Oaxaca's Pueblos Mágicos by car: all 6 and routes

Six. The federal Tourism Ministry's list of Pueblos Mágicos (Mexico's “magical towns” programme) includes Capulálpam de Méndez, Huautla de Jiménez, Mazunte, San Pablo Villa de Mitla, San Pedro y San Pablo Teposcolula and Santa Catarina Juquila, and Sectur Oaxaca took the same six to the Pueblos Mágicos fair in September 2024. Capulálpam was named in 2008; Huautla, Mazunte, Mitla and Teposcolula in 2015; and Juquila in December 2020. Jalatlaco, in Oaxaca City, holds a different title: it's a Barrio Mágico.

If you read that Oaxaca “lost” its Pueblos Mágicos, that story is from June 2023: Quadratín reported that the list published that day left them out. That same month the ministry named 45 new towns and the national total reached 177; in December 2023 Sectur Oaxaca called for citizen committees for all six, and in 2026 it still publishes visitor figures for Mitla, Teposcolula and Capulálpam as Pueblos Mágicos.

Mazunte, about 66 km east on Highway 200: a little over an hour's drive without stops. It's the only one of the six by the sea and the easiest to do in a car rented in Puerto. Sectur Oaxaca highlights Punta Cometa, the headland that juts into the ocean with a 180-degree horizon, and the Centro Mexicano de la Tortuga, which displays five species of sea turtle. The route and the stops are already in our Punta Cometa guide; here's just the timing tip: arrive in the morning and, if you stay for sunset, sleep on the coast.

Yes, and it's the shortest mountain trip from Puerto. Sectur Oaxaca's «Ruta de la Fe Juquila» guide sets out the way: Highway 200 west to Río Grande and from there the Río Grande–Juquila road, which climbs to the sanctuary. It's about 100 km; a route calculation gives under an hour and a half, but tour operators in Puerto reckon on about two and a half hours, because the last stretch is mountain road. Leave early and pack a sweater: the same guide warns that Juquila has a mild climate because of the altitude.

People go to Juquila for the Sanctuary of the Immaculate Virgin of Juquila, which gets more than a million visitors a year, according to Sectur Oaxaca; in 2020 the state government called it the fifth-largest Catholic devotion in Mexico by number of visitors. The big feast is on 8 December, and in the days before it the roads fill with pilgrims on foot, by bike and by truck. If you're not on pilgrimage, avoid that week and the octave, eight days later, when a Guelaguetza is held in honour of the Virgin.

Mitla, Capulálpam and Teposcolula work as day trips from the capital; Huautla doesn't. The distances below come from a route calculation on OpenStreetMap from Oaxaca's Zócalo; add time for curves, speed bumps and stops.

Are they crowded? Not really, and that's part of the appeal. According to Sectur Oaxaca's bulletin for January to June 2026, Mitla received 6,506 tourists, Teposcolula 4,061 and Capulálpam 3,598, with hotel occupancy of 13%, 28% and 10%. Over the same period Puerto Escondido received 620,594. Outside long weekends and patron saint festivals, these are towns to explore at your own pace.

On the Barranca Larga–Ventanilla highway, which links the coast with the Central Valleys; a route calculation gives about 191 km from Puerto to the Zócalo. Tolls, road conditions and where to get petrol are in our guide to the new highway, so we won't repeat them here. Can you drive up in a vehicle rented in Puerto Escondido? Some KORU providers allow taking it to the capital, into the mountains or to another state, subject to availability and each provider's decision; confirm it when you book.

If you're touring the coast's Pueblos Mágicos, go to korurent.com, search for Puerto Escondido and enter your dates: you'll see which cars and SUVs are free, with their daily price. A car is all you need for Mazunte and Juquila; for the mountains or Oaxaca City, some KORU providers allow it, subject to availability and each provider's decision; confirm it when you book.