The Picture-Perfect Town of San Miguel de Allende Doesn’t Come Cheap
We’re always looking for two things when we travel. First, we want authentic, non-touristy experiences (no fighting with fellow tourists for elbow room at the main sights, thank you). And we want great value for our dollar. And we honestly didn’t think we’d find either of those things in San Miguel de Allende.
So when we arrived at what’s billed as one of Mexico’s most beautiful towns, we were feeling a little worried about our month-long stay. Is San Miguel only about fancy restaurants and packaged tours? Were we just going to open up our wallets and watch the money disappear? Or could we somehow manage to have an authentic experience at a reasonable price?
Well, let’s find out. We’re at the end of our month here and this is the time when we tally up the final bill. What did we get up to in San Miguel and how much did it cost? And if you’re hesitant to go to San Miguel the way we were, what’s a good alternative?
First, however, we get it. We now understand the appeal of San Miguel and why it attracts tourists and expats in droves. This city is lovely. Everywhere we looked, even down the little side streets, we saw charming low-rise buildings in vibrant colours with flowers spilling over the doorways and balconies. And yes, the weather is the perfect mix of cool mornings and warm afternoons. Of course, it’s going to attract busloads of tourists and, of course, expats are going to want to live here.
Our adventures in San Miguel were of a more low-key nature versus those in Puerto Escondido. This is a city perfect for endless strolling. We kicked off our stay with a tour of the picture-perfect historic centre. We discovered the lush Parque Juarez, which was hosting women’s basketball, street food vendors, artist’s shows and dog walkers—all at the same time. We had a scenic walk to the city’s best lookout point for a view of what seemed like the whole region. We checked out the art galleries of Fabrica la Aurora. Gillian wandered through Charco del Ingenio, the city’s botanic garden.
The highlight of our time in San Miguel was actually a trip out of town. We visited the nearby city of Guanajuato, which has all the charm of San Miguel but a more relaxed, local feel. While we were there, we enjoyed what is now my favourite type of tour: a food and history tour. A bite to eat, a little historical context, another snack and so on. It was the perfect day trip.
Speaking of food, San Miguel had its share of street food options. However, what really stands out are the more upscale international dining options; there are many lovely rooftops and courtyards where high-priced cocktails and appetizers can be enjoyed. And that’s exactly the type of experience that will quickly run up the bill when you’re in San Miguel.
Of course, it’s not just the dining out that can lead to expensive lifestyle inflation. Groceries was another area of the budget that we had to closely manage. In particular, Gillian made sure to shop at the Super Bonanza and the mercado and only made a couple trips to the upscale City Market for specialty items.
Finally, there was our Airbnb in San Miguel, memorable for so many reasons. We chose it for all the colour and the charm; the decor was basically an explosion of textures and patterns and quirky knick knacks. Sometimes our Airbnbs have so much Ikea furniture that they start to look the same but this place was definitely unique. We especially loved the rooftop terrace.
What we didn’t love, however, were all the issues that needed to be addressed by the host. When you’re staying in an airbnb for just a couple nights and you discover that a lightbulb isn’t working, it doesn’t matter because you’re moving on right away. But when you’re staying for a full month the way we do, there’s enough time to discover all the lightbulbs that aren’t working. In this apartment, that turned out to be about half the bulbs—and that was just the tip of the iceberg.
The host was very responsive to all of our requests but we’ve had to make a lot of requests -- much more than usual -- and we find that really detracts from our experience. If you’re going to live in Airbnbs full time, you just have to know that they’re not all going to be perfect.
But let’s move on from complaining to costs. Starting with entertainment, we spent $107 USD. Some of this covered admission to sights but really the big ticket item here was our tour of Guanajuato. What’s interesting is that the tour costs half of what it would have cost in San Miguel so we felt it offered really great value.
Next, our transportation was $108 USD. Most of this was for our private transfer to Guanajuato; we couldn’t take a bus because of our dogs. And the rest was made up of super cheap bus rides around town.
Dining out was $376 USD. We really had to manage this category closely because there are endless eating options in San Miguel and each one is fancier than the last. Our breakfasts were typically $20 for the two of us and a light dinner with drinks usually came to $30 to 40 USD. We ate out a few times a week and the rest of the time we cooked at home, which brings us to groceries. For groceries, this was $478 USD.
Our Airbnb was $1,920 USD, which included a whopping tax of $250. Since this is our first visit to Mexico we were pretty surprised by this tax; it really drives up the cost of a rental.
Now before adding it all up, we can confirm that yes, San Miguel can be an expensive city, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re mindful about where you buy your groceries and how many fancy dinners you have; if you do more independent touring, you can still have a full experience here and it doesn’t need to break the bank.
That said, we were really impressed by Guanajuato and if we were coming back to this region, we’d likely choose to stay there. It’s got all the charm of San Miguel, the historic centre is even bigger and there are way more local eating options. If you’re hesitant about San Miguel the way that we were, you might consider Guanajuato instead.
Our total spend for a month in San Miguel was $2,990 USD. And what’s really interesting about that amount is it’s basically the same as what we spent in Spain earlier this year. Some tourists might think of Mexico as a low-cost destination but we wouldn’t say that applies to San Miguel.