We've got great news for those of you asking for another Oaxaca Gastronomad Experience this year: We've added one in December by request! The newest and next Oaxaca Gastronomad Experience takes place December 7 - 13, 2024. Sign up fast to grab your spot!

Oaxaca is such an amazing and singular city that we talk about it all the time to people we meet. And we've found that around one third are familiar with Oaxaca, a third have heard of it but don't know much, and a third never heard of it.

For the last two years that Travel & Leisure readers rated all cities in the world together in one ranking (2022 and 2023), Oaxaca was ranked the number-one city in the entire world to visit.

That’s quite a statement. But for us, Oaxaca is a truly special, wonderful place.

Why? Well, so many reasons. First, the food is legendary. Oaxacan food dominates the highest rated restaurants in Mexico City (both Pujol and Quintonil feature Oaxacan ingredients and dishes). And some of the hottest new restaurants in New York and Los Angeles are Oaxacan restaurants. (Brooklyn's Sobre Masa, which we tried last month, is excellent. Full disclosure: We’re friends with the chef’s father.) And during the Oaxaca Gastronomad Experience, we give you exclusive access to the greatest food, chefs and food producers in Oaxaca.

Oaxacan food isn’t “Mexican food,” for the most part. It uses the most traditional methods, including wood-fired comales, unique ingredients (herbs like hoja santa) and comes in forms most Americans have never encountered (tlayudas, memelas and tetelas). Some foods and drinks that many consider Mexican, generally, are Oaxacan, specifically — mole, for example, and mezcal. There's also an elegant, refined side of Oaxacan food, especially when prepared by the city’s top chefs (who happen to be our personal friends).

The weather is amazing. In December, when parts of North America are below zero, Oaxaca is in the 70s. Oaxaca almost always has clean, clear blue skies with puffy white clouds rolling by.

Half the population of the state of Oaxaca is indigenous peoples, who maintain Oaxaca's legendary traditions of beautiful wool weaving, black pottery, wood carving, basket making and others. Indigenous Zapotecs, Mixtecs and other groups are also responsible for the brilliant food culture, most of which predates the arrival of the Spanish in the Americas.

And the best thing about Oaxaca is the people, who tend to be warm, friendly and extremely talented at whatever they do — especially in the realm of food, mezcal, arts and crafts.

But there's another truly special and unique dimension to Oaxaca, something we call the Oaxaca aesthetic. Oaxacan places and objects and clothing and buildings and crafts are created with an exquisite Oaxacan style that exists nowhere else. That style is about natural elements, super bright colors, mesoamerican iconography, fire smoke, geographical oddities from the Oaxaca Valley and always a human touch.

It all adds up to a state of mind that feels like a happy dream. And when you join a Oaxaca Gastronomad Experience, you’ll be transported into the soul of Oaxaca. It transcends ordinary travel. And it’s magical.

Feel it for yourself this December.