trip report: san miguel de allende

Well, hey! It’s been a minute.

First things first: please welcome a very pretty redesign of my site, thanks to the super-talented Alexandra Ford of Signal Boost. I can’t recommend her highly enough.

As for my long absence from updating the blog … well, I apologize. Long story short: I have had so many articles to write over the past year that I just didn’t have the time to devote to this site. But, now we’re in a global pandemic and, wouldn’t you know, I have some extra time on my hands.*

*(Relatively speaking, as we’re trapped in a house with a very active four-year-old while both trying to work)

There are, of course, millions of things that are difficult during a quarantine. For someone like me, who has wanderlust stamped right on her DNA, having to cancel trips left and right for both work and pleasure has been a pretty big bummer. And knowing that it might be a year or more before we can leave the country is very difficult to wrap my head around. Disclaimer: this is NOT a big deal in the grand scheme of what’s happening in the world; it doesn’t even leave a tiny scratch. But, since I had to start my blog updates somewhere, I figured I’d document our recent trip to Mexico, both because it was a magical time and because right now, I need a bit of escapism. So! Here we go.

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As is often the case, we planned our February trip to Mexico around food. Mike, Avvie and I are all big fans of Mexican cuisine and, like every other Millennial, were ogling pictures of seemingly everyone’s trips to Mexico City. Once we decided we’d go for about a week (and I’ll write that part up at a later date!), we thought we’d take a few days in the middle of the trip to check out San Miguel de Allende. Located in the eastern part of Guanajuato, the oldest part of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is often called one of the prettiest towns in the entire country. While it’s not near water, many people often compare it to a mix of places like The Hamptons, Tulum, and the South of France; it’s laid-back, but very chic. It has also historically been home to many artists, as well as ex-pats, which gives it a creative and multi-cultural feel.

Without traffic, SMA is about a three-hour drive from Mexico City, so I wouldn’t recommend it for a day trip, but you can easily go for just one or two nights. We hired a driver through our hotel in Mexico City who both drove us there and back, and we stayed for three nights.

There are many, many options for hotels in SMA, but we wanted the one that would be the most child-friendly, so we chose the Rosewood. If you’ve been reading this site for any length of time, you’ll know that I am a sucker for a well-appointed hotel and this place is jaw-dropping. Although it was built fairly recently, the Rosewood team paid close attention to the local vernacular in terms of architecture and it fits right in with the other buildings in the area.

Located just a few minutes walk outside of town, the hotel is more of a sprawling complex, connected by peaceful courtyards and fragrant gardens. Our room even had our own backyard patio, which was perfect for feeding Avvie an early dinner some nights. Even if you don’t stay at the Rosewood, stopping in for drinks or dinner at Luna, the hotel’s rooftop bar is a must (the top photo is the view of the city from it). We spent our first night there gobbling down queso fundido and watching the stars emerge from the night sky.

As for the littlest travelers: there is a fantastic kids club. If you’re there on a weekday like we were, it basically amounts to free babysitting, since Avvie was often the only kid there (don’t worry, we only dropped her off for an hour or two!). She came back having learned many new words in Spanish and with a doll — that she made from scratch! — that looked just like her. The beautiful pool complex also keeps kids happy and we were in love with the babysitter we used for one night, whom Avvie still talks about.

While we could have spent a few days lazing about the pool, the reason why we came to SMA was to explore the town. And, as small as the oldest part of the city is, it is absolutely crammed with fantastic boutiques, craft and food markets, and both traditional and upscale restaurants. You’ll probably get different answers of must-see spots from everyone you ask, so I think the best way to explore is just to wander around the whole area and pop into whatever looks interesting. I would definitely save room in your suitcase for home goods, in particular, though: the design stores here were better than anything we saw in Mexico City.

little miss exploring the shops on our first day

The most-photographed image in SMA is probably the Plaza Principal, home to the pink, neo-Gothic Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel and some fantastic ice cream carts. It’s also the best way to orient yourself within the old town. And at some point, make sure to stop into San Agustin right near the plaza for churros and hot chocolates (I recommend getting some filled with cajeta!). From the plaza, any of the streets that radiate out from it are worth exploring, although I think my favorite was Relox because the Doce 18 Concept House and Panio Bakery were two of my favorite shops. Some streets and plazas are even closed to car traffic, which makes strolling with impatient kids a bit easier. Depending on the time of day, you’ll probably run into at least one roving mariachi band, which I found delightful (Avvie, not so much).

the scene at the plaza. note the vendor balancing so many hats on his head!

As for the food: the cuisine here is not as varied as in Mexico City, but we didn’t have a bad meal anywhere. Everyone will tell you to go to Lavanda for breakfast: it is good, but not worth a huge wait in line, in my opinion. One of our favorite lunches was a trip to the Mercado Ignacio Ramirez, which was just a short walk from the plaza. We stopped at a few different stalls to try everything from tacos to quesadillas to chocomilk, which is just chocolate powder, milk, and ice, but in reality is way more than the sum of its parts. I’m still thinking about it.

it’s hard to convey the size of this goblet, but I needed two hands to pick it up

While SMA is very kid-friendly, there is one activity that I highly recommend that definitely involves leaving the kids at home: tequila. Book yourself a tasting of Casa Dragones (either at their tasting room inside Doce 18 or, if you can finagle it, at the Casa itself), which is smooth, potent, and delicious. This night ended up being one of my favorites memories from the whole vacation.

And that’s a wrap! And until I can book my next flight to somewhere, I’ll just be here scrolling through trip photos on my phone. Cool? Cool.