3 Towns to Visit in México
When most of us travel, we tend toward resorts, beaches, or golf. Because of that predilection, most travel blogs write about the best places to do just those things. This is for the person who maybe doesn’t even consider themselves travelers. This is for the people who want to really start to get to know a place.
If you want to get to know México, the first thing you want to do is visit different regions of the country. I was amazed at the regional differences in culture, food, and people in some of the different places. The key, though, is getting to know the people. Let’s get started.
Puebla
Puebla is a city of about 3 million people in the entire metro area. This makes it a manageable city and, if you are near downtown, also very walkable. You should be drawn to the Avenue of Artists, which is next to the artisan market. These are wonderful places to sit at an outdoor café and drink coffee that was likely grown in Oaxaca. (You will immediately think you should go to Oaxaca, and you should, but let’s finish our coffee.)
For dinner, head to El Mural de Los Poblanos, you will probably not recognize a good portion of the menu as we don’t even get a sliver of the culinary delights that México has to offer. I would recommend that at least once, you try the mole tasting. Basically, it is a flight of five different moles from the region. Personally, I go back and forth between the Pipián Verde and the Manchamanteles as my favorites.
Although you can go from morning to night, I recommend visiting El Venado y el Zanate at least once at night. It feels very much like you’re in a dungeon, and you might catch a punk or blues show. You might even catch a bachata dance party. This bar/restaurant is all over the place in all the best ways. There is also a tattoo studio and an art gallery if you venture out of your cell. They also have some artisanal beers available.
Speaking of artisanal beers, check out Cafebar Profética. You can get breakfast, lunch, dinner, or cocktails here as well. There is also a bookstore attached to the café/bar. The thing I like about these places is that you never have to leave. When you do leave Cafeprofética, check out the bulletin board near the door. People advertise all sorts of films, music, dancing, poetry readings, yoga, and the like. I saw flyers for Advance Ballet and Tango, which offers a free introductory class. I took classes at a much smaller studio called Tango y Vida. I find when I take classes like these, I get to meet some lovely people. I highly recommend taking a class when you are in a new place. It offers a completely different perspective than most travelers get.
Oaxaca
Now that they finally threw you out of El Venado and el Zanate, you should head down to Oaxaca. There are a few things you will want to do here. Of course, you’re going to want to go to one of the Mezcal distilleries. I recommend Mezcal don Agave. It is about 25 kilometers from downtown but well worth it. You can get a tour, lunch, and a tasting. I walked away with a small bottle of cannabis-infused mezcal, which has a nice herbal flavor.
While you are in Oaxaca, get some tamales. If you haven’t been there, you have never seen tamales like this. The ones I had at various locations were cooked in banana leaves and infused with black mole. (Yes, yet another mole and probably number 3 on my ever-growing list of favorite moles.) If you’d like to buy some mole, or some chocolate for that matter, visit La Soledad, if you ask nicely, they may show you how they make chocolate from cacao.
There are a number of rooftop bars in Oaxaca that are worth the visit. Try Restaurante La Terraza de Tita or La Terraza del Copal, and you may want to go more once during the day and once at night just to get the different views.
Lastly, there is a little café restaurant that is on 5 de mayo just off of Calle de Gurrión near the Santo Domingo plaza. It was such a little dive that I don’t even think it had a name. I had a surprisingly perfect baguette while I was there. I wrote a short story about the place that I called Uncertain Café because I couldn’t see a name for the place anywhere, and it was so tiny that I struggled to get a decent picture. I could have asked, but I thought that would have ruined the charm. I say good luck finding it, and if you can’t, that really doesn’t matter because you might stumble into your own dive place and fall in love.
Cuetzalan
Cuetzalan is one of the Pueblos Mágicos, and it truly is a magical place. The roads in town are mostly cobblestone, the architecture is mostly colonial, and the people are wonderful.
I’m going to go away from my plan of avoiding touristy things to recommend doing one of the eco-tours around Cuetzalan. You can swim in waterfall basins, zip line, and hike to your heart’s content.
When you get hungry, you should head over to Taol. It is a little more high-end than most of my suggestions, but it is well worth it. I was there with a group of 14 people, so I got to try a number of dishes, and everything was wonderful. Right now, I’m looking at photos of some of their offerings, and I want to hop on a plane and head back.
For your coffee fix, I recommend Cafetales, which is right on the town square. Wander around the market for a bit, try the moletes from the woman in the phone booth at the bottom of the stairs, and then head back up to Cafetales. The intimate nature of this place invites conversations with people. I met and talked to a few people in Cafetales, and this is how you get to know a place.
Henry James Morello 