Planning a trip to Oaxaca City
Orientation
Arriving By Plane -- The airport is a 20-minute cab ride south of town. Buy a ticket at the window on your left as you exit the airport. A private cab is 150 pesos; an airport van is 48 pesos per person for downtown locations, more for other areas.
The same company provides service from the town to the airport. Transportes Terrestres Aeropuerto Oaxaca (tel. 951/514-4350), is on the Alameda, in the building facing the cathedral. It doesn't accept phone reservations, so drop by Monday through Saturday from 9am to 2pm or 5 to 8pm to buy your ticket and arrange hotel pickup. The cost is 48 pesos from downtown hotels, 90 pesos and up from outlying hotels, and more if you have extra luggage.
Arriving By Bus -- The ADO first-class bus station is a mile north of the center of town. The taxi ride to the city center is 30 pesos. If you're coming from the Pacific coast, you may arrive at the Central Camionera de Segunda Clase (second-class bus terminal), next to the Abastos Market. It's 10 long blocks southwest of the zócalo.
Visitor Information
A tourist information office (tel./fax 951/516-0123) is at Calle Independencia 607, corner of García Vigil, in front of the Alameda. It shares the building with the Museo de los Pintores, and shares the same hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 8pm.
City Layout
Oaxaca's east-west axis is Independencia. When streets cross Independencia or the north-south axis, Alcalá/Bustamante, their names change. The city's center is the zócalo, a large square surrounded by stone archways, and the Alameda, a smaller plaza attached to the northwest part of the zócalo. Oaxaca's cathedral faces the Alameda; its Palacio del Gobierno faces the zócalo. A few blocks to the north is Plaza de Santo Domingo. The area between these open spaces holds most of the historic district's shops, hotels, and restaurants. Two streets that run from Santo Domingo toward the zócalo -- Alcalá and Cinco de Mayo -- are partly closed to traffic.
Getting Around
Getting Around
By Car -- Alamo offices are at 5 de Mayo 203-A (tel. 951/514-8534), and 5 de Mayo 315-A (tel. 951/514-5653), and at the airport (tel. 951/511-6220; alamo.oaxaca@hotmail.com). Rental cars in Oaxaca are expensive, and the process is not exactly streamlined.
By Taxi -- If you want to reach some of the outlying villages, I recommend hiring a taxi or signing up for a tour. Most taxi drivers have set hourly rates for touring the Oaxacan valleys. A trustworthy and careful taxi driver who speaks English is Tomás Ramírez (tel. 951/511-5061; tomasramirez@prodigy.net.mx).
By Bus -- Buses to the outlying villages of Guelatao, Teotitlán del Valle, Tlacolula, and Mitla leave from the second-class station just north of the Abastos Market. Colectivos leave for nearby villages from Calle Mercaderes, on the south side of the Abastos Market.
Fast Facts
Area Code -- The telephone area code is 951.
Consulates -- The Canadian Consulate, Pino Suárez 700-11B (tel. 951/513-3777), is open daily from 11am to 2pm. The U.S. Consular Agency is at Alcalá 407, Int. 20 (tel./fax 951/514-3054). Hours are Monday through Friday from 10am to 3pm.
Currency Exchange -- Casas de cambio cluster on the streets at the northeast corner of the zócalo, at Alcalá and Valdivieso. These places have short lines and better hours than banks. Several exchange Canadian dollars.
Doctor -- Dr. Carlos Arnaud Carreño is a reputable internist at Calle Reforma 905 (tel. 951/515-4053). Hours are Monday through Friday noon to 2pm and 4 to 8pm.
Internet Access -- Many Internet access services and cybercafes are in downtown. Most are along Alcalá and around the zócalo and the Plaza Santo Domingo.
Post Office -- The correo is at the corner of Independencia and Alameda Park. It is open Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm, Saturday from 9am to 1pm.
Seasons -- April and May are the hottest, driest months. (Also in May, rural teachers invade the zócalo and create havoc in the downtown area while they demonstrate for higher wages.) The rains come in June and improve things considerably. June through March, the city is most enjoyable. High seasons for tourists, when you can expect higher hotel rates, are late July and August (especially around the Guelaguetza), early November (around Day of the Dead), the month of December, and during Easter.
Getting There
Getting There & Departing
By Plane -- The airport (airport code: OAX) gets limited international service. Continental ExpressJet (tel. 800/523-3273 in the U.S., or 01-800/900-5000 in Mexico) has nonstop service to and from Houston. Volaris (tel. 01-800/122-8000 in Mexico) flies to and from Tijuana. Aeroméxico (tel. 800/237-6639 in the U.S., or 951/516-1066) offers flights daily to and from Mexico City through Aeroméxico Connect, its regional carrier. Aerovega (tel. 951/516-4982 in Mexico) flies a seven-passenger twin-engine Aero-Commander to and from Puerto Escondido and Bahías de Huatulco once daily (twice if there are enough passengers). Make arrangements for Aerovega at the Monte Albán Hotel facing the Alameda (next to the zócalo, or town square). The cost is 1,100 pesos.
By Car -- It's a 5 1/2-hour drive from Mexico City via the toll roads. Take Hwy. 150D east toward Veracruz to Cuacnoapalan, 80km (50 miles) beyond Puebla (250 pesos in tolls), and then south on Hwy. 150D to Oaxaca (270 pesos in tolls).
By Bus -- First-class and deluxe buses to and from Mexico City use the toll road, or autopista, and take 6 to 7 hours. A few make a short stop in Nochistlán, which isn't much of a delay. Most buses leave from Mexico City's TAPO (east) bus station. There is infrequent service to and from Mexico City's Central del Norte (north), and the Central del Sur (south, also called Taxqueña). No service runs from the Mexico City airport. The main bus station in Oaxaca is on Calzada Niños Héroes.
ADO (Autobuses del Oriente) and its affiliates handle the first-class and deluxe bus service. Your options are primera clase (ADO), with almost hourly departures and a one-way fare of 426 pesos; de lujo (ADO GL), with between three and five departures per day for 510 pesos one-way; and servicio ejecutivo (ADO Platino, which used to be called UNO and is still going through rebranding changes), with one to five departures per day for 726 pesos one-way. De lujo has the same seats as first class, but more legroom, free soda and bottled water, and separate bathrooms for men and women. Servicio ejecutivo has all this plus superwide seats that recline far back. During holidays, you need to reserve a seat. Native Oaxaqueños living outside the state fill the buses for the Day of the Dead, Holy Week, and Christmas. It's possible to reserve seats over the Internet for the higher levels of service, and to check departure times and prices at www.adogl.com.mx and www.uno.com.mx.
Buses serve Tuxtla Gutiérrez and San Cristóbal de las Casas (four overnight buses); Puebla (10 a day); Veracruz (three a day); Villahermosa (two a day); and Huatulco and Puerto Escondido, on the coast (two a day). It takes 10 hours to reach Puerto Escondido by bus because they go by way of Huatulco.
You can buy your tickets ahead of time at one of the downtown offices of Ticket Bus. One is across from the northeast corner of the zócalo, at the intersection of Hidalgo and Valdivieso (tel. 915/516-3820). There's also one at Porfirio Díaz 102-A, just north of calle Independencia (no phone). Office hours are 9am to 9pm, except Sundays, when they open from 11am to 7pm.
