A 4-hour bus ride from México City to the north of the country brings you to a whole new worrrrld: aka the very cute and enchanting town of San Miguel de Allende! Two years in a row San Miguel has won the election of ‘the best city in the world’ by travel magazine Travel + Leisure.
Now, I haven’t been in every city in Mexico – let alone in the whole wide world 🙂 -, so I wouldn’t know if it’s the ‘best one’, but I agree that SMdA (as abbreviated from now on to avoid some typing pain) has a very charming effect indeed. A lot of people from the USA live – either in the winter or the whole year round – in San Miguel de Allende and I think this must have been the main reason why this city is so well promoted in the States. However… in Europe SMdA is far lesser known.
So what can you expect over there?
Well… to sum it up: most of the streets are cobblestoned, there are a lot of boutique shops that sell everything local, people are friendly, you can walk safely around at night (which felt absolutely great, after our visit to Mexico City), the town is quite hilly (thus many gorgeous views!) and there are a lot of lovely details to spot while walking around.
So indeed, I would say it’s a good choice to include SMdA into your Mexican trip (and make sure to see nearby Guanajato too)! We stayed in SMdA there for a small week and these are the things I would recommend you to see!
Stroll those streets
The best things in SMdA come free to you! Just soak up the vibe and walk around the many little streets. All the cliches in here come true; after every bend you can expect another quaint view.
The center of SMdA has been declared a Unesco World Heritage site in 2008 and that has another wonderful side effect: screaming marketing is not allowed. Hallelujah. Even the Starbucks on the main square is difficult to spot. I wish all cities in the world would have this as a rule.
Be sure though to comfortable shoes, flip flops won’t do around these steep streets.
Hit the park
And with park I mean ‘Jardin Allende‘. This square is indeed a bit of a garden and locals love to visit it. Regardless the hour of the day, you’ll always find folks in here.
Just sit down, relax, buy an ice cream, a hat or some nuts from the vendors and see how the daily life and the tourist buzz flows by.
Be in time for that pinky sunset
I won’t add much to this title; make sure you’re around the main square when golden hours arrives. There’s just something magical about the sunset in SMdA and it’s quite cosy during that time of the day on the square.
Take a pic with a mojigangas
At some point you’ll for sure run into one of these giant puppets in SMdA ↓
I thought they were both a bit scary ánd fascinating. These dancing, paper mache mojigangas are the leaders of little parades, called “callejoneada” that are often held in the smaller streets of the city, usually because of a religious procession, a wedding or a celebration of another sort. A puppeteer climbs under the paper mache structure and walks on stilt to move it, which can’t be easy on the cobblestone streets by the way… I’m already struggling with heels on such streets.
I had to look it up, but apparently these giant puppets come from the 17th century when the Spaniards brought over their antecedents, Los Gigantes (the giants). These dolls were meant to depict the aristocracy. They kind of took off in Mexico and other parts of Latin America and now you can see all types of puppets walking by. Sometimes they represent Frida Kahlo, or a bride and groom and at the time of our visit we saw a lot of dolls for the upcoming Día de los Muertos.
If you can’t remember the name when you see one, just think of mono gigante (giant monkey :))
Be a proper tourist and go shopping at the market
Your shopping session should start right at the Mercado de Artesanías or the nearby Plaza de la Soledad. From the Mercado the rest of the market is basically snaking all the way down to Cafe Media Naranja (excellent for a cup of coffee by the way) on the Calzada de La Luz. So start at the Mercado, otherwise you’re climbing up all the time.
Whatever type of souvenir you’re looking for, I’m pretty sure you’ll find it in here. Painted skulls, (lucha libre) masks, Frida Kahlo dolls, taxco silver, mezcal, pottery, Mexican coffee or tequila; this place has it all and I thought the prices were quite neat as well. Of course, a bit of haggling is in order too!
Get your daily dose of art @ Fabrica La Aurora
Set in an old factory from the 20s, this giant building hosts a LOT of galleries. Apart from all sorts of art, you’ll also find gift shops, jewellery and photo galleries (although that might be art too right?) in here. I’d say a visit to Fabrica la Aurora is really worth your time, if only to see the building itself. In some of the galleries you can still see the old machines around, which adds to the atmosphere of the galleries.
After half an hour walking around I figured it was a bit much to soak it all up. There’s just so much art to see. Luckily, there are many (fancy) restaurants in the building and in the back garden there’s this little cafe Geek & Coffee, which is especially great for a lush break. Kids will love it in here too and you can have your daily dose of caffeine while they feed the duckies in the pond. Dogs are welcome too.
From the main square of SMdA it’s something like a 15- to 20-minute walk to the fabric, but it might just take a lot longer, as there are also several great shops nearby La Aurora to be found already :).
Mexico’s Sistine Chapel: Atotonilco Sanctuary
We took the bus ($1,- USD) from Fabrica de La Aurora to this superb church outside of SMdA. This big 18th century church complex is something like a 20-minute drive from the city and really worth a little break from SMdA as it is very unique in a strange way.
From the outside the UNESCO declared church is already neat, but it’s especially the inside that counts in here. Atotonilco Sanctuary is completely covered in murals… almost as if this is the Mexican answer to the Sistine Chapel. The murals all depict biblical passages and many have a bit of tromp l’oeil in them.
The village of Atotonilco itself is very small. Apart from the bus, you can easily take an Uber to the church, which will cost you something like $8,- USD if I remember correctly. Note that Uber in SMdA is (at the time of our visit in October / November 2018) strictly prohibited. So make sure to sit next to the driver to avoid him getting into trouble. We took an Uber on the way back, but note there are few around. So it might be easier to take one from the city and ask if he wants to wait or come back for the return ride. It doesn’t take that long to see it all in here.
A suburb break @ the garden of El Charco del Ingenio
Another splendid break from the SMdA downtown hustle and bustle would be this botanical park right outside the city. El Charco has many cacti, succulents and other plants from different areas of Mexico, which attract a lot of birds and butterflies.
There are several trails for hiking and apart from the greenery there’s more to see in here: a reservoir, a big dam and a marvellous gorge right behind it. Quite a lot for such a small area. Moreover, you’ll have a pretty vista on the city at the most western bit of the trail. See picture 5, that one where I’m stretching my leg 🙂 ↓
There’s also a little gift shop with local and organic products and a small outdoor restaurant at the gardens. Make sure to wear proper hiking shoes. I got bitten by a red ant that walk up my foot and gosh, that creature was able to sting me badly! Avoid dramatic acts like mine and lace it up.
From the city center it’s best if you’d take a taxi. The walk to the garden is mostly uphill and it’s quite the trek. We walked both back and forth, but I’d say better it’s better just to walk to the center on your way back, just to avoid some extra back sweat.
The road leads through some nice neighbourhoods though.
Museo La Esquina del Juguete popular Mexicano
Like its name, the “Museum on the corner of popular Mexican toys” is a little funky indeed. This museum is a maze of floors packed with a very neat collection of what seems like every toy from the last centuries in Mexico (as far as this foreigner will ever know..). There are some interactive screens as well, but mainly it’s just fascinating to read about the purpose and materials used for every toy.
Although you may think that this is a museum for children, in my opinion it’s a great stop for every age. I personally really liked this museum. For kids in some ways it might even be slightly boring as you can’t play with all of the toys. Thankfully there is a corner where all toys can be played with. There are a lot of guards, just to make sure you’ll won’t be tempted to get that ‘touchy touchy toy’ feeling.
Pay attention to the gorgeous door knockers
In SMdA you can feel the history’s everywhere because of its architecture; city walls, cobblestone streets, canons and maritime decorations. But there’s another asset of the city that can’t go by unnoticed: the bright shining knockers!
In Cartagena de las Indias (a city in Colombia) I learned that these artefacts were usually meant as a way to display the profession and its place within society of the family living in the houses behind the doors. The size of the knocker moreover would indicate how wealthy the particular family was. Therefore these knockers used to be a bit of a status symbol. I don’t know if that’s also the case in SMdA, but since it has been influenced by the Spanish as well, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were!
Enjoy the shade of Parque Benito Juárez
Something like a 15-minute walk from the Jardín Allende, you’ll find the Parque of Benito Juárez and although you might be tempted to stay in a comfortable little circle around the main square, this park in the south is worth a visit too. Especially during the weekends there are a lot of people out there, playing games or walking their dogs. On the eastern side of the park there’s a section where local artists sell their paintings.
The walk towards the park is nice too and personally I especially liked the gargoyles that can be found at the south of the Calle Recreo ánd the little square of the nearby Lavadero del Chorro.
At the day of our visit we joined one of the open air session in the park and painted some skulls for the upcoming Día de los Muertos. Got us going for a neat hour :).
That second picture shows one of the paintings for sale in the park. A couple of gringas and their dogs (I’ll be like that in a few years – no doubt ’bout it).. I thought it was very funny!
Here’s where to go in SMdA!
