Colonial Mexico at its Best

San Miguel de Allende, a colonial city in Mexico’s central highlands, is known for its baroque Spanish architecture, thriving arts scene and cultural festivals. In the city’s historic, cobblestoned center lies the neo-Gothic church Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel, whose dramatic pink towers rise above the main plaza, El Jardín. The Templo de San Francisco church nearby has an 18th-century churrigueresque façade. Aside from the near-perfect weather year-round, San Miguel de Allende offers world-class cuisine and wine, proximity to several hot springs, various artisan markets, and botanical gardens. It is in the vicinity of many historic locations, villages and Mesoamerican settlements and ruins. Pack your hiking shoes, tennis racquets and swim suits!

A City Transformed

San Miguel de Allende has always been a special place. But, it has not always been the world-class destination resort it is today.  Because of it’s beauty and tourism, SMA has changed quite significantly in the last 40 years.

I remember SMA as just another humble and simple town in central Mexico. When we visited SMA as children it was usually with my grandmother. On many Sunday mornings, she would wake us up early to head to SMA and make some money! We each grabbed a bucket and ran to the avocado orchard to gather the night’s fallen fruit from the ground (we weren’t allowed to PICK fruit off the trees, as that was for the family’s business).  In SMA, we knocked door-to-door and until we sold our bucketful of avocados. It was wonderful to gather 10-20 pesos during our sales adventure with my abuelita.

Back then, it was just a simple town with townspeople living at every door on every street. Today, those doors and streets are home to boutiques, bakeries, cafés, restaurants, bars, clubs and real estate agencies.