Oaxaca for Small People Who Like Balloons

My children came for chocolate and left with a giant inflatable rabbit.

Oaxaca turned out to be the most child-friendly city I have ever visited, mostly because its main square is permanently stocked with balloon sellers and its main export is chocolate. My two, aged five and nine, considered this good planning.

We began at a chocolate mill on Calle Mina, Molino La Cucharita, where you watch cacao beans being ground with sugar and cinnamon into a thick paste, then drink it hot with a slab of egg bread to dunk. My son timed how long his bread could stay in before collapsing. Eleven seconds.

The Museo Textil de Oaxaca was free, calm, and had a hands-on corner with looms. My daughter wove three rows of something and announced she would be selling it. Then a run around the Zócalo, shaded by huge laurel trees and full of families, where a balloon man sold us an inflatable rabbit taller than my daughter.

In the late afternoon we climbed to the lookout on the Cerro del Fortín, slowly, with bribes, and saw the whole valley spread out below. They were rehearsing for the Guelaguetza in the auditorium and the music floated up the hill. Dinner was at Cocina Tía Lupe, with tlayudas cut into slices like pizza. Everyone ate. Nobody cried. A perfect day.

Lived July 25, 2026.