What to do in San Miguel de Allende.
Updated August 2024.
I was sitting at at a restaurant having Margaritas with my new friend Glenn, when the two women at the table next to us turned to us. “We just arrived in San Miguel” says one. “What’s there to do here?
Glenn (an expat of 8 years in San Miguel de Allende) and I spent the next 10 minutes thinking of things for them to do. Because while San Miguel de Allende is a beautiful town – with tons of restaurants, bars and shops – what do you tell a tourist when they ask you “what to do?”
Related: The Best Hotels in San Miguel de Allende (for all budgets)
Here are 10 things to Do in San Miguel de Allende that Glenn and I came up with
1. Walk around the main square, the “Jardin”. Life revolves around it. Sit in the park or at a café appreciating the views of the Parroquia (Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel)
2. Take the tourist trolley at the San Francisco church. It takes you for an almost 2 hour tour of the city and stops at the mirador where you’ll get great views. Very cheap and by the time you’re done you’ll be orientated with the city.
3. Explore the beautiful churches. Besides the Parroquia (on the main square), you have the San Francisco church, the Oratorio of San Felipe Neri, the Iglesia de la Concepcion, and Nuestra Señora de la Salud. All are within a few blocks of each other in the city center. There are 40 odd churches in and around San Miguel but these are the highlights.
Have a look at this post on the most beautiful churches of San Miguel de Allende
4. Walk the streets of the center. They’re all attractive and if you like photography you’ll get tons of different angles in the streets heading off from the Jardin. One of the most popular streets is little Aldama street heading towards Parque Benito Juarez. But walk around…San Miguel is so photogenic.
Have a look at my Photographic Walking Tour of San Miguel de Allende.
5. See three places that make San Miguel popular with expats: the Library (Biblioteca del Publica) – it has tons of books in different languages, a large courtyard, a café, and there’s always an event going on (we saw a children’s choir while we were there). Bellas Artes (officially El Centro Culturál Ignacio Ramírez “El Nigromante”). It is a beautiful building with a large interior courtyard. Walk around the building and have a look around. There are exhibits, classes (you’ll often see expats painting), and music. Another place is the Instituto Allende, an art institute in a former convent. A beautiful building with a courtyard, murals and views towards the Parroquia, it was this institute that put San Miguel on the map among American artists in the 1950 and which led to many moving here.
6. Visit the markets. The main market is the Ignacio Ramirez market around the corner from the Oratorio of San Felipe Neri. There you can find fresh produce and go to local food stalls (have a chicken sandwich with an “agua de guayaba” ie guava water – that’s what I had and it’s great). The artisan market also starts there and you can walk for several blocks looking at Mexican handicrafts.
7. Go for a walk, see the best views in the city. Near the Rosewood hotel is Benito Juarez Park. It’s a really nice park and you’ll often see artists painting and/or displaying their work in the park. At one end of the park is a small street “Bajada del Chorro”. Go up but be prepared for a steep climb. You’ll pass a few churches (Capilla Santa Cruz del Chorro is very pretty). Take some stairs up “Callejon del Chorro”. You’ll pass another church and looking back will have views of San Miguel. Up at the top, you’ll be on a large street. Turn left. You’ll be at the Mirador (the “lookout”) where you have great views of the city. When you’re done there, continue on. There are a couple of streets that have more great views towards the center: Montes de Oca and De La Garita. Walk back to the center down one of these (steep) streets.
The Miradors of San Miguel de Allende.
8. Go to the Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Gardens (“El Charco del Ingenio Jardin Botanico”) is an nice escape to nature in the hills beyond San Miguel. You’ll see a lot of cactus, a lake, a dam, and a canyon. You’ll most likely need a taxi to get there (we took the taxi there but walked back).
9. Soak in Thermal Baths. There are several hot spring places outside of town. I’m told La Gruta is the place to go with nice facilities, many pools, and the hottest water of all the thermal baths. There are lockers, changing rooms, toilets, a good restaurant, a children’s play area…and it costs 300 pesos to get there by taxi.
10. Search for Street Art. If you like street art, you’ll find lots in San Miguel, particularly in the Colonia Guadalupe area (about 10 minutes north from the main square).
A video I did on the street art of Colonia Guadalupe
The above should keep you busy for a few days.
The Best of the Best in San Miguel de Allende
Having been in San Miguel de Allende 10 times now I have some other recommendations (most of these places have been introduced to me by my mother who lives in SMA. So this is not “just another blogger’s stupid picks”). I call these the “Best” in these categories but I’m sure some people will contest my choices. For those, give me your recommendations and I’ll go check them out on my next visit.
So here are my “best of the best”.
Best Rooftop Bars
The rooftop bar at the El Palomar Hotel. 2nd best, but with great margaritas and not as expensive: Posadita. Right behind the Parroquia (and incidentally where Glenn and I were having our drinks when those women were asking us about San Miguel). 3rd: the Luna bar at the Rosewood (where you get yet another angle on San Miguel).
Best Breakfast place
It’s the new cafe at the Public library: Santa Ana Gastro Cafe. Excellent breakfasts, great coffee. 2nd for us is La Sacrista. Buen Dia also makes very good breakfasts and has a nice courtyard ambience. There are tons of breakfast places in San Miguel de Allende, many fancy and serving the usual eggs benedict, etc…but the three up there are our favorites. I should mention Panio to pick up pastries, croissants, bread etc. Excellent.
Update: The Best Cafes of San Miguel de Allende (including breakfast places)
Best (relaxing) café
It used to be the café at Bellas Artes. They have a new one there now (post Covid) and it’s nice…but not what it used to be. My new favorite place for a relaxing cup of coffee is Geek & Coffee at La Fabrica Aurora. In a park-like setting, there’s a lot of privacy and people love bringing their kids and dogs. Just a really nice place to have a few coffees and chat.
Restaurants (for dinner)
I’ve covered breakfast above. We don’t go out for dinners very much, but I have 2 favorites in San Miguel: El Pegaso has a rooftop terrace with nice views and excellent Mexican food. Posadita, which I mentioned has really good margaritas, also has very nice Mexican food.
How about a food tour? This 3.5 hr food tour gives you an authentic Mexican food experience
Practical Information
– Bus. San Miguel de Allende is about 4 ½ hours by bus from Mexico City. You can take the bus from the Mexico City airport direct to Queretaro (about 3 hours by Primera Plus bus lines). From there you can take a bus to San Miguel which takes about 1 ½ hours. I’ve written about it before – buses in Mexico are excellent, the best I’ve seen anywhere. Taking Primera Plus or (especially) ETN is transportation luxury at its best. If not coming from the airport, you can get to San Miguel directly from Mexico city’s Central de Autobuses del Norte. That takes about 5 hours.
Finally…
Part of the fun being a travel blogger is meeting interesting people. Glenn came across the blog, saw that I would be in San Miguel, and offered to meet for a few drinks. He’s actually leaving San Miguel to travel full-time next year, starting with a few months in Nepal and Tibet. Very interesting guy and we had a night full of great conversation.
Related: Not embarrassed to admit that I really like San Miguel de Allende
Related: A roadtrip through Mexico’s most beautiful towns and cities (by bus)
Related: Guide on What to Do and See in Mexico
Ps. If you find our blog helpful, please consider using our links to book your flights, hotels, tours, and car rentals. Have a look at our Travel Resources page.
Hello Frank,
After living in Morelia, Michoacán for 38 years, I will finally visit San Miguel de Allende. Your blog has some great tips. I thought it was about time to visit the city, and I’ll be there one day (this afternoon to tomorrow morning) if you have the opportunity to meet up and compare notes on colonial cities.
Thank you Ellen, unfortunately I won’t be there: my mom lives in SMA, I don’t. But I usually visit once a year for a month at a time…
I really liked your recommendations and advice for those new to San Miguel. We first visited San Miguel 20 years ago and boy has it changed. For the good or bad it still is a magical place, returning the last few years and with each year staying longer each time. We rent a home near Juarez Park, less touristy and more relaxing. Yes, more expensive, but if you can afford it, worth the price. We generally don’t go to the Jardin on the weekends, crowded and Noisy, but do go mid-week for a nice walk and people watching. Restaurants and Cafes outside the Centro are the best, unless you go mid-week in the Centro. Thank you for letting me share my two cents.
Thank you for taking the time to comment! My mom lives in SMA and she’ll say exactly the same as you about going to the Jardin on the weekend 🙂
Don’t miss lake Atitlan. Absolutely magical beauty. Antigua is busier and less touristy than SMA. I much prefer SMA because i live in a city and like to get away from traffic and noise. But don’t get me wrong. Antigua is beautiful and worth seeing if course.
Appreciate that, I know both are beautiful and on our list of places to visit. But I’m not sure why you are mentioning them here, they’re located about 1500 km from SMA…
Nice writeup on San Miguel de Allende. One small correction for you, though–what is called the zocalo in most Mexican towns is called the Jardin in San Miguel.
Hi Lee. You’re absolutely right that it’s called the “Jardin”.
Hi, I’m a single retiree contemplating renting a house in SM from Jan through April. Would I make use of the pool at that time of year? Will it be difficult meeting people?
Hi Pearl. Yes, you’ll be able to use the pool. A lot of expat services in SMA, you can sign up for a class of some kind or just hang out at the library and you’ll meet people.
Swimming is ok during those months, two pools at hotels on Ancho de San Antonio, and it is easy to meet people. Join the Foodies San Miguel group and visit the farmers market on Saturdays, get there early and grab a seat. Get the Local newspaper comes out on Tuesdays, get it early sells out fast. It will tell you what’s happening all week. Buena Suerte🙂
Thank you for the tips Edward, I’ll be there in about a month and will look these things up.
Good read. I was in SMA about 12-13 years ago housesitting for 7 weeks. Before that it was a “maybe” retirement destination for me. I really liked my time there. The city was beautiful and the expat community made it easy for a non-Spanish speaker to fit in. The British woman I was housesitting for had lived around the world but found her piece of heaven in SMA. Seven weeks is not enough to get to know a place but I started to form an opinion. In the end SMA felt too limiting for me. Mexico is huge and if I only wanted to explore Mexico/Central America then it would be a good enough base. But it just felt far from everything else. In Europe I can take a weekend trip to almost any city here, by train or plane. I could even (who knows how the pandemic will affect prices) get round trip tickets to Japan for $600 if I got them early enough. Living in Europe gives me the flexibility that I didn’t feel I would have had in SMA. Then there is the great variety in terms of food, culture, etc within a relatively small geographical area here in Europe. It’s hard to beat.
Thanks Edith. You’ve nailed it – my mom lives in SMA and the downsides are exactly as you say.
I just wanted to say thank you for your insight about SMA. Thanks to your post, my husband and I decided to make SMA one of our slow-travel destinations. Having been here for a few days, we are slowly checking out those places you recommended. They are all very enjoyable! Just this morning we did a walk around Colonia Guadalupe appreciating those amazing street arts. We look forward to continuing discovering more places, food and activities. BTW, we also enjoy reading your blog posts of other places and have taken a lot into our future travel itineraries, such as Seville, Split and Rovinj. We have just started our slow travel and found your choice of places very similar to our tastes. Thanks again and safe travels!
Very kind! Thank you so much for the feedback, really appreciate the kind words. If ever our paths cross would be a pleasure to meet you. Happy travels!
PS make sure to visit Guanajuato
Most definitely – would love to meet you and share some travel stories if our paths cross. Thanks for the reminder – we have Guanajuato on the to-do list! Best Regards
I have heard people always raving about SMA and I can see why, there is a lot to see and do there. This is a great guide, I will save it for future reference. SMA is a place I would love to visit when I get back to Mexico 🙂
Thank you very much Gilda.
People get nervous about Mexico but it really is easy…compared to a place like Morocco where I am right now.
Transport great, people friendly, food excellent. Mexico is right up there among my favorite countries and San Miguel is a good place to start. I always call it “Mexico-lite” because it’s everything Mexico but easier, just because they’re so used to that large expat community (plus all the tourists they get).
I hope you go one day Gilda.