Planning Your Trip to San Miguel de Allende

A few years back, I started seeing pictures of amazingly colorful Mexican cities on Pinterest and Instagram. Two in particular caught my eye - San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato, both in the heart of the country. I'd visited Mexico City during Holy Week in 2016 and ended up getting to see a bit of the Yucatan peninsula on a cruise with my mother in 2018. So after a bit of research, I pitched my itinerary to my mother and she agreed to come along!

How to get there

From the United States, you have a couple of options. The two closest airports to San Miguel de Allende (hereafter referred to as SMA) are Guanajuato Airport (BJX) or Querétaro Airport (QRO). They're fairly equidistant, both a little over an hour and a half away. Alternatively, you can fly to Mexico City and make the connection, or catch a bus directly to SMA, which takes about four hours.

We chose to fly in and out of BJX and spent our first two and last two nights in Guanajuato, about half an hour from the airport. It was a nice way to break up the trip and feel more secure about late night travel and making our morning flight. For the first time in my life, I was bumped up to first class (I refreshed the United app and saw my seat number change literally as they called for group 3 boarding). The joy of that experience was mitigated by the worst turbulence I've ever experienced as we avoided a storm over the northern Mexican deserts. Arriving at BJX, I got a stream of texts from my mother that her flight had been delayed till tomorrow and so I decided to go on to our hotel. Luckily, Mom was able to get on a later flight and she arrived an hour after I did, having navigated the airport taxis on her own.

How to get around

Guanajuato to SMA is an easy 1.5 hour bus ride. Both bus stations are outside the city center, but the bus is so nice, it's worth the extra cab or Uber fares. Primera Plus and ETN are the two first-class bus companies and both are amazing. You're given a bottle of water and a sack lunch as you get on the bus. Seats are large and plush, each with its own dedicated seat back TV. It was possibly nicer than my United upgrade. For $10-20, it's hard to beat.

I'd been a huge fan of Uber in Mexico City. Service was a little spottier here, both on my phone's network and with Uber's fleet. When I wasn't able to order an Uber, we caught cabs. When one wasn't available (like at Charco del Ingenio or La Gruta), we'd ask someone at the desk to call us one. The only place this failed was at Guanajuato's mummy museum. It took about half an hour, but finally a green cab bumped by and we frantically hailed it. After Mom complimented the music he was playing, I ended up having one of the nicest conversations with our driver, mostly in Spanish - sweet confirmation that my Spanish comprehension isn't always as bad as I think it is. For Uber and cabs, I tipped 40-100 pesos ($2-5), which was usually more than the ride itself.

Where to stay

I obsessively research my lodging options, as I've mentioned before. In Guanajuato, we decided to do two different hotels. The first was Balcon del Cielo. The hotel itself is pretty basic, but the view is to die for. Seriously, waking up to this view our first morning was the perfect start to the trip.

The hotel is located up by the Pipila monument, which you can use as a reference point for your taxi driver. It's down a few flights of stone steps, so I wouldn't recommend bringing a big suitcase. Mom did, and as we were lugging it up the stairs following check out, a few passing university students grabbed it and hauled it up the stairs for her. So sweet! Being at the top of the city, to get down to town, you either need to walk or (during daylight hours) take the funicular down into the city. It usually costs a nominal sum, but the hotel gives you a free pass that also lets you skips the line (though we never had to).

From one hotel to the other! In the top two pictures, Balcon del Cielo is the collection of boxy pastel buildings to the left of Pipila. In the bottom picture, Hotel de la Paz is the pale blue-ish building to the left of the big yellow church.

Our second Guanajuato hotel was Hotel de la Paz, right on one of the central squares. It also had an amazing view - this time looking up to our first hotel! The room was also nicer, with lots of space. It was super-convenient to all of the sights and restaurants in the city center. The large doors to the Juliet balcony could be opened during the day and shut out the vast majority of noise and light at night.

Since we'd be spending a week in SMA, I figured our best bet was an airbnb. We found three or four we loved, and ended up in one located within walking distance of the main square, but set back by a parking garage. While this doesn't sound lovely, it was - a garden oasis tucked away from the noise of the streets. (Though after Guanajuato's late-night parties, SMA's neighborhood noise didn't stand out at all.)

Our casita was one wing of a larger hacienda divided into several vacation rentals. Part way through the trip, another family arrived, but the only annoyance was that they left their porch light on all night, shining into Mom's bedroom - we texted our hostess and she immediately fixed the issue. The casita had two bedrooms and two full baths, with an additional powder room. It had a living room with a tv, a dining room, kitchen, and a small enclosed courtyard where we ate breakfast a few days. I'd absolutely stay there again.

What to eat

Part of the reason I wanted to stay in SMA for a full week was for its foodie scene. So many good restaurants! I'll be outlining them all in a post later, but here are some options we really enjoyed:

Breakfast or Brunch
Cafe Lavanda
Cafe Buen Dia
Restaurante del Parque at the Belmond Casa de Sierra Nevada
Lunch
Salon Oaxaca
Nicasio Comedor Mexico (amazing - but sadly, closed now)
Dinner
Quince
Casa del Diezmo
Drinks
Luna at the Rosewood

Guanajuato was more of a mixed bag with some good but not great options. We also got sick on our first night, though that may have been exacerbated by the full bottle of wine we had with dinner. One place that stood out was Tasca de la Paz. It was directly across the square from our hotel, had hearty but prettily presented local dishes, and I finally got the michelada I'd been longing for all trip. Delish.

What to do

There are more outright tourist attractions in Guanajuato than there are in SMA, but the best thing to do in both cities is just walk around, taking in the gorgeous streets.

Both cities have sites related to Mexico's War of Independence - the Alhondiga and Pipila monument in Guanajuato, and the Casa Allende in SMA. A little outside town, Guanajuato has silver mines, an impressive church - San Cayetano a.k.a. La Valenciana - and an infamous mummy museum.

Both cities are also great for shopping. Silver jewelry is an obvious choice in Guanajuato. SMA's options range from the impressive local craft market to upscale galleries at La Aurora Fabrica, with lots of boutique shops between.

Day Trips

Another reason I wanted us to be based in SMA instead of Guanajuato was its ease of access for several day trips I was interested in. Our first trip was a guided tour of the pueblos magicos near Querétaro. I picked this tour because it included A) Peña de Bernal and B) a winery. The rest was just icing on the cake. Aarón picked us up at our airbnb and was our driver and guide for the day. I'm glad we did this tour; it was a nice day out.

Our second day trip was one I'd designed myself, trying to hit all the highlights in one go. Honestly, I'm amazed I pulled it off. First, we took an Uber to Dolores Hidalgo, the birthplace of Mexican Independence. We went to Museo de Casa Hidalgo, where Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the priest who raised the rallying grito, or cry, for independence, lived. We stopped by the Bicentennial Museum on the way back to the main square. For a couple of dollars, it was pretty interesting. We visited church and the main square as well, getting some ice cream. Tequila flavored? Yes, please! There was no Uber in Dolores Hidalgo, so next, I had to bite the bullet and pay $25 for cab fare to Atotonilco. Once there, we checked out the fabulously frescoed church, then walked a mile to La Gruta Spa, where we enjoyed the hot pools, cold drinks, and relaxing massages.

One place that was on my list, but we didn't make it to was Mineral de Pozos. Taking a day to do this would have been just too much for this trip, but it looks like a neat place. There are also some ruins to explore nearby, but we weren't really interested, having both seen Teotihuacan and Chichen Itza.

Budget
Mexico is a relatively inexpensive destination, but with the expat community in SMA, prices are on the high side. Each place we stayed was approximately $100 a night for two people. Meals ranged from $2-3 to about what you'd pay in the states. Drinks at Luna, the poshest place we went, were around $10 USD. Our flights were both under $500. Altogether, it was a 10 day (12, if you count travel days) vacation for a little over $1000 per person. Definitely worth doing!