dish: Barbacoa and nieve de leche quemada

Historically, Zaachila was the capital of the Zapotec empire and is located just 30 minutes from Oaxaca City. Today, it has a population of about 43,000, residing near an archaeological site. The town is famed for its barbacoa de rollo, a distinct local version where beef is wrapped in avocado and maguey leaves before roasting. For the best barbacoa, visit Pedro Mendez at Carnicería “Dulce Nombre de Jesús” during the Thursday market—his is considered top-notch.

This town is also renowned for its smoky leche quemada ice cream, a soft, milk-based treat that’s intentionally burnt slightly at the bottom of the pot, lending it a delightful burnt-milk flavor. This dessert has roots in the nearby Sierra Norte town of La Nevería. According to Oaxaca’s Nieve Museum, one of the first ice cream families in Oaxaca, established in 1877, strategically opened their shop near archaeological sites, including Villa de Zaachila.

San Bartolo Coyotepec

Distance: 16.2 km southDrive time: 36 minutesMarket day: FridayMust-try dish: Piedrazos

San Bartolo Coyotepec, just 25 minutes from the city, is famous for its black clay pottery and a variety of pickled goods—vendors offer pickled mango, jicama, plum, and other local fruits and veggies. Here, you must try piedrazos (“hard stones”), a dish featuring bread that’s baked, then toasted, and dipped in pickling brine, served alongside pickled produce and quesillo (cheese). The town’s array of pickles contributes to the diverse vinegars that soak the bread, and the flavors are notably robust. While Barrio Trinidad in Oaxaca City gets most of the attention for piedrazos, my family prefers La Reyna del Tejate, a women-owned establishment in San Bartolo, known for its distinctively tangy pickles, including local jicama and plums.

Ocotlán de Morelos

Distance: 35.8 km southDrive time: 1 hourMarket day: FridayMust-try dish: Empanadas de San Antonino

Located about an hour from Oaxaca City, Ocotlán is the go-to place for the freshest meats. Every Friday, an open-air market operates next to the renowned livestock market, El Baratillo. This market is known for its barbacoa blanca (lamb barbacoa roasted in maguey leaves) and regional enfrijoladas made with dried, toasted black beans instead of freshly pureed ones.

Ocotlán is particularly famous for its empanadas de San Antonino, which are well worth the journey to San Antonio Castillo Velasco. These empanadas feature a freshly made thin tortilla stuffed with a rich yellow chicken mole—this masa-thickened mole is a beloved Indigenous technique from Oaxaca. They are gently sealed at the edges and cooked slowly on a low-heat comal, allowing the mole to simmer within and creating a crispy edge that contrasts beautifully with the saucy center. Enjoy them with fresh cilantro, charred chile de agua, pickled onions, and fresh limes. While the exact origins of this empanada are unclear, local matriarchs often trace its history back to the 1850s.

Ejutla de Crespo

Distance: 66 km southDrive time: 1 hour, 24 minutesMarket day: ThursdayMust-try dish: Salchicha Ejuteca

Ejutla is famous for its smoked local sausage known as salchicha ejuteca, made from a blend of beef and spices. During the day, vendors flock to the town center, selling it by the link for later enjoyment or served between two crispy tostadas with hierba de conejo (bean paste) and a generous dollop of guacamole. This dish, called tostada de salchicha ejuteca, is enjoyed like a sandwich and is one of Oaxaca’s most overlooked staple foods.

San José del Pacífico

Distance: 140 km southDrive time: 3 hoursMust-try dish: Foraged mushrooms

Numerous travelers from Europe and the U.S. flock to this misty mountain community to experience mushroom trips, but beyond Psilocybe mexicana, you'll discover a variety of other edible foraged mushrooms prepared in soups, alambres (au gratin), empanadas, tacos, and tlayudas. It’s not unusual to find mushrooms resembling and tasting like expensive American varieties, such as hen of the woods featured in a guisado or atop a tlayuda. For a drink, head to La Taberna de Los Duendes, a bar known for its mezcal infused with local wild herbs, creating aperitif-style beverages.

Driving east from Oaxaca City:

Teotitlán del Valle

Distance: 28 km eastDrive time: 42 minutesMarket day: Every day before noonMust-try dish: Anything made with masa

Teotitlán is celebrated for its exquisite handmade textiles as well as its high-quality masa-based delicacies, predominantly made from local heirloom corn in various hues. This flavorful masa elevates even the simplest dishes, like an empanada de flor de calabaza (quesadilla with fresh squash blossoms), to a must-try level; the same magic happens with memelas, tamales, and traditional drinks like atole blanco (a warm beverage made from fresh nixtamalized corn masa and water), atole de panela (sweetened with unrefined brown sugar), and champurrado (atole enriched with Mexican-style chocolate).

Tlacolula de Matamoros

Distance: 31.3 km eastDrive time: 45 minutesMarket day: SundayMust-try dish: Lamb barbacoa

If you make just one day trip while in Oaxaca, it should be to the vibrant Tlacolula Sunday market, the largest tianguis in the region. Here, you'll find everything from clay mezcal glasses to locally crafted canvas bags and freshly roasted cacao among the numerous market stalls. This expansive market boasts entire sections dedicated to sopa de pata (a rich beef broth made from trotter and tender beef cheeks), tasajo (grilled meat), and rustic pan dulce. The highlight, however, is the market's spicy red barbacoa, served in a savory stew with meat immersed in a zesty broth. My family has been visiting Barbacoa Adolfa for decades; its owner, Dona Adolfa, serves both goat and lamb, accompanied by fresh tortillas. Find a spot to sit and enjoy the great service: servers will bring your drink of choice from anywhere in the market right to your table.

Mitla

Distance: 44.7 km eastDrive time: 58 minutesMust-try dish: Fried plantains

Mitla is one of Oaxaca’s most spiritually significant locations. Known since pre-Hispanic times as the gateway to the underworld (the name Mitla comes from a Nahuátl term meaning just that), it is particularly famous during the Day of the Dead for its pan de muerto, celebrated for its soft texture and intricate hand-drawn designs. Throughout the year, don't miss the local fried plantains. After sunset, vendors in the town plaza serve fried plantains, which are flattened and draped over pots to cook, resembling laundry hanging out to dry. These sweet treats are then topped with sweetened condensed milk before being enjoyed.

Cuajimoloyas

Distance: 57.7 km northeastDrive time: 1 hour, 27 minutesMust-try dish: Mole amarillo de hongos on a potato tortilla

Cuajimoloyas, the nearest dense forest to Oaxaca City, offers a tranquil escape into nature. This chilly and misty mountain community is famed for its nourishing atole rojo (colored with annatto seed), a variety of mushrooms, and its unique potato tortillas known as tortillas de papa.

Capulálpam de Méndez

Distance: 73.1 km northeastDrive time: 1 hour, 48 minutesMust-try dish: Fresh-caught trout

Capulálpam de Méndez, a rural community nestled in the wilderness, is famous for outdoor adventures like zip-lining and stargazing, alongside its culinary highlight: wild trout from the local river. Locals are eager to prepare your fresh catch just the way you like it—grilled, garlic scampi style, fried, or stir-fried with chili, served with rice and black beans. For a standout dish, visit Truchas El Jacal de Pulpis in nearby Ixtlán de Juárez, known for its trucha empapelada, or trout baked in parchment.

Santa María Tlahuitoltepec

Distance: 114 km eastDrive time: 2 hours, 32 minutesTianguis day: SaturdayMust-try dish: Machucado, if available

The Saturday open-air market in Tlahuitoltepec stands as a vibrant hub of Oaxaca’s Indigenous culture, showcasing the freshest wild herbs such as watercress and a ceremonial drink known as tepache con rojo. This unique beverage is made from pulque fermented in clay pots with panela (unrefined brown sugar), toasted crushed corn, and cacao, all tinted a rich terra-cotta red with crushed annatto seeds.

This town is also celebrated for its traditional tamales, prepared in a pre-Hispanic style without any lard or fat in the masa. You can find hearty potato-filled tamales and salted sweet corn tamales, all wrapped in fresh corn husks. Vendors also offer a distinctive tostada topped with a seasoned paste made from dried peas. The true highlight of the region, often reserved for special occasions, is a Mixe dish called machucado, which consists of a ball of partially cooked masa seared in a hot pan and then gradually finished with tomato sauce. It’s typically enjoyed communally alongside a stew of tender squash vines or with grilled meat and quelites. If you’re lucky enough to be invited to a festive meal here, this is a dish you won’t want to miss.

Bricia Lopez is the co-owner of the James Beard Award-winning restaurant Guelaguetza and the author of Oaxaca: Home Cooking From the Heart of Mexico. Javier Cabral is the James Beard Award-winning editor at L.A. TACO and co-author of Oaxaca: Home Cooking From the Heart of Mexico.