This year, magazine Travel + Leisure asked its readers to vote for the 25 best cities to visit, and unsurprisingly, the #1 city is Oaxaca .
Moreover, besides being the best city to visit in the world in 2020, the magazine also named Oaxaca as the best city to visit in Mexico.
According to the magazine, Oaxaca has it all: food, art, architecture, history, mezcal , and handicrafts, with one voter describing it as “One of the most delightful cities I've ever visited.” It also emphasizes its markets, museums, and archeological sites.
Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco proudly shared the news and said that the list also included another three Mexican cities: San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato; Mexico City, and Mérida, Yucatán.
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Meanwhile, governor Alejandro Murat shared his excitement about the award and said that he is proud “to work for Oaxaca.”
Things to do in Oaxaca
1. Eat at the Benito Juárez market
2. Visit Monte Alban, an archeological site
3. Get lost in the food and art markets
4. Drink mezcal
5. Learn about pre-colonial art at the Rufino Tamayo Museum
6. Visit the Ethnobotanical Garden
7. Stop by the Templo de Santo Domingo
8. Attend the Guelaguetza
9. Drink hot chocolate and eat “pan de yema”
10. Explore Oaxaca city on foot
11. Take a cooking class
12. Eat grasshoppers and chicatanas
13. Visit the Oaxacan Cultures Museum
14. Stop by Hierve el Agua
15. Purchase beautiful jewelry, clothes, bags, and more from local artisans
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Oaxaca
Oaxaca was founded by a group of Aztec soldiers in 1486 after emperor Ahuitzotl deployed to the banks of the Atoyac River to monitor the King of Zaachila, who cut down a part of the guaje forest to build homes.
Hundred of years later, the city named was changed to "Oaxaca de Juárez", in memory President Benito Juárez.
In recent years, the world has set its sight on Oaxaca for its rich culture , traditions , and gastronomic heritage . The state of Oaxaca has everything: beautiful buildings, archeological sites, natural wonders, incredibly complex gastronomy, exceptional restaurants, and mezcal shops.
One of the best dates to visit Oaxaca is on the Day of the Dead, on November 1 and 2 so that you can authentically experience the tradition.
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Gastronomy
Oaxaca is known for its delicious food and beverages. One of the most delicious and ancient dishes is mole in different varieties such as black, red, yellow, green, and red. Another iconic dish is the famous “ tlayuda ,” a gigantic tostada slathered with beans, meat, avocado, cheese, salsa, and grasshoppers. Other delicacies include corn on the cob, tamales, ice cream, bread, and more.
On the other hand, Oaxaca has a large variety of drinks such as hot chocolate, tejate, aguas frescas, tepache, pulque, and mezcal.
Oaxacan cuisine is the result of a clash between two worlds: ancient ingredients such as corn, beans, cacao, tomato, chile, grasshoppers, worms, and other ingredients brought there by colonizers, including pork, beef, chicken, cheese, bread, lard, among other ingredients.
In 2019, Food and Travel Mexico, a magazine specialized in traveling and gastronomy, named the city of Oaxaca as the Best Foodie Destination in Mexico.
This recognition is granted to “places in the country whose values and gastronomical traditions made you visit them time after time,” describes the publication.
Other cities of the country that competed for the title of “Best Foodie Destination” were Puebla, Mérida, and San Miguel de Allende, but Oaxaca was the winner thanks to its traditional gastronomy so valued in the country and all over the world.
This is not the first time Oaxaca’s culinary wealth has been recognized, for, in 2008, the Congress of the State-appointed it Intangible Cultural Heritage of the state of Oaxaca.
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