San Miguel de Allende is an expat haven and a popular destination for people in our various nomad groups. Since we were in Mexico City we decided to take the bus for 4.5 hours to come and see for ourselves what all the fuss is about.
San Miguel de Allende, or SMA as everyone calls it, is a colonial-era city located in Mexico’s central highlands. Renowned for its well-preserved architecture, vibrant arts community, and rich cultural history. The city sits at an elevation of about 1,900 meters (6,200 ft) and is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site. The city’s defining symbol is the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel, designed by indigenous stonemason Zeferino Gutiérrez. The historic center is cobblestone streets (a challenge to walk on) with colorful colonial facades, wrought-iron balconies and plazas like the central Jardin Allende. The city is long established as a haven for artists, writers and expats.
When we looked up the top 10 things to do in San Miguel four of them were on the edge of or outside the city, two were shopping, and one was dining out. That left three things to do, admire the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel, sit in the park across the street and walk to the edge of the city to admire the views from El Mirador. Not enough to fill two weeks here in our opinion so we spent a lot of time at the gym and wandering about going to spots recommended by friends.
We joined Wolf Gym, a 10 minute walk away and filling up a few hours of the day. There is a fantastic grocery store, City Market, that rivals any upscale store in Canada, it was a 25 min walk away. Walking to both these destinations allowed us to admire the colorful colonial buildings along the way.
The Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel is the architectural heart and defining symbol of the city, towering dramatically over the town’s main square. The church is famous for its striking pink limestone facade and soaring fairytale-like spires, its one of the most photographed and distinctive churches in Mexico. While the main body of the church dates back to the late 17th and early 18th centuries (built originally in a Spanish Renaissance/Baroque style), the iconic pink facade and soaring spires were redesigned in the late 19th century. The whimsical, soaring towers were designed by a local self-taught indigenous stonemason. Legend says he drew his inspiration from postcards of European Gothic cathedrals—such as the Cologne Cathedral.
We hiked up the cobblestone streets to El Mirador for some beautiful views over the city.
On the way back down we passed the very colorful Lavaderos de Chorro, a Spanish-colonial chapel known for its public laundry basins.
El Charco del Ingenio (botanical gardens) were recommeded by a few friends so we took an Uber there one morning. Entry tickets cost MXN 100 Pesos each and you are given a map showing the trails around the property. The Botanical Garden was created in 1991 and is dedicated to the conservation and research of nature. It comprises 67 hectares around a ravine and reservoir. They have done a really nice job with marked trails, signage on the plants, sculpture gardens and a conservatory at one end housing samples of the botanical collection.
As I mentioned earlier, SMA is a popular destination among our nomad friends so we had a fun couple of meet-ups plus dinner and lunch with Chris and PJ who we first met in Chiang Mai in December 2023. Our two group evenings were at Pila Seca Social Club, basically a food hall with 10 different restaurant stalls and live music. The food was good, the margaritas tasty and the nomad groups fun and interesting, so much so that we only got a group photo one time 🙄 We got some good tips of things to do in SMA as well which helped our visit be more interesting. I think that having connections here would be key to finding out where to go and what’s on in the city.
Here are a few random shots taken during our meanderings around the city:
San Miguel de Allende may be a popular expat and nomad destination but as we suspected, its not for us. I dislike having to be overly cautious about the water and having to disinfect fruits and vegetables before consuming; the cobblestone streets are hazardous to walk on and you have to pay attention all the time; SMA is not flat, you are either going up or down, sometimes on very steep hills; you need to watch out for dog poop on the streets and sidewalks; every door and window in our casita is padlocked and/or behind bars; traffic is crazy busy; we ran out of things to do, we can only walk around for so long admiring historic buildings and looking at stuff we cannot buy. Fortunately the gym occupied a good portion of our time and we enjoyed spending time with Chris & PJ. Apologies to all the folks that love SMA but if we are going to spend time in Mexico, its got to be somewhere more walkeable, by the ocean and much warmer than SMA. To be honest, we were very surprised how cold it was, and its only October!!
Next up, Panama City for a week…..