Oaxaca's well-preserved colonial center has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987

If you want to enjoy the best that Mexico has to offer—all in one place—then check out Oaxaca, in southeast Mexico. It’s a great place to try out expat life. I’m recently back from a week there, and I’m already scheming over how I can return for another, longer visit. Oaxaca tends to have this affect on people.

I tried—I really did—to “do” Oaxaca in a week. I strolled the city’s well-preserved colonial center, savoring the historic ambience; it’s been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987. (Take a look at this video tour of the historic center here.)

I took a cooking class to learn the secrets of local specialties like rich, chocolate-laced mole sauces and delicate rose-petal sorbet—Oaxacan cooking is famous throughout Mexico. I ate in some of the city’s many excellent restaurants…and enjoyed succulent two-to three-course set lunches in several popular restaurants for prices ranging from $3.60 to $6.50. Dinners? From about $10.

I watched artisan weavers dye hand-spun wool and work their traditional looms. I attended festivals.

And at the end of the week I’d barely scratched the surface of all there is to do here. Spanish classes. Master classes with renowned artists. Concerts. Tours to majestic Zapotec ruins nearby, and archaeology lectures on the ruins’ ancient builders. Visits to handicraft villages—Oaxaca is ringed by a dozen or more villages, each specializing in a different craft… The list goes on and on.

I figure I need at least a month to do Oaxaca justice. And during that time, of course, more new activities are sure to spring up. No wonder, then, that so many visitors return year after year, to stay a week, a month, or even longer. In Oaxaca’s richly creative environment, there’s always more than enough to do and see.

Many of Oaxaca’s expats move there full-time after years of visiting. This is mostly thanks to the weather. For much of the year Oaxaca’s temperatures are in the 70s and 80s—and it never gets down to freezing. Now that’s a climate I can really like.

And since this city has been a tourist and expat destination for 40 or 50 years, it’s had time to get it right. Among other things, this means that Oaxaca offers plenty of short- as well as long-term rentals for those who want to come stay awhile.

Basic one-bedroom furnished apartments can rent for as little as $400 a month. Realistically, expect to pay $600 to $800 or more for well-furnished digs within town. You’ll get more bang for your buck for rentals outside town. In a nearby village popular with expats, I saw a modern, nicely-furnished three-bedroom house renting for just $600 a month.

Looking to buy? You’ll need to hunt a bit for bargains in the colonial center, but they do exist. For instance, when I was there, a 1,000-square-foot, three-bedroom house right in the center, within walking distance of everything, was on offer for less than $150,000. Outside the center but still well in town, a two-story house in one of Oaxaca’s most exclusive neighborhoods was selling for just $176,000.

If you buy a property in Oaxaca you’ll need a spare bedroom. With all Oaxaca’s enticements, you’re sure to get plenty of guests.

I’ll share my full report on Oaxaca with attendees of the Live and Invest in Mexico Seminar in November. Full details here.