San Miguel de Allende

Despite the negative news coverage of the area, during the two months that my husband and I enjoyed in the delightful town of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, we felt safer than we probably would have in most US cities comprising 140,000 residents.

This enchanting town is perched high in the mountains (we took it easy for the first few days to adjust to the altitude) and offered ideal weather during our February and March 2012 stay. The summers there can be rainy and hot. The best months to visit are January, February and March, when it’s usually sunny and mild, with temperatures from the 70s to low 60s at night and reaching the low 80s in the afternoons with absolutely no humidity.

San Miguel has always been a magnet for artistic people. In the 1930s, Stirling Dickinson stumbled across it and decided it would be the perfect spot for an art school, thus the Institute of Allende was created.

At that time, the town had no telephones, barely a restaurant and only one hotel, but that didn’t deter hundreds from attending the institute in search of truth and beauty.

Today there are approximately 7,000 Americans calling San Miguel de Allende home. Not all artists or writers, there are also retirees looking for an ideal spot in which to spend their golden years.

At the Biblioteca Publica (Insurgentes 25), which houses a large English-language library, volunteers help arrange tours and present lectures on various political and historical topics. In addition, movies are shown and books authored by local residents are sold.

On Fridays, the biblioteca sells the bilingual newspaper Atención San Miguel, provided with a free cappuccino. This lists events going on during the week, and there is always far more to do than time permits.

While at the library, pick up the most valuable free tourist book you will ever come across, the “San Miguel Walking & Shopping Guide.” It includes nine easy walks and great maps of this entirely walkable city.

Another worthwhile free publication is “Info,” also available online. For more city information, exploreandgomexico.com is a valuable website.

Buses are plentiful and very cheap in San Miguel, as are taxis.

The city’s cobblestone streets, while lovely, can be very dangerous. However, the wonderful San Miguel sandals designed with a firm strap across the ankle, which retail on the Internet for as much as $90, cost only 350 pesos (near $27) here — a substantial savings, and your ankles will appreciate it.

The closest airports are either Aeropuerto Internacional de Querétaro or Aeropuerto del Bajio (between Guanajuato and León), however many more flights are available into Mexico City.

There are reasonably priced first-class buses that will pick you up at the airport and deliver you to San Miguel. One tour group, Bajio Go Tours (from the US, phone 202/609-9905), will pick you up at the Mexico City airport and deliver you to your accommodation in San Miguel for $73 per person.

I do not advise driving a car from Mexico City to San Miguel de Allende. If you wish to have a car there, rent one in Querétaro or Dolores Hildago. Trying to find your way out of Mexico City’s airport and negotiating the poorly marked highways is truly not worth the hassle.

JUDY HODGES
Denton, MD