Some of the details in prior posts excite me, and I will probably refer to them for some future return trip to Oaxaca. (Thank you, contributors!)

My Beloved and I are unapologetic urban types. We were happy to spend most of our stay in Ciudad de Oaxaca. But we did make 2 separate day-long trips to outlying sites. I believe that one of the tours was devoted to Monte Alban alone and that the other one encompassed Teotitlan del Valle, Mitla, and the Tule tree. My point here, actually, is to steer you to Hotel Riviera del Angel, where you can arrange these trips by bus. It is somewhere immediately northwest of the Zocalo. (I’m looking at my map from 3 years ago. I circled the block that is bounded by Av. Independencia to the south, Av. Morelos to the north, 20 de noviembre to the west, Garcia Vigil to the east.) And they may also provide tours to some of the more exotic places mentioned by others.