Oaxaca 1-day itinerary

Start early at Mercado Benito Juárez in the heart of the centro histórico, where vendors have been selling Oaxacan produce, mole pastes, chapulines (toasted grasshoppers), mezcal, and handmade chocolate since the colonial era. Walk the aisles slowly and sample freely — this is the best introduction to the flavours that define Oaxacan cuisine. From the market, walk north through the pedestrianised streets to the Zócalo, the tree-lined central plaza surrounded by arcaded restaurants and the imposing 16th-century Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption. The morning light is ideal for photographing the green cantera stone facades.

Walk north on Alcalá — Oaxaca's main pedestrian street lined with galleries and mezcalerías — to the Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán, one of Mexico's most ornate baroque churches with a gilded interior that took 200 years to complete. Adjacent is the Centro Cultural Santo Domingo housing the Museum of Oaxacan Cultures and the extraordinary Ethnobotanical Garden, which showcases the region's native plants including agave, cactus, and the trees that produce copal incense used in Zapotec ceremonies. Continue to the textile museum and street art murals in the Jalatlaco neighbourhood.

Oaxaca is the heartland of mezcal, and the best way to understand this smoky agave spirit is at one of the city's mezcalerías. In Situ or Mezcaloteca both offer guided flights with explanation of the agave varieties — espadín, tobalá, madrecuixe — and the artisanal distillation process. For dinner, find a street-side tlayuda vendor near the 20 de Noviembre market: these enormous crispy tortillas spread with black bean paste, asiento (unrefined pork lard), Oaxacan string cheese, and topped with tasajo (dried beef) are the city's signature street food and best eaten standing at a plastic table under fluorescent lights.