Oaxaca: markets by day, mezcal by night

Oaxaca city is Mexico's food capital, and its markets are the classroom. The 20 de Noviembre market has a smoke-filled meat hall where you pick your cuts and they grill them; Benito Juárez market next door sells chocolate, chapulines, and the seven moles. Day trips go to Monte Albán's ruins (go early) and the mezcal villages around Santiago Matatlán, where small producers sell by the bottle. In July, the Guelaguetza festival fills the city; book months ahead.