What We Spent in Oaxaca for Día de los Muertos with Kids
For our family gap year, it was important for us to experience culture. The only place we had booked ahead of time was a week in Oaxaca, Mexico for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). This is a very festive time in Latin America where there is a celebration for the family members who have passed away. Unlike in America where death is more of a mourning, in November, Oaxaca becomes a vibrant and colorful city for the celebration of the dead. Oaxaca has a reputation to have one of the better festivities in Mexico. Because of this, the accommodations and flights around this time are more in demand, increasing prices compared to other times of the year. For us, as this was one of the MUST DOs of our family gap year, we spent more than other locations. In total, we spent $1,306.58 for 7 days for a total of $186.65 per day for our family of 4. Let’s see how that is broken down. All amounts shown are in US dollars.
Accommodation—$773.59 or $110.51 per night.
We found a 2 bedroom 1 bath with a small but usable kitchen in the neighborhood of Reforma. This was about a 25 minute walk to El Centro. This was a quiet and safe neighborhood, great for the kids. It was nice to get away from the festivities at night and have some quiet for sleeping. The best part, we could not have pick a better AirBnB host. Our host set up a kiddie pool in their yard for the girls, gave them sweets for Halloween, and showed us around the local market!
Eating Out – $78.74
We were there for only a week. We didn’t buy the normal grocery staples we usually do when staying longer:
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Taquiera La Flamita Mixe – Local spot in reforma with great tacos, outdoor seating, $19.96.
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Pasteleria Rome –Craving a sweet treat for the family, plus birthday cupcakes for the birthday girl. $9.53.
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Street food – Elote $1.50. Marquesita $4.49. Pizza $4.49. Tomales $7.40. Smoothie $4.02. Tlayuda $7.40.
Groceries – $194.84
We did all our grocery shopping at Chedraui, one of the better grocery stores we have found on our gap year. This was in the Reforma neighborhood, 2 blocks from our AirBnB. Good selection, good produce. We spent about $2.71 per meal for our family of 4 including all the snacks for everyone throughout the day.
Transportation – $174.23
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I have specifically omitted our flight cost to Oaxaca for the sake that readers will have to get to Oaxaca from many different places in the world, and all flights and means of transportation will be different. We use Daily Drop Pro to search for reward flights for points we earn using this credit card. We set up a private airport transfer to our AirBnB as it was going to be a long travel day with little ones, and wanted the most seamless way to get from the airport to the accommodation. Airport Transfer-$31.97
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Taxi to ADO bus station— $3.89
I wanted to mention that we did take an ADO bus from Oaxaca to Mexico City due to the inflationary prices of flights around Dia de los muertos. This worked for our family extremely well. See our post by clicking here. Bus to Mexico City- $138.37.
Tourist Attractions – $78.91
We spent some of our budget on sightseeing:
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Day of the Dead Tour – $78.91. This could have easily been done much cheaper and by ourselves by hiring a taxi to take us to the Xoxo Cemetery and back to El Centro. Please see the blog post here for additional information on this.
Miscellaneous – $6.27
Our AirBnB didn’t have laundry. We washed clothes at local laundry mat.
Total: $1,306.58
How We Can Improve:
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Book FAR in advance: We only booked the accommodation for 1 week during this in demand time. We did not book anything else as we wanted to be open about where we were going to be in the months prior. Prices were very high for flights and accommodations. Once we got there, local prices did not seem to be too extravagant compared to other places in Mexico we have been.
Overall, this was an amazing cultural experience for our family. Our kids loved the parades at night, the face paintings, the ofrendas and street art. This opened up our families eyes about thinking about our loved ones who have passed in a different way. Worth the trip and experience.
More on the Blog:
When in Oaxaca, check out their fabulous street art!
