• Private Tour
• Instantly Confirmed
• Carbon Neutral

Want to see the best of Oaxaca? We got you covered. But as you can expect from a Withlocals experience, the real excitement is its hidden gems. Join your favorite local and get a feeling of the city's real vibe on a tour that has it all, so you can say: I experienced the real Oaxaca!

Destination

Oaxaca, Mexico

Category

City Highlight Tours

Duration

3 hours

Transport mode

Walking tour

Available languages

English, Español

Included

• Private Guide
• Local Drink or Snack
• All Withlocals Tours are Carbon Neutral

Excluded

• Entrance to Attractions

What you can expect

Choose your local

Get to know these 7 passionate locals, each bringing unique perspectives and talents. Choose your favorite, check their availability, and book to create an unforgettable adventure tailored to you.

This is the plan

Check out the plan below to see what you'll get up to with your local host. Feel free to personalize this offer with the host of your choice.

1. Meeting point

   Meet at the kiosk at Plaza de Constitucion(the Zocalo) - Oaxaca to start your journey

   View on Maps

2. Itinerary

   This is what our experience could look like, but it’s not set in stone! Once you book, you can chat directly with your host to make small tweaks to suit your preferences.

3. City Highlights

   See from Zocalo, Governors Palace, Templo de Santo Domingo , and other landmarks and must-sees of the city. Your local host will take you to the main spots in town so you can get the perfect overview of what makes Oaxaca so unique

4. Hidden Gems

   Along the way, your local host will show you treasures hidden in plain sight that only the locals know about. Get to know the city through a different perspective, the local way, and discover places and stories that not many tourists experience

5. Magical Storytelling

   Behind every landmark and every stop, there’s a story, and your local host is ready to tell it all. Get ready to listen to incredible stories, one-of-a-kind insights, and fun facts only a knowledgeable local would know!

6. Special Treat

   Follow your host to one of their favorite eateries for a snack or a drink beloved by the locals. Take a break and catch up with your new local friend and get the answers to all your travel questions

7. Make it yours

   Want to tweak the itinerary? Book directly & chat afterwards with your host to adjust highlights, skip stops, or make small changes to fit your preferences.

   Book risk-free: Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund.

   Need something special? Personalize your experience for more time, alternative locations or a completely tailored plan.

Flexible cancellation policy

• Feel confident booking

  Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund. Even up to 7 days before your experience, you’ll receive a refund, minus the service fee.

• Change of plans?

  Reschedule your experience to a date and time that works best for you.

• Loved by travelers worldwide

  Simple and flexible – your plans, your way.

Reviews from guests

Brian🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

6 May 2025

Tanivet was a great guide for us to do the highlights and hidden gems walking tour. She pointed out a lot of places for us to consider during the rest of our trip, and was a wealth of knowledge about Oaxaca, its cultures, customs, celebrations, neighborhoods, and history. She was so warm and welcoming and was a great way for us to kick off our time in Oaxaca. Highly recommend.Tanivet is one of the highlights!

Kathy

(About local Tanivet)

27 April 2025

We loved our tour with Tanivet yesterday. She was knowledgeable, patient, and shared fascinating facts with us. She speaks English perfectly well, and was patient with us trying to learn Spanish. I highly recommend her as a tour guide!What a fantastic tour guide!

Conor🇮🇪 Ireland

(About local Rolando)

16 April 2025

Rolando tailored our tour to meet our preferences which resulted in a really fascinating few hours. He was particularly strong on the architectural, historical and craft perspectives. Great tour guide! Very flexible on timings etc tooWonderful introduction to Oaxaca

Luis Pablo🇲🇽 Mexico

(About local Tanivet)

11 April 2025

Muy buen inglés conocimientos amplio de la historia Muy bien

Lansford

(About local Rolando)

19 March 2025

Rolando was so knowledgeable. Great personality. Easy going. I would highly recommend his tour. Excellent

Jessica

(About local Rolando)

16 March 2025

Highly recommend Rolando! He’s an extremely knowledgeable and interesting guide. We had a fantastic time!Fantastic Tour

Ashley

(About local Tanivet)

10 March 2025

My mother and I were most fortunate to have chosen Tanivet for the “hidden gems” tour. Tanivet is a phenomenal tour guide! She met us at our B&B, asked what we’d already seen in Oaxaca de Juarez, and then modified our tour plans to show us areas of town that we’d not yet visited and that we likely would not have discovered on our own. We wandered through El Llano Park (once a zoo!), toured Jalatlaco while taking in loads of great murals, stopped in a couple of stores selling art and handicrafts, sipped a refreshing aqua de chilacayota while sitting outside by a 300+-year-old coqui to tree. All the while, Tanivet shared fascinating information and/or history about what we were seeing, and she answered all of the random questions we came up with. Tanivet is extremely knowledgeable about Oaxaca de Juarez and surrounding towns. About twenty minutes into our tour, I remarked about how much I’d learned already! Additionally, Tanivet is warm, kind, annd thoughtful, and has a great sense of humor. We enjoyed our tour so much, that we immediately recommended Tanivet to a couple staying at our B&B. Now, I’m happy to recommend her to you! She is fantastic, and I would schedule another tour with her if I were still in Oaxaca de Juarez. Our time spent with her was one of the highlights of our trip. Thank you, Tanivet!Choose Tanivet!

Bennett

(About local Tanivet)

10 March 2025

We had just arrived in Oaxaca and Tanivet was waiting at our Airbnb to meet us, couple with two adult children, for our walking tour. She kindly waited as we got settled and then off we went. I cannot say enough what a great way to be introduced to Oaxaca than by touring the city on foot with Tanivet. We knew very little of the town before we left home and gained so much knowledge of Oaxaca, its culture, its places of interest, and its people in three short hours. She is warm, funny, and kind, but most of all her wealth of local knowledge and ability to communicate (in English) was outstanding. We had not eaten lunch so mid-tour we asked if we could stop to get some food. She accommodated us by taking us to a small local restaurant to get tacos-simple and outstanding. I point that out because the tour while planned also allowed for flexibility. We all throughly enjoyed the tour and especially getting to know Tanivet. It was an outstanding way to start our travels in Oaxaca!Absolutely Book a Tour with Tanivet!

Phillip

(About local Tanivet)

26 February 2025

Enjoyed a three hour walking tour with Tanivet our first full day here. She was knowledgeable, personable and customized our tour to our needs. We appreciated that she took us to places we might not have seen, showed us the aqueduct and took us to some terrific artisan workshops. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience!Excellent Walking Tour: Oaxaca Centro

Carol

(About local Rolando)

22 February 2025

My tour with Rolando was exactly what I wanted. A brief overview of the Zapotec & Mictec peoples and the Conquest with a more in depth discussion of the development of the city as reflected in its architecture. We stopped for a delicious snack, and visited a few artisans in the Barrio de Xochimilco. I highly recommend a tour with Rolando for an introduction to Oaxaca.Perfect

David

(About local Rolando)

20 February 2025

Rolando is an excellent tour guide!! Knows the City really well and has great information about the history of the city. We saw some amazing artisans that we never would have seen on our own. Well worth it!!Great tour

Phyllis

(About local Sofia)

18 February 2025

Four of us took a walking tour with Sofia. We met her in the zocalo where she was easily identifiable. We had a lot of questions and Sofia was happy to answer them as we went to each location. I would say that if you are looking for an introduction to Oaxaca with a very happy, enthusiastic and energetic tour guide this tour is great for you!Oaxaca city walk

Mary

(About local Raquel)

15 February 2025

Raquel gave us a five-star tour of Oaxaca’s highlights and hidden gems. Her passion for the city and its peoples and its artists was infectious. She took us into artisans homes where they demonstrated their art for us. A scheduling mistake was n the morning was quickly dealt with and we had our fabulous 3 hour tour later in the day. I would recommend Raquel to anyone. She is the best.Five-star tour of Oaxaca’s highlights and hidden gems

Ronald

(About local Tanivet)

11 February 2025

Tavinet is an excellent guide and we enjoyed our walk through some nice neighborhoods with her. She is very knowledgeable about the city and its history and we learned a lot about Oaxaca as we walked. The story of the aqueduct that provided water to the town in earlier times was particularly interesting. The tour with Tavinet was definitely worth our money and time. Great Walk in Oaxaca

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(About local Raquel)

10 February 2025

Raquel gave us a good introduction to Oaxaca, focussing on just what we wanted to know. She’s a lovely person. Highly recommend her as a guide.Great person to spend time with

Naomi

(About local Tanivet)

24 January 2025

We had an excellent experience with Tanivet. She was clearly motivated to help us see as much of Oaxaca as we could in the time that we had, and shared about her city with passion and energy. As a result of her tips and knowledge, we got much more out of our trip than we would have had we not toured with her. I recommend this trip for anyone who wants a local's understanding of Oaxaca city. Perfect way to see Oaxaca!

Grenville

(About local Tanivet)

21 January 2025

Colleen🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

12 January 2025

A very informative and fun tour with Tanivet. She took us to places and artisans that we never would have found by ourselves and gave us a great overview of the history and important sites in beautiful and colorful Oaxaca. A wonderful tour of the gems of Oaxaca

Laura🇨🇦 Canada

(About local Sofia)

11 January 2025

Our guide Sofia was excellent in many ways. She is knowledgeable about all things 0axaca. She shared many artisan places with us. The authentic Oaxaca. We have travelled to many places in the world and have had some tours. She is definitely in the same category as them. She knows her city very well. The Beauty of Oaxaca

Marcia🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

11 January 2025

I had a wonderful time with Tanivet as we walked through the different neighborhoods of Oaxaca. She was knowledgeable, interesting, had a great sense of humor, and was really fun to spend time with. I highly recommend Withlocals. This is the third time that I’ve done a Withlocals tour and all of them have been amazing. Absolutely delightful!

Nadia🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Tanivet)

10 January 2025

We loved our tour with Tanivet and are so glad we did it. She is extremely knowledgeable and gave us so much information about Oaxaca, its history, architecture, different neighbourhoods and food. Excellent

Torrie🇨🇦 Canada

(About local Tanivet)

6 January 2025

Tanivet took us to an area of Oaxaca that we had not explored and showed us the hidden gems. She explained the history of the city and added her perspective. She also answered questions that we had and gave some great suggestions for restaurants. We were 2 adults with an infant and she was very accomodating. Highly recommend!Great tour

Holly🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

23 December 2024

We thoroughly enjoyed our walking tour of Oaxaca with Tanivet! She is a sweetheart and gave us a lovely orientation to the city, and lots of helpful suggestions and advice. We stopped at a stand for a scrumptious lunch stop that we never would have known about or done on our own. We couldn’t have enjoyed our time with her more!Tanivet is a delight!

Bev🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

18 November 2024

Tanivet was an exceptional guide for our tour in Oaxaca. She showed us wonderful sites, was extremely informative, and spoke beautiful English. Tanivet has a passion and very educated that made the tour so interesting and fun. She also made the tour based on our personal interest. Our friend had her as a guide a year ago and recommended her to us. I will make sure anyone who goes to Oaxaca knows about Tanivet and With Local tours. Thanks Bev Johl An amazing guide!

Merryn🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Tanivet)

16 November 2024

My friend and I really enjoyed our 3 hour tour with Tanivet and thoroughly recommend booking a tour with her. She led us on an engaging and informative stroll through Oaxaca effectively responding to our interests. She also kindly went out of her way to help me out with a small request. Thanks Tanivet. Great tour!

Art

(About local Raquel)

4 November 2024

Great intro to Centro Oaxaca. Raquel provided us with a great insight on the history and current trends, plus introduced us to the local must see spots.Welcome to Oaxaca!

Larissa🇧🇷 Brazil

(About local Raquel)

4 November 2024

Raquel is a great guide! She took us around Oaxaca giving us a lot of information about the city, its culture and people. We took the tour in Spanish and she made sure my mom felt included (my mom only speaks Portuguese). She made our experience in the city much more fun!Great guide!

Kaye🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

2 November 2024

We were met at our Airbnb by Tanivet on November 1. Immediately I knew we were going to learn and have fun! She is kind, knowledgeable and has a good sense of humor. We spent 3 hours learning about History, Oaxaca, Dias de Muertos and our host. I highly recommend her. If I had time I’d book her again for another tour of anything!A walk through Oxaca with Tanivet

kendra

(About local Tanivet)

1 November 2024

Tanivet is amazing. My friend and myself did a 3 hour city tour and we learned so much about Oaxaca. We went to neighborhoods I didn’t know about, learned about murals and different buildings, received great history lessons and were given information about some recommendations we should do while in town. Tanivet herself is very nice, great English, and knows Oaxaca like the back of her hand. Highlight of our trip for sure. Highly recommend booking a tour with her. A fabulous guide

Dalia

(About local Tanivet)

25 October 2024

I highly recommend you book the city tour with Tanivet. She is friendly and very knowledgable with the history of Oaxaca and knows the area well. Thank you again for being an outstanding guide. Wonderful city Tour

Bryan🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Tanivet)

13 October 2024

Tanivet was a true local, born, bred and steeped in her community. After checking, she took us on a walk away from downtown into areas full local artisans pursuing their craft. Areas with interesting murals and stories of how the city was born and developed. History, archeology, architecture and social discourse. The fight for water and the environmental consequences. We came away knowing and respecting so much more of Oaxaca, its people and its environment. We also learnt a lot about downtown and had all of our questions answered. Three hours of fun. Off the beaten track in Oaxaca

Leigh Ann🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

27 September 2024

This is a can not miss experience when visiting Oaxaca! See things you would never find on your own, and get a better understanding of the city, both historically and culturally than you otherwise would. Tanivet was incredible and I feel lucky to have spent time with her!Best tour in Oaxaca!

Stephen🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

23 September 2024

Really great tour with Tanivet. She taught us a lot about the history of the city and region and adapted the tour to highlight our interests including the wonderful street art. Would definitely recommend!Amazing tour!

Gerry🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

6 September 2024

Tanivet gave us a great walking tour of Oaxaca. She was clear in communication, prompt in arrival, and warm in personality. We visited artists studios that we never would have found and we also had great food. We learned a lot about history, culture, and community. Thankfully Tanivet's English is VERY good, as our Spanish is below minimal. She was such a great guide that we hired her a second day for a tour of a market, a graveyard, and to help us navigate some shopping. We had a good dinner, and after we’d parted she returned to our Airbnb to deliver an item I’d left behind at a shop which she had taken the initiative to recover for me. She’s a kind person, as well as well-educated, knowledgeable and informative. Should I return to Oaxaca I’ll hope to be able to hire her again. Tanivet is a fantastic guide!

Marta🇨🇴 Colombia

(About local Tanivet)

4 September 2024

Tanivet nos mostró sitio que no hubiéramos ido si no fuera por ella. Probamos comidas locales deliciosas. Fue paciente y amable. Muy recomendadaMuy amable

Cindy 🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

13 July 2024

Tanivet is very knowledgeable. We very much enjoyed our tour with her. I eespically enjoyed leaning more about Jalatlaco and the cemetery. This is my 5th time in Oaxaca and she showed me a very cool place i have never seen before. What a wonderful surprise! Thank you Tanivet! Wonderful local guide

Dean🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

23 June 2024

We loved spending the morning with Tanivet, walking Oaxaca Centro from the mercados to Xochimilco (a neighborhood we would not have discovered on our own). Tanivet has a wealth of knowledge about the history, traditions and culture of Oaxaca and Mexico. She brings special insight as a Oaxaca native with deep roots here. We highly recommend a tour with Tanivet. Great morning with Tanivet!

Zaina🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

11 June 2024

Our walking tour of Oaxaca with Tanivet was truly exceptional. Her deep knowledge and infectious passion for the city illuminated every step of our journey. Highly recommended for anyone seeking an insightful and immersive tour of this captivating city. She was very accommodating for our group throughout the tour!Great Tour!

Shauna 🇨🇦 Canada

(About local Tanivet)

13 May 2024

During our first day in Oaxaca, my daughter and I were fortunate to have Tanivet as our guide as we explored the areas of Centro and Xochimilco. She led us to places that we would never have discovered on our own, and it is evident that she is deeply passionate about imparting the rich history of the city of Oaxaca to others. Without a doubt, the tour stood out as a highlight of our visit to Oaxaca. We highly recommend a tour with Tanivet to anyone seeking an enriching and memorable exploration of the city's history and culture!Unforgettable tour with Tanivet!

Claire🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Tanivet)

2 May 2024

We stayed in Oaxaca for a few days in April and I am so pleased we did this walking tour. Tanivet was warm and friendly and had so much knowledge about the history of the city. We were showed a completely different side to Oaxaca which we would never have found ourselves. The tour takes you away from the more obvious landmarks and into old Oaxaca to meet some of the amazing artisans and experience some traditional flavours - could not have wanted anything more. Thank you so much Tanivet! Would 100% recommend

Ken🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Tanivet)

22 April 2024

Wow! What a great way to start our visit to Oaxaca. Tanivet was fun and very informative. A truly great way to start our time in this amazing city. Welcome to Oaxaca

Jamie🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

21 April 2024

Tanivet was knowledgeable and fun. The places that we went and the food/drinks that we tried, were things that we otherwise wouldn't have known about. I definitely recommend this experience!Great experience!

Melissa🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

4 April 2024

Hi enjoyed my private tour with Tanivet immensely. We covered a lot of ground as part of the Hidden Gems tour. We started in the Barrio of Jalatalco and just kept going. Her knowledge was priceless and she is very easy going. I speak Spanish with room for improvement and she teaches Spanish so it was fun chatting with her and getting some Spanish tips as well. I would highly recommend. An organic experience

Mark🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

14 March 2024

As advertised, a tour that is more off the beaten track. For pure history, there are museums and wikipedia, among others. This tour touched more on culture and life in Oaxaca, with dabs of history and socio-economics, and fun samples of food too. The aquaduct was fascinating. Thanks Tanivet!Thoughtful, interesting tour

Laura🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

27 February 2024

We had a wonderful tour with Tanivet. She is a Oaxacan native and shared great information about the local culture of Oaxaca. She took us to artisan studios and places in Oaxaca that we would have never seen. Highly recommend a tour with Tsnivet. W onderful tour

Sanne🇳🇱 Netherlands

(About local Tanivet)

14 February 2024

We had such a fun tour with tanivet. She’s a born and raised Oaxacan and showed us her beautiful city. We went to a Barrio, which we probably otherwise wouldn’t have gone to. It was so beautiful, we went to a local market, saw churches and visited some artisan ateliers. I’m so glad we went on the tour. Tanivet is lovely and very knowledgeable! Thank you Tanivet for today :)Highly recommend a tour with Tavinet!

Ann🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tanivet)

12 February 2024

Tanivet showed me some wonderful parts of Oaxaca that I wouldn't have known to visit on my own, especially the neighborhood of Xochimilco. I saw the old aqueduct, multiple artisan studios, and drank tejate in what had been the patio of an old house. All along our walk, Tanivet recounted the history of the city and of its traditions. She advised me where to buy mole and chocolate. It was a great afternoon! Wonderful afternoon off the beaten track

Jennifer🇲🇽 Mexico

(About local Tanivet)

12 February 2024

Tanivet es maravillosa! El tour súper interesante ; conocimos barrios desconocidos y siempre contaba historias tanto para adultos como para niños . Muy recomendable! Tour magnífico!

Nicole🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Tanivet)

10 February 2024

Thank you to Tanivet, she met us in the main square and we did a 3hr walk around Oaxaca, she was so informative about the history of this beautiful city and took us to see many beautiful things, she showed us how many families pass down the tradition of their family run businesses such as the weaving of textiles, tin making, chocolate making and we went to an organic market and tried the local cacao drink which was delicious! We then walked around the main local market (smoke alley) which serves different meats. We did try some little worms too 😝. Thank you Tanivet, you were and amazing guide, spoke good English and we had such a lovely day learning with you x

jim

(About local Tanivet)

7 February 2024

Tonivet is the best! She told us about and showed us fascinating things about Oaxaca. We enjoyed it so much. Next time we are here we will definitely take another tour with her!!Wonderful tour