It’s been more than 5 months since Bunny and I traveled to San Miguel de Allende (right after we were in Guanajuato) yet I never managed to blog about it! I am now on a very long layover on my way to Costa Rica, so this felt like a good time to jot down what we did!

San Miguel de Allende is an easy bus ride from Guanajuato but has a very different vibe than its neighbor. While Guanajuato felt much more like a university town and weekend destination for Mexicans, San Miguel de Allende was much trendier with many more western tourists/ex-pats, trendy bars and restaurants and plenty of tourist activities.

Where we stayed

We rented this great AirBnb. Super modern and well-located, and the host gave us tons of great recommendations. We got a LOT of light and noise from the neighbors, but hopefully the host is able to fix this for future guests. Look at the amazing view from the balcony!

Eats & Drinks

There are so many stylish and delicious bars & restaurants in San Miguel, and no shortage of stylish terraces. Some of the places we visited:

Casual Bites

Doce 18: A “concept house” with stores, restaurants, and bars. We stopped in when we first arrived for an acai bowl, and again later in our trip to enjoy a cocktail during an unexpected downpour!

This actually looked better than it tasted.

Ki’bok coffee: A cool hipster coffee place right by our AirBnb with a nice terrace for enjoying your breakfast

El Manantial: A “local” place recommended to us by our bike tour guide and AirBnb host. Like most places in San Miguel it was still very tourist-friendly. Amazing seafood and tasty margaritas at reasonable prices!

Tianguis Orgánico: The “organic market” that takes place on Saturdays. Tons of cheap yummy local flavors.

Inside Cafe: A great recommendation from my friend Nick, this cafe is owned by an Australian woman who married a man from San Miguel de Allende. Great coffee and big flavorful brunch with a view!

Drinks

Rosewood hotel: They have a great rooftop, and a downstairs bar. Expect a wait to go up to the roof around sunset!

La Azotea: This was the most bumpin’ nightlife scene we explored, trendy upstairs bar with so-so food (in case you want a bite with your drink)

The Blue Bar (inside Belmond hotel): Nice drinks and very cool atmosphere, but was super empty and lacking energy when we visited.

Quince: This is a full restaurant but we just stopped by for spicy margaritas.

Upscale eats

La Unica: Trendy restaurant with a cool balcony (cool balconies seem to be everywhere in San Miguel!) and clubby music. We had some really amazing cauliflower here!

Aperi: We reserved a spot at the Chef’s Table here (joined by a bunch of other people who were also from SF- ha!). It was an awesome experience, great to get to spend some time with other people and learn all about the food from the chef.

Moxi: I had REALLY looked forward to Moxi and grabbed us a reservation for our last night, but it disappointed compared to the other places we ate and the service was super bad.

Activities

San Miguel de Allende is more touristy than Guanajuato, but not in a bad way! It means there are a lot more organized activities you can book if that’s your jam. We did a couple of those, plenty of wandering the streets, and of course, day of the dead festivities!

Bici-Burro bike tour: An active way to get outside the city and see the surrounding countryside. It was a little more bumpy and intense than I expected, but ended with a relaxing dip in the hot springs (which you can visit without doing the bike tour).

La Cocina cooking class: This class is run by an American woman named Kris who has made her home in San Miguel de Allende. She is super knowledgeable about the history, food, and cooking techniques of San Miguel de Allende, and she even helped us book a driver for our early morning departure. We went on a shopping excursion at the local food market and learned how to make some traditional Mexican dishes.

Kirs and Chef Bunny (she was having more fun than her face suggests)

Botanical garden (El Charco del Ingenio): Located a short drive from town, strolling this expansive nature preserve was a great way to walk off some of the tacos we’d eaten during the week.

Shopping at Mercado San Juan de Dios: This is the food market we shopped at during the cooking class, and it’s also a good place to pick up souvenirs or enjoy a snack of elote (street corn!)

Fabrica la Aurora: Formerly a textile factory, this space now houses galleries, restaurants and furniture stores. While we were there, most of the galleries had Dia de Muertos altars on display which was extra special.

Día de Muertos

Día de Muertos is such a cool time to visit San Miguel de Allende, the shops and restaurants have altars up, and visitors and locals come out to celebrate. Compared to Oaxaca it felt like there were fewer days of celebration here; in Oaxaca there was something happening every night of the week around Día de Muertos, but it was festive nonetheless.

Last year in Oaxaca I passed on the face painting, but this year Bunny and I got into the spirit and it was so much fun! Note: this makeup takes like 15 minutes to get put on and like an hour to was off in the shower!

A very special part of Día de Muertos is visiting the cemetery, where, every year, family members clean the graves and leave flowers and favorite foods for the deceased to welcome them back for one night. In Oaxaca, families sit graveside through the night, but in San Miguel de Allende the cemetery closes at 6 PM, so we ended up showing up too late to visit in the evening, but were able to return the next day.