Mexico
Oaxaca City
Seven varieties of mole simmering in a city where every wall is an altar to colour.
The air in Oaxaca smells of roasting chillies, toasting grasshoppers, and wood-fired mezcal. Every surface in the centro histórico is painted, tiled, or carved — this is a city that cannot help being beautiful, even when it is not trying.
UNESCO-listed since 1987, Oaxaca City is the cultural and culinary capital of southern Mexico. Seven distinct regional moles, over 200 mezcal palenques within driving distance, and the thunderous Mercado 20 de Noviembre — where vendors grill tasajo over open coals — establish it as arguably the finest food city in the Americas. The city's Zapotec roots run deep: Monte Albán rises on the hilltop above, and indigenous languages are spoken daily in the markets. Contemporary art galleries, textile workshops, and Día de los Muertos celebrations that feel genuinely spiritual rather than performative make Oaxaca a place that transforms visitors. The Guelaguetza folk festival in July draws dancers from across the state's eight regions. The surrounding valleys yield archaeological sites, weaving villages, and mezcal distilleries — each worth a day trip.
Solo
Mezcal tastings at source, cooking classes in family kitchens, and market exploration at your own pace — Oaxaca is a solo traveller's paradise.
Couple
Rooftop dinners overlooking Santo Domingo, morning walks through the ethnobotanical garden, and candlelit mezcal bars make this one of Mexico's most romantic cities.
Friends
Group mezcal crawls, market food tours, and day trips to Hierve el Agua and Monte Albán — Oaxaca delivers shared experiences that become lasting stories.
- Seven distinct regional moles, mezcal palenques, and the Mercado 20 de Noviembre make this Mexico's culinary capital.
- UNESCO World Heritage centre with baroque churches and a Zapotec archaeological site on the hilltop above.
- Dia de los Muertos celebrations here are among the most authentic in Mexico, drawing pilgrims not cruise ships.
- Over 200 mezcal producers within driving distance — tastings at source, not in a bar.
Mezcal tastings in candlelit palenques where the distiller's grandfather planted the agave.
Chapulines — toasted grasshoppers with lime and chilli — crunching like savoury popcorn in the Mercado 20 de Noviembre.
Mole negro ladled over turkey in family comedores that have served the same recipe for five generations.
Rye
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Cobblestoned lanes so steep and crooked even the houses lean in to listen.
Shell Grotto, Margate
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Millions of shells arranged in unexplained mosaics beneath a mundane street — origin unknown.
Abydos
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Temple paint vivid after thirty-three centuries, concealing an underground granite chamber that still puzzles archaeologists.
Casabindo
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Argentina's only bull ceremony strips ribbons from horns at 3,400 metres each August.
San Miguel de Allende
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Colonial light turning pink at dusk, every doorway hiding an artist's courtyard.
San Cristóbal de las Casas
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Highland mist curling through colonial arcades where Tzotzil women weave galaxies into cloth.
Guanajuato
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A city poured into a canyon, its houses stacked like a tumbled box of pastels.
Hierve el Agua
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Petrified waterfalls frozen mid-cascade above a valley, their infinity pools warm and mineral-green.