10 Tips And Tricks for San Miguel de Allende

San Miguel de Allende may just be the most charming small town in Mexico. It’s no pueblito, though, but a colorful, colonial-style city with a vibrant wine scene, markets and artisans galore, and one of the most impressive gastronomic scenes in Mexico.

From the second you drop into downtown, you’ll see the iconic, pink Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel towering above the lower, Spanish-style buildings sprawled out around the square. Walk around the square, people watch, or duck into the nearby artisan market to pick up handmade goodies. 

Museums abound in San Miguel, as do shopping offerings in the city; local boutiques here make everything from silk-screen tees to hammered silver jewelry. Once you’ve worked up an appetite, you’ll have your pick from shrimp tempura on a crunchy tostada, slow-cooked barbacoa from a modest street stand, or Sri Lankan-Swiss-Mexican fusion food all within a few blocks from el centro. 

Despite being a small town, San Miguel de Allende is filled with things to do, whether you’re in town for a day or a week. It’s a cultural hub, with plenty of art exhibition spaces and live music performances around town in the evenings. And if you can’t fit everything into one trip, you’ll just have to come back; you wouldn’t be the first foreigner to land in San Miguel permanently. 

Fresh Things to Do:

Archaeologist-Led Cañada de La Virgen Pyramid Tour

Open to the public less than 10 years ago, San Miguel de Allende’s Cañada de la Virgen is one of the best-kept archaeological secrets of Mexico. The original residents of this pre-Hispanic city are still unknown, but it was believed that it was occupied between approximately AD 540 and 1050. 

Fabrica La Aurora

What was once a textile mill from 1902 to 1991 has now become the embodiment of everything San Miguel has to offer for art lovers. Fabrica La Aurora, just a short walk from the Parish, has left traces of its past to set the scene – think oil-stained floors – but is very much all about the present day art scene in San Miguel de Allende.

El Jardín

If you want to get a feel for the soul of San Miguel de Allende, you’ll need to start at its pulsing core. The central square, over which the Parish looks, is known as El Jardin, and it is the beating heart of the city. 

Ringed in historical buildings, with a lush garden in the center, El Jardin is the social center, a place for live music, dancing, congregating – at all hours of the day or night. Street vendors pop up all over the square selling local seats, while groups of mariachis parade back and forth. 

Walking Tours

San Miguel de Allende’s Centro Historico is essentially an outdoor museum. The narrow cobblestone streets are flanked on either side with brightly colored, colonial-style architecture. From almost any vantage point downtown, you’re able to catch a glimpse of the soaring spires of La Parroquia.