In need of a long weekend, we (very last minute) headed to San Miguel de Allende, a pueblo magico very close to Mexico City.
We left Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. and arrived at 12:30 p.m. to our hotel, Hacienda de las Flores. The good thing about San Miguel de Allende is you are spoiled for choice for hotels and accommodations and actually it was really easy to book last minute even with our bigger family. Our criteria was to be very close to the city centre, as our youngest was still on crutches, and a pool as the weather in May is warm and sunny. As a family of five we also needed a family room or two rooms. In the end the hotel gave us two rooms, but you could call them as the one suite we had (with kitchenette) would have worked for five people with a child on a futon and others sharing. We really liked it, and enjoyed our stay. The parking is off-site so ask for your car ahead of time when you want to leave. We had breakfast included which was simple but good, chilaquiles, eggs and pancakes. But if we did it again we wouldn’t get the breakfast as there are so many good places to eat in San Miguel de Allende! (Or SMA as it’s called!)
We ate so well in SMA and we had more on our list we wanted to try. As we booked last minute there were a few we couldn’t get into as we were trying to book roof terraces on a long weekend. If you are down by the church, a roof terrace around sunset is amazing. We had an incredible courtyard lunch at the Peruvian La Parada, on a gorgeous side street. The kids loved their sourdough homemade pizza at the brand new (I think we went there on day two of opening?) La Favolosa’s roof terrace. I had a delicious warm grilled vegetable salad on baba ghanoush. We had THE BEST flat whites we have had in a long time at the coffee shop Ki’bok coffee. I had booked at Zumo for their roof terrace, but then we thought maybe the food wasn’t great for the kids so we cancelled, but really wished we hadn’t. The best food by far was the evening meal on the roof terrace we had at Atrio. Children aren’t allowed on the open terrace, but they seated us inside on the roof by an open window. The food was so amazing.
Places to eat my friends recommended and we either couldn’t get reservations due to booking so last minute were L’otel (hotel with roof terrace restaurant) and the roof terrace at Rosewood Hotel. El Manantial for tacos and Tres Raices for a vineyard. The Panio bakery on Correro and Recreo always had a lineup so one morning at 8 a.m. my son and I went and got pastries for the family, they were fine but maybe the long lineups aren’t for the croissants as we have had better!
Other than eating, the best thing to do in SMA is to walk the streets and see all the buildings and side roads, the views to the churches, especially the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel with it’s pink spires, which they say the architect was inspired by Guadi and you can definitely see this reflected in his work. The side street, Aldama, has a great view with really gorgeous evening light on the church, but it was so full of people. My son and I went back at 7:30 a.m. and no one was up so we had a chance to take some nice photos.
We ran out of time but there is a toy museum, Museo La Esquina, you can check out, the botanical garden El Charco where you can take guided walks and see indigenous flora and fauna. Unfortunately our daughter couldn’t handle such a walk. We also wanted to do the trolley bus tour around town (which meets at Juarez Street by San Francisco Church) but the bus was broken down the weekend we were there. You can ask the tourism office about the trolley bus too. Friends said Coyote Canyon was great too so we will have to go back when our children can move and walk easily.
The artisan market was nice and had a lot to offer, if you live in Mexico City it isn’t as extensive as Cuidadela market. Nearby is the Fabrica La Aurora which is a converted factory with shops and restaurants and a large parking lot. It’s a nice spot if you are looking for art or homewares.
We enjoyed SMA and it was a nice break from the city. Things seemed a bit pricey here, but the walking is free and that was what I enjoyed the most, so bring good sneakers for all those cobblestones! The children said their favourite was the pool and the pizza. It took just a little over three hours to get back to Mexico City as we didn’t have any traffic. And we even stopped into a Tim Horton’s outside of Quertero, which is great stop for all the Canadians!
Come From Away 