Private Historic City Tour + Street Food Of Oaxaca - Best Rated

Great walking tour at a great price that showed us places to see and eat in the city. The tour included the local markets which was nice to see.

If you never been to Oaxaca city take the private tour. Very personal to what we like. Art food culture.

It was Day of the Dead and very crowded but Julia did a great jog navigating us around. We toured the market, the cathedral, learned history (Julia has a degree in anthropology), she pointed out some interesting architectural buildings. We had an interesting meal with locals and some street food and beverages. When we came across some wedding celebrations Julia stopped and explained what was happening. An important note - it was dark, it was crowded, and there were trip hazards everywhere. Julia took special care to point those out and I’m sure that saved us from a fall or two! Personable guide and great orientation tour to Oaxaca Centro.

Wonderful. Highly knowledgeable and sweet.

Very interesting, nice walk through Oaxaca. Diego takes the time to answer all your questions in detail.

This was one of the worst tours I have ever done with Viator. I reached out to Viator when we returned home the same night and they were unable to assist us in a partial refund as this tour has so many 5 star reviews (which I read before booking). I have used Viator for years and have only had the best experiences time after time. Not tonight. I am giving a star because our guide was honestly a nice guy. But being a good tour guide takes a certain kind of outgoing personality. It’s not just easy tourist money. Tonight our guide had zero plan. We booked weeks in advance for a 6pm tour (offered by the tour) and right away the guide stated unfortunately at this time of day nothing was open. This is absolutely NOT TRUE, there are hundreds of delicious night food stalls open and in Oaxaca City, surrounded by fascinating historic buildings. Also at the beginning of the tour our guide stated he was going to do a “shorter” tour because it could rain. Which seemed unfortunate since we paid in full and had our rain gear ready to go. Our tour ended up being 1.5 hours long and we tried two foods, rice pudding and pastor tacos. It did rain for a short time, but we all had umbrellas including the guide. I want to mention here this the third time I have booked a food based tour in Oaxaca City, with different visiting friends, and the other two tours were fantastic. I can’t not warn you enough, do not book this tour. Luckily we were able to salvage our night on our own, albeit feeling ripped off.

Most overpriced disappointing tour we did in all of Mexico. Complete burn of time and money. We booked on a 6pm tour and while the guide seemed relaxed and knowledgeable, this tour just was not worth it for the price and didn’t cover what was promised in the description. Promised 3 hour walking tour but that only covered 2.8km in TOTAL, checked Apple Watch to confirm it. That’s less than 1km per hour and we ended up asking to cut short because we were starving. No street food really seen as markets were closing. We didn’t special request the time, that was a standard time offered. Figures 6pm a good time for food and history and made sense. As the tour started at 6pm, after first 30 mins it became obvious that due to markets closing the food component was incredibly light. So light that we cut the tour short to go to a restaurant by ourselves after 2.5 hours as we were starving and walking in all circles not covering a lot because things were closed. History was sort of there but incredibly unstructured and the few places we arrived at were just closing, closed or not at this time. Saw one mural the whole tour. Just didn’t get to know city well at all. Couldn’t tell if it was poorly structured tour or it shouldn’t have been offered that late in the day but it was a complete waste of time and money for the price. The guide was a nice guy but something just wasn’t working. Told our hotel what had happened, what we’d done and how long and they were disappointed and suggested contacting the provider. I contacted the provider day after the tour and seems like they are more of a booking agency than the full tour structurer and. operators and didn’t seem like even based in Oaxaca. Offered me a discount on other tours in other cities but I just wasn’t going to burn more time on it especially after I’d had great experiences with other operators. Tried to offer some sensible feedback but got pretty copy paste responses. Redid a tour with another operator in the city a day later and was a lot different for effectively less than half the price. Simply put, I wouldn’t bother. Biggest waste of money in our whole Mexican trip across 4 locations.

Perfect itinerary mix between sites and small bites and getting a sense of what’s where. Zaid our guide was so affable, easy to hang out with, a great source of general information, things to do and Oaxacan knowledge. 10/10!

Our tour with Zaid was so informative. I wouldn’t say there was a huge emphasis on food, we didn’t eat much, but we got such a great historical tour of Oaxaca, covered so much ground, saw so much architecture, and got so many great tips, that I’m very glad we did this at the start of our trip. Zaid is also planning to send me a customized list of places to hit on our subsequent days.

We had a great time with Oscar. He was very knowledgeable and took us on a very nice tour in the center of Oaxaca. He was also very attentive and educated

It was lovely to walk around the city with a guide explaining historical events. Our guide was Zaid and he was very sweet and friendly.

The guide was friendly, polite and very knowledgeable, his English was excellent. The food was delicious and the history was very interesting. Thank you so much.

It’s a great way to explore old town and see many historic and interesting sites. We also learned a lot about Oaxaca culture and history.

Vero was fantastic, super patient with my 83-year-old woman and we edited the tour to fit her tolerance.Vero gave us a lot of history and information, Saw a lot of art and galleries and learned a lot about the Oaxacan history. I wish it was a bit more food focused with trying different foods but we did run out of time. Overall an excellent tour!

Great tour. We were 2 families, with 4 kids between 11 and 13, and it was great. Never too much walking between stops, a great mix of food and history/information, and a great tour guide. Zaid was the best - great energy and soul.

Zaid brought us all around the city center to various markets and museums. It was a great time and he made it fun the entire time!

We had a great time with our guide Diego. He showed us around the city and did a wonderful job explaining and pointing out different buildings, art, and plazas. We enjoyed going to his favorite spots at the market as well.

Our guide Martin was very friendly and accommodating. This tour is stated as a historical tour but not too much history was provided. He took us to his favorite eating spots and all were very good. He did tell us we were his first tour.

We absolutely loved our time with Vero. She is very knowledgeable about history and culture, is very kind and fun, and was flexible towards our interests. We tried many different classic Oaxacan tastes, she took us all over to different areas we hadn’t visited yet, it was so fun!

Angel was an excellent guide. Really informative and gave us a great insight into Oaxaca. Also mentioned good coffee shops and restaurants. His English was excellent and a real pleasure to spend the time with him. Thank you Angel

It was a fantastic tour, Oscar was brilliant and very passionate about his city. I’d highly recommend to anyone visiting Oaxaca

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…)

Yes, our tour guide, was excellent. We tried champurrado, atole, hot chocolate and mole tamales. Every stop was full of history and foods to try. I would totally recommend this tour.

Oscar is a very passionate guy full of knowledge. He was flexible and adjusted the guided tour based on what we said we’re interested in. His English is great! We did this on our very first day in Mexico and now we know what to do with the next days we have here in Oaxaca. Would really recommend!

Oscar was the perfect guide for our Oaxaca food and city tour—incredibly kind, knowledgeable, and genuinely passionate about sharing his city. What made the experience truly special was his flexibility; he tailored the entire three hours to our interests, taking us to hidden markets we never would have discovered on our own. His insights into the local food scene and culture made everything come alive, and he struck the perfect balance between being informative and letting us explore at our own pace.

Angel was a wonderful guide, who shared a lot of interesting details about history and culture. The food part only included 3 stops, one of which was closed, so the tour was a little short on food. Overall we really enjoyed the experience and would recommend it.

I booked this tour for my daughter and I during Dia de Los Muertos weekend. So glad we did this tour. Our guide, Oscar, was great! He picked us up at our hotel, we walked to downtown and basically took a circle around the town. We stopped to eat and would have been hesitant to wait in the lines, it seemed a bit overwhelming due to the crowds, but I am grateful he convinced us to wait it out. It was actually not a long wait at all and he helped to pass the time with details of the shops around us. This is the best part of tours such a this. We would’ve missed out on so much of the history, which we love, and knowledge of the town without the help of a guide. Oscar even took our pics at some of the stops around town. We thoroughly enjoyed this tour and Oscar!

Oscar was a very friendly and knowledgeable guide. Enjoyed the tour and the street food at 20 de noviembre. We had a great time!

We had a great tour with Oscar! He was very personable. We learned a lot about the history of Oaxaca and the very creative artist who live here. The walking was easy and enjoyable in this beautiful city. We enjoyed a delicious lunch together.

We loved spending a few hours with Yesi! She was so welcoming and knowledgeable. We were able to try some of the best street food in the city without dealing with a language barrier. Our favorite was the memelas! We were also excited to learn about our spirit animals, local festivals, and wedding traditions. Our tour finished at La Cosecha Organico Mercado, which had great food and drinks, and a string quartet playing to add to the atmosphere. Highly recommend!

Our guide, Oscar, was great. He spend many years in the States. His English was great. Very relatable, very personable. Tailored the tour to our needs.

We had such a wonderful time with Oscar! We were searching for authentic art that benefits the local community, and Oscar showed us so many wonderful places to purchase art, knowing the proceeds, go directly to the artisans. He gave us wonderful local insights we never would’ve had without a private tour. Highly recommend!

We had a great evening with Oscar - he was incredibly friendly and super knowledgeable. We tried some delicious food at the market, including crispy grasshoppers (!), as well as some sweet treats that we hadn’t come across before. The walking tour around the city after the food was also great - lots of sites to see and key places that we had previously missed! To note: Our tour started at 6pm which meant that some places were closed, so maybe worth booking a little earlier. Also note that the food is an extra cost, but everything was a reasonable price.

Our tour guide Oscar was very knowledgeable and interesting. Highly recommend. Always nice to experience the culture of others.

Oscar was spectacular in more ways than one. He texted us in advance, arrived even early, and was super friendly. He shared interesting information about the city, took us to major historic locations of the town, and made us have special experiences trying different authentic foods and drinks. I will refer my friends to hire Oscar when they visit beautiful Oaxaca. Thank you, Oscar, for your wealth of knowledge, your professionalism, and patience answering all of our questions. Viva Oaxaca y viva Mexico! ❤️

This was a great tour of the city. The guide was incredibly knowledgeable about Oaxaca and it's wonderful markets and food

We had a great time with our guide Oscar. As well as the main attractions he showed us lots of great little spots we would have otherwise walked past! He pointed out lots of places to eat and drink that we have tried and enjoyed and showed us through the markets and how to order at the Passillo de Humo. The tour organisers were also very helpful and responsive. Overall an excellent experience and the best start to our 5 days in Oaxaca.

Our guide Sofia was a gem. She was sweet, knowledgeable about history, culture and foods. The best of all, she is a professional photographer who has a great taste in many things. It was one of the best walking tour experiences and street foods. I highly recommend this tour to anyone who loves Mexico.

Oscar was nice and friendly. We went on trip with our pace, he showed us around with many local bars and restaurants that was much recognizable by tourists and local fresh food markets. He also explained many local handwork art shops and historical sites. Highly recommended for a easy day of city walk

Sofia was wonderful! We got to see parts of the city we hadn’t before and got lots of historical and architectural insights. The food spots were great and we ended the tour with full bellies and hearts. Our day ended with over 20,000 steps. We would be happy to book another tour!!!

Oscar was the best! Very kind, explained everything so well & gave us a great tour of the city! Thank you so much!

Sofia was a great guide and very accommodating about customizing the tour to what we wanted to see and do. It was our first day in Oaxaca and this was a great way to learn about the history and culture of the city as well as learn our way around the Centro. Definitely recommend this tour as a way to familiar with the city!

Stand out was our guide Oscar. Who was a genuine & gentleman and made us understand the story of Oaxaca

We had a wonderful time yesterday! Gabo was incredibly knowledgeable and professional — we all thoroughly enjoyed the tour and learned so much from him.

We had a wonderful afternoon learning about the history of Oaxaca. Visiting historic sites and the markets. Our guide Oscar really tailored the experience to what we were interested in. He even gave us suggestions of restaurants to try. We look forward to trying some of the places he suggested. A great tour and a great way to learn about Oaxaca!

Sofia was our guide and she was wonderful. She was kind, professional and knowledgeable about Oaxaca, its history, and all of the places we walked and visited were fantastic. Sofia was born in Oaxaca and has lived here all her life. The food part of the tour was so delicious. I loved also seeing all of the artists we visited. We are so grateful for this tour. I would highly recommend it.

This was a very good and informative tour of Oaxaca Centro and Virginia is really wonderful and knowledgeable of the history of the churches

This is a fantastic tour, Rolando went out of his way to take us around the city. Once he learned what our interest are he adjusted our tour to take us to parts of the town we’d never been to before, even tho we’ve visited Oaxaca 3 times prior. He also brought us to some amazing art galleries and local vendors to watch them craft their good in person. I cannot express enough how amazing of a tour this was to me and my family.

Great experience. Would recommend to take this early on during your trip. You get a great idea of wear everything is. Yesi was a fantastic tour guide. Very knowledgeable and friendly.