Oaxaca Routes

Oaxaca is one of the most beautiful states in Mexico, a place blessed with majestic destinations that receive daily praise from its guests. Discover the panoramic views of the city, enjoy its natural landscapes and get to know its colorful towns that host and share its ancient traditions with hospitality. Discover the main tourist routes and dare to explore everything that the state has for you.

Routes Map

Oaxacan greatness is not limited to the capital. The neighboring towns have archaeological zones, colonial and Porfirian buildings, community museums, handicrafts and natural beauties, etc., to such an extent that tourist routes have been formed to make it easier for visitors to explore this vast amount of attractions.

Valles Centrales is the geographical and cultural region of the center of the state of Oaxaca. It is a set of three river valleys located between the Mixteco Nudo, the Sierra Juárez and the Sierra Madre del Sur. These three valleys make up a kind of "Y", each of whose arms has a specific name: to the northwest is the Etla valley; to the east, the valley of Tlacolula; and to the south, the valley of Zimatlán-Ocotlán or Valle Grande. On some occasions, the region is called the Valley of Oaxaca, because the city of Oaxaca is located there. The Central Valleys were the geographical area where the Zapotec culture developed, whose main urban center was Monte Albán. After the abandonment of this city by the Zapotecs, a constellation of small city-states that had remained under the rule of the Zapotec metropolis had its time of flowering. Towards the end of the pre-Columbian history of Mesoamerica, Los Valles received the influence of the Mixtec culture and later fell under the rule of the Mexica. The Valley of Oaxaca has always been distinguished by its textile and pottery production, which although in past decades was common throughout the region, today it has become a specialized activity, typical of a few towns. The textile production that processed cotton and wool has currently been limited to this last fiber, with which blankets, shawls, girdles and blouses that are dyed with aniline and in some places traditionalist with substances are made natural, as in Teotitlán del Valle. Within the pottery, the Atzompa pottery is famous, which is glazed in green and the San Bartolo Coyotepec black clay pottery with its characteristic unglazed pieces, with a metallic sound, for whose firing old ovens are used. In addition, baskets, huaraches and mats woven with reed or palm are produced, among other crafts.