Mountains, beaches, tropical rainforests, deserts - Oaxaca has it all!

¡Bienvenidos a Oaxaca!

The opportunities for exploring México’s fifth-larget state by bike are almost limitless. With a vast range of microclimates and elevations, ranging from deserts to rainforests to high-altitude coniferous forests, travelling in Oaxaca can sometimes seem like muliple countries inside just one state.

The cultural context is also amazing. Of the 570 municipalities in Oaxaca, almost a quarter of the total in all of México, the majority have opted out of the formal political process to follow indiginous traditions known as ‘Usos y Costubres’. While Spanish is the most widely spoken language in Oaxaca, you’ll find most place names are in Náuhuatl, the language of the ancient Mexicas – and also the official language of the Virreinato de Nueva España – while local communities continue to speak indigenous languages including Zapoteco, Mixteco, Chinanteco and at least ten others.

And what’s perhaps most interesting, with the exception of Oaxaca de Juárez and the beaches of Huatulco, the huge state Oaxaca seems completely undiscovered by the outside world.

Travel the highways, backroads and ‘terracería’ dirt roads of Oaxaca by bike, and it’s like you’re discovering it all for the first time. This must be what all of México used to be like.