Top Oaxaca Private Sightseeing Tours

We took Diego’s walking tour on our very first day in Oaxaca, running on little sleep after an early flight, and it ended up being the perfect introduction to the city. Starting in the Zócalo, where a large teachers’ protest was taking place, Diego did an excellent job explaining not only the history of Oaxaca but also the different perspectives surrounding the protest. Rather than offering a one-sided narrative, he thoughtfully explained both the benefits and challenges of the movement, helping us better understand the city, its people, and its politics. From there, we explored many of Oaxaca’s most iconic sites, including the Cathedral, Teatro Macedonio Alcalá, Andador de Macedonio Alcalá, Centro Cultural San Pablo, Iglesia del Carmen Alto, Mercado Benito Juárez, and Mercado 20 de Noviembre. Navigating the city center and the maze of protest tents would have been intimidating on our own, but Diego guided us through it with ease. One of the highlights was learning about Oaxaca's vibrant street culture. Diego explained the meaning behind the murals, protest posters, stickers, and graffiti that cover many of the city's walls. What initially looked like random street art became a fascinating window into Oaxaca's history, social movements, and community identity. The markets were another standout. Diego introduced us to local vendors, explained the significance of many regional foods and products, and even helped us order fresh juice and a traditional Oaxacan breakfast when we were absolutely starving from our flight. That small gesture made us feel less like tourists and more like welcomed guests. To top it all off, we finished at a fantastic local coffee shop, the perfect ending to a morning packed with history, culture, food, and local insight. By the end of the tour, we felt oriented, informed, caffeinated, and genuinely connected to Oaxaca. If you're visiting the city, especially for the first time, I can't imagine a better way to begin your trip than spending a few hours exploring it with Diego.

This is a brilliant way to learn how to cook a traditional Oaxacan meal with a vegetarian twist. Victor made us feel included, and happily shared his knowledge -: from going to the local market to select ingredients, to making and eating a wonderful meal including mole, rice, guacamole, tortillas, empanadas and fruit. Drinks included traditional chocolate, mezcal and Jamaica juice. Highly recommended.

This was an exceptional tour! My friend and I were the only people who booked on so we ended up getting a private tour (we were very impressed that they didn’t cancel!) Francisco was an incredible and very attentive guide! He answered all of our questions, offered to adapt the tour to best suit our preferences and gave us time to explore each of the workshops ourselves. We really appreciated the time he spent in the market with us highlighting different local foods - my friend loved the enchilada he recommended! All of the workshops we visited were amazing, and we were grateful to all of the artisans for sharing their skills and expertise with us. We’re backpacking for a few months with limited bag space/budget so we took the tour to learn more about the local artistic traditions rather than to buy souvenirs from the workshops (as much as we would have loved to!). We were initially a little nervous when we were the only two who showed up that we might seem rude if we didn’t make purchases, but we needn’t have worried as there was absolutely no pressure to buy from any of the workshops. We would definitely recommend this tour to anyone!

Monte Alban is spectacular! We chose a private tour because the history of the site is complicated and wanted a more in-depth guide experience to better understand the history and archeology of the site. Our guide Fernando was outstanding and he was expert in all things Monte Alban. He was patient with all of our questions and led a well paced tour based on our interests. Pickup at our private accommodations was on time and he was an excellent guide/driver with perfect English skills and great preteip communication via the app. This was one of the highlights of our trip. General advice- go early in the morning before it gets too hot, take water and wear sturdy shoes.

This trip with Oscar was an incredible experience into local tales, as well as exploring the stunning waterfall park itself. Oscar did a great job providing additional context and details to local folklore and culture. He was receptive to plenty of questions for those with curious minds. He was also helpful and encouraging when it came to traversing some of the more complicated sections of the trail. The food to conclude the excursion was simply outstanding.

I truly found this food tour was excellent! Perhaps the best of this type I ever participated in. Papi was terrific - knowledgeable, interesting accessible and patient. He brought me to many wonderful food stations and I sampled a wide variety of delicious Mexican food. He also shared important information about the history, culture and trends in Oaxaca throughout our time together. I highly recommend him and this tour to all travelers seeking Oaxaca culinary experiences (and much more…)

We had arranged private transfer from the airport to our hotel. When we exited the airport, the driver was waiting for us with a named sign and a very big grin on his face to welcome us. The driver was personable and friendly. This experience was a great start to an incredible holiday. Would highly recommend.

This horse ride takes you through a beautiful landscape that crosses three rivers and ends at hot springs. Your guides, Willy and his father in law, are excellent and knowledgeable. The horses are very well behaved and the guides are experts in handling the horses. Overall, this is an amazing experience, especially if you love animals and nature.