The enormous main market, nearly 1km west of the Zócalo, is a hive of activity all week, with Saturday the biggest day. You can find almost anything here, and it's easy to get lost among the household goods, artesanías and overwhelming quantities of fruit, vegetables, sugarcane, maize and other produce grown from the coast to the mountaintops.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca
0.9 MILES
Got two hours? You'll need it for the Museum of Oaxacan Cultures, housed in the beautiful monastery buildings adjoining the Templo de Santo Domingo. This…
2.23 MILES
The former capital of the Zapotec people is today an illustrious ruin, but for over a thousand years it served as the second-largest ceremonial site in…
0.89 MILES
Gorgeous Santo Domingo is the most splendid of Oaxaca’s churches, with a finely carved baroque facade and nearly every square centimeter inside decorated…
26.41 MILES
Second only to Monte Albán in their importance, though not as old, the ruins of ancient Mitla date from the final two or three centuries before the…
3.38 MILES
If you like your pre-Hispanic Mexican ruins suitably ‘ruined’ and crowd-free without compromising on authenticity or spectacular setting, opt for Atzompa…
Centro de las Artes de San Agustín
9.67 MILES
Pretty San Agustín's large, early-20th-century textile mill has been superbly restored as the Centro de las Artes de San Agustín (CaSa), a spectacular…
6.55 MILES
Visitors flock to the village of El Tule to behold El Árbol del Tule, which is, by some counts, the fattest tree in the world. California's General…
0.61 MILES
Traffic-free, shaded by tall trees and surrounded by elegant portales (arcades), the Zócalo is the perfect place to start soaking up the Oaxaca atmosphere…
Nearby Oaxaca City attractions
1. Basilica de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad
0.42 MILES
Oaxaca doesn’t lack distinguished churches, but many locals rate the Soledad as their favorite. The original baroque facade dates from 1690; while the…
0.53 MILES
The 18th-century baroque Templo de San Felipe Neri is where Benito Juárez and Margarita Maza were married in 1843; Margarita was the daughter of Antonio…
0.55 MILES
Finely carved facades adorn the colonial Iglesia de La Compañía on the opposite side of the Zócalo to the cathedral.
0.58 MILES
A top-class museum, even by Oaxaca's high standards, showing off a wondrous collection of pre-Hispanic art donated by the city's most famous artist,…
0.59 MILES
A 19th-century wonder of marble and murals, the State Government Palace occupies the Zócalo's southern flank. The large, very detailed stairway mural …
0.61 MILES
Traffic-free, shaded by tall trees and surrounded by elegant portales (arcades), the Zócalo is the perfect place to start soaking up the Oaxaca atmosphere…
7. Museo de los Pintores Oaxaqueños
0.62 MILES
Changing exhibitions by artists from Oaxaca and elsewhere – often provocative contemporary work.
8. Catedral de Nuestra Señora de La Asunción
0.63 MILES
Oaxaca’s cantera stone cathedral is suitably massive and old, but in a city as culturally rich as Oaxaca, it is arguably only the third most impressive…