Cheese Travel in Mexico

The Cheese Regions

Querétaro and Tequisquiapan

The state markets the area as the Ruta Arte, Queso y Vino, and Tequisquiapan sits in the middle of it. Cheese here leans European: aged cheeses from Néole and Bocanegra, Oaxaca and provolone at Finca VAI, French-style goat cheese at La Biquette. The farms are a short drive out of town, and the shops are on the pedestrian streets around the main square. See the Querétaro cheese and wine route, Cava Bocanegra and Finca VAI.

Oaxaca

Quesillo, the stretched string cheese sold abroad as Oaxaca cheese, is wound into balls and sold in every market in the city. Its home is the Etla valley just north of the capital, where Reyes Etla holds a quesillo fair in July. See where to buy quesillo in Oaxaca and the Reyes Etla fair.

Chihuahua

Mennonite farmers settled around Cuauhtémoc in 1922, and their cheese, called queso menonita in the north and queso Chihuahua elsewhere, is now eaten all over the country. The colonies have a museum, a commercial corridor and cheese co-ops that give tours. See Mennonite cheese in Cuauhtémoc.

Chiapas

Ocosingo makes queso de bola, a ball of double-cream cheese wrapped in a hard shell, and holds a free fair for it each August. See the Ocosingo queso de bola fair.

Mexico City

No cheese is made in the capital, but you can taste the country's cheeses at the Mercado de San Juan and buy small-farm cheeses in Roma. See cheese shops and tastings in Mexico City.

When to Go

• All year: the Querétaro farms and caves open every day, and the city markets in Oaxaca and Mexico City trade daily.
• May: the Festival Internacional del Arte, Queso y Vino fills Tequisquiapan for about two and a half weeks. Entry is free.
• July: the Reyes Etla quesillo fair, in the same month as Oaxaca's Guelaguetza. In 2026 it ran from 18 to 20 July.
• August: the Ocosingo queso de bola fair. In 2026 it was on 16 August.
• Late September: the Festival de Otoño in the Mennonite fields near Cuauhtémoc. The 2026 edition ran from 25 to 27 September, at 100 pesos.
• December: the Festival Navidad en los Campos Menonitas in Cuauhtémoc, with a parade of lights and a Christmas market.

A Suggested Route

For a long weekend, fly into Mexico City and spend a morning at the Mercado de San Juan. Then head to Tequisquiapan for two nights. Visit Finca VAI in the morning and Cava Bocanegra in the afternoon, finishing with lunch in its restaurant above the cave. Spend the second day in town, tasting at the shops on the pedestrian streets and visiting a winery on the same route. If you have more time, Oaxaca is a separate trip: stay in the city, eat quesillo in the markets, and go out to the Etla valley on a Wednesday or during the July fair.

Cuauhtémoc pairs well with the Chihuahua to Creel journey into the Copper Canyon country, since the state calls the town the gateway to the Sierra Tarahumara.

Getting Around

The Querétaro farms are spread along country roads, so a car or a tour is easiest; the Tequisquiapan tourism office says tours on the cheese and wine route run every day of the year. There is no public transport to the Mennonite colonies, and the museum there suggests a tour from Chihuahua, a ride-hailing car or a rental. In Oaxaca and Mexico City the markets are in the historic centres and easy to reach on foot or by metro.

Smaller Stops

These cheesemakers and shops take visitors but are small enough to cover in a line. Most have no published hours, so phone first.