The city of Guanajuato is between Leon and San Miguel de Allende. It is about an hour and a half drive west of SMA. Visiting Guanajuato would be an ideal day trip if you don't have time to take one of the other side trips.

Guanajuato, the capital of Guanajuato state, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a charming colonial-era city situated in a picturesque valley surrounded by the Sierra de Guanajuato mountains. The region is known as the Bajio, or heartland of Mexico.

Founded in 1559, Guanajuato is a former silver mining city and was once home to one of the richest and most productive silver mines in the world. The historic center of Guanajuato has a distinct European flavor with hundreds of narrow cobblestone callejones (alleyways) running up and down the hillside. Shady plazas are dotted with sidewalk cafés, museums, theaters, markets and historic monuments. The buildings throughout the city are fine examples of neoclassical- and baroque-style colonial architecture. An underground network of tunnels runs beneath the city helping to control the flow of traffic. Known as the birthplace of Mexican Independence, Guanajuato is an important stop along Mexico’s Independence route, which includes the nearby towns of Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel de Allende. 

Guanajuato is a city of legends and legendary places. One of the best known is the famous Callejón del Beso (Alley of the Kiss), an alleyway so narrow that couples can kiss from opposite balconies. Take part in a callejoneada, or walking serenade, led by student musicians who strum guitars, serenade bystanders and recite local tales.

The city hosts the annual Cervantino Festival, a festival of performing arts that’s named in honor of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of Don Quixote. You’ll also find a museum dedicated to Don Quixote and statues of him and his sidekick, Sancho Panza, in the Allende Plaza just outside the Teatro Cervantes (Cervantes Theater).

Famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera was born in Guanajuato where his former home has been converted into an excellent museum. The city is also home to a large student population, many of whom attend the Universidad de Guanajuato (Guanajuato University), one of the oldest universities in the state. Located next door to the university is an art museum.

Guanajuato is a great place to sample regional Bajío cuisine. Favorite local dishes include enchiladas mineras (tortillas filled with meat, beans or cheese and topped with a sauce made from guajillo and ancho chiles) and pacholas Guanajuatenses (ground beef with spices).

You may enjoy bird’s eye views of the city and surrounding mountains and valleys in Guanajuato state while hang gliding or floating in the basket of a hot air balloon. Bring a sweater as the weather in Guanajuato is comfortable year-round, but evenings can get chilly.

"Sprawling, thrilling and thriving with culture, Mexico City is not just one of the largest cities in the world, but one of the most exciting to visit. With a population of more than 20 million, the Mexican capital is an ever-changing metropolis, whose sheer size can be intimidating to even the most experienced travelers. Mexico City travel is like taking a trip through time: you can climb pre-Hispanic pyramids, snap photos of colonial buildings and dine at an avant-garde restaurant–all in one day." - Travel + Leisure

Mexico City (Distrito Federal, DF) is only a three-hour drive from San Miguel de Allende. You can arrange for a private car or shuttle to take you there if you plan to visit. We visited Mexico City for five days last February, but it's a great city to visit even for a weekend. Below are some highlights from our itinerary, but you can also check out Travel + Leisure's Definitive Guide to Mexico City and NY Mag's The Urbanist’s Mexico City: What to Do. There are no travel advisories in effect by the U.S. Department of State.

Neighborhoods

We stayed in an Airbnb apartment in the Condesa neighborhood. La Condesa is hip, trendy, and very safe with many young people and ex-pats as its inhabitants. There are tons of cafes, bars, and restaurants in the area as well as in neighboring La Roma. 

Other neighborhoods to consider include the swanky Polanco district or Zona Rosa near downtown. 

Getting Around

Mexico City has a public transportation system, but we didn't try it. It gets overcrowded and have heard some bad experiences from friends. Taxis, however, are abundant, cheap, and safe. There are taxi stands throughout the city where you can get a legitimate taxi (one that won't rip you off). Just make sure to always ask the driver if the taxi is a "taximetro" (a metered taxi), so you know you are paying the right fare. Fares throughout the city range from 40-80 MXN ($3-$6 USD), but more if there is traffic. Unfortunately, taxis in DF do not accept credit cards, so be sure to bring cash. We also advise that when possible, have the restaurant or hotel call a taxi for you or arrange for a private driver. Your Airbnb host can also provide a phone number for taxi service. 

Things to Do

• Explore the pyramids at Teotihuacan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We recommend getting there right when it opens so you can enjoy the monuments before the tour groups arrive. 
• Visit the old part of town - Coyoacan; while here, see the Frida Kahlo museum and head to San Angel for local food and numerous markets. National Geographic has a good walking tour of Coyoacan & San Angel. El Bazaar Sabado is an open-air market that opens at 10am on Saturdays only.
• Visit the super-modern looking Soumaya Museum (open 7 days a week, free on Sundays). Museo Jumex is across the street. El Museo Nacional de Anthropologia is also a must-see (try a tamale from one of the vendors in front of the museum!).
• Head over to Centro Historico to see the Palacio de Bellas Artes and Templo Mayor. Chapultepec Castle and Park are also nearby.
• If you want to experience something a little different, you can watch Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling). 

Eat

• Enjoy dinner at Pujol (in the Polanco neighborhood). Enrique Olvera's restaurant is ranked #16 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants. What's even better is that dinner here won't even break the bank. At all. Be sure to make a reservation ahead of time. 
• Just down the street from Pujol is Guzina Oaxaca. Their mole is amazing!
• Mercado Roma (La Roma neighborhood) is a great option if you want to try a variety of things. 
• There are way too many good taco stands in Mexico City to list. We highly recommend Los Cocuyos in the Centro Historico. Don't miss Ricos Tacos Toluca for some chorizo verde - something you won't find outside the area unless you have an abuela who makes it from scratch. This stuff is amazing. Below are some articles highlighting some of the best tacos and essential eats in DF.
  • Thrillist's taco recommendations. We tried both El Tizoncito and Contramar.
  • Serious Eats has a good run down of some of the best stuff to eat in the city. 
  • For some street food options, check out Culinary Backstreets. 

Drink

• Hotel Condesa DF (La Condesa neighborhood) has a great rooftop terrace bar.
• A great neighborhood to bar hop is Roma Norte. We hung out at Felix, Limantour, and Lilit, but there are many others on the same street (Alvaro Obregon) and adjacent streets. 
• Jules Basement is a speakeasy in the Polanco neighborhood. Make reservations. 
• Make sure to sample mezcal, especially if you've never tried it before. There are many great varieties. 

Everything, and nothing about the state of Oaxaca, is what you’d expect from a trip to Mexico. The verdant Sierra Norte highlands lie north of frost-tipped Valles Centrales, while on the southern coast, Pacific waves lap at quintessential tropical beaches, teeming with marine life and flanked by quaint beach villages. Travel to Oaxaca to experience the best of Mexico; it’s one of the safest and most economically stable regions in the country. While in Oaxaca, travel to the colonial capital city, also called Oaxaca. Considered Humanity’s Cultural Patrimony by UNESCO, the face of Oaxaca is charming 17th-century architecture: courtyards and shaded zocalos. The flavor? Traditional Mexican. Come here for grilled empanadas and spicy hot chocolate. In recent years, contemporary art galleries have joined craft markets that feature indigenous arts and artifacts. - Travel + Leisure

For more on what to see and do in Oaxaca, check out Maid of Honor Geraldine's blog post from her trip last November at Wander & Stray. There are no travel advisories in effect by the U.S. Department of State. 

Leave Cancun and Acapulco behind and instead travel to Puerto Vallarta, located right along the Pacific Ocean. This Mexican paradise offers visitors a dozen sandy, sun-kissed beaches, plenty of colorful festivals and celebrations, tropical jungles to explore and many a mountainside to traverse. Don’t forget to add trips to this relatively young city’s many beautiful churches, local fish markets and snorkeling sites for a taste of local life. Use our Puerto Vallarta travel guide to plan the perfect trip to this gorgeous town and prepare for the vacation of a lifetime. - Travel + Leisure

Things Not to Miss in Puerto Vallarta

 • Visit Los Arcos Marine Natural Area and snorkel in the city’s crystalline waters, which stay warm nearly year round
 • Explore the Ixtapa Archeological Zone, a historical site dating back more than a thousand years
 • Smell the roses (and orchids and marigolds) at the Vallarta Botanical Gardens
 • While the day away at any one of the city’s spas and resorts
 • Take to the water on a jet ski or take to the sky on a paraglider
 • Stroll through the Zona Romantica, or Old Town, and take in its many restaurants, bars and cafés
 • Purchase the catch of the day at the fish market in the Lázaro Cardenas neighborhood
 • Breathe the ocean air while walking along the Malecón boardwalk

Weather

Puerto Vallarta is known for its tropical wet and dry climate, meaning rainy summers (especially in the month of August) and relatively dry winters. The ideal time to plan your Puerto Vallarta travel itinerary is during the dry season, which starts in November and lasts until April. At this time of year, daytime temperatures hover in the 80s while the nights tend to be cool and pleasant in the mid-60s. And remember, no matter what time of year you visit Puerto Vallarta, the water is nearly guaranteed to be warm.

Each just a short drive north of Puerto Vallarta, Punta Mita and Sayulita are excellent beach destinations. 

Sayulita

Make your way a few miles up the coast from Puerto Vallarta and you’ll find Sayulita,  a once sleepy fishing village, which over the last few decades has reinvented itself as a home to international artists, designers and renowned surfers. This off-the-grid location turned hippie paradise is now going through a third renaissance as an internationally inclusive creative hub.

Getting Around

It’s a walking town – you can get anywhere in Sayulita on foot. Buses to neighboring towns also run multiple times a day.

To get to Sayulita, fly into Puerto Vallarta and catch a bus from the airport. Buses cost around $1 and take just over an hour. Taxis are quicker taking just 40 minutes but will set you back around $40.

Check out AFAR's Sayulita guide. 

Punta Mita

Visit Punta Mita, a beachfront village at the northern tip of Banderas Bay in the Mexican state of Nayarit, for a relaxed vacation filled with lazy days spent lounging on the beach and leisurely nights dining on seafood dishes at local restaurants, which dot the village's shore. Located just 10 miles away from the better-known vacation spot of Puerto Vallarta, travel to Punta Mita for premium low-key vacation activities without the crowds.

Things Not to Miss in Punta Mita

• Hiring a boat to ferry you to Islas Marieta, a Mexican national park
 • Relaxing on the local beaches, which are some of the best on the Central Pacific Coast, replete with white sands and crystal clear aquamarine waters
 • Surfing off Punta Mita's coast
 • Visiting Careyeros Hill, a nearby hilltop archaeological site dated back to 800 AD

Weather

Punta Mita is at the same latitude as the Hawaiian Islands, and enjoys a breezy, balmy climate. Because the weather is so pleasant year-round, plan your Punta Mita travel at your leisure. In summer months, the average temperature rests around 85 degrees Fahrenheit, while in the winter you can expect temperatures to hover around 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

CANCUN

Cancun’s postcard-perfect beaches, with white, powder-soft sand and crystal-clear water, have made it one of Mexico–and the world’s–favorite tropical destinations. The draw has always been the region’s natural assets—that sky, those waves—but don’t mistake this 40-year-old for a city with no heritage. Cancun travel brings together gorgeous natural settings with first-class accommodations, and the rich, mysterious world of the Mayans. Families, groups of friends and couples from all across the globe choose to travel to Cancun because of its perfect balance between relaxation and endless entertainment options. There are no travel advisories in effect by the U.S. Department of State.

Things Not to Miss in Cancun

 • Rappelling into a cenote, a subterranean pool of temperate water.
 • Party the night away at clubs like CocoBongo and Daddy ‘O
 • Shopping and dining at La Isla Shopping Village
 • Take a bird watching tour
 • Swim with dolphins and spot sea turtles at Xcaret ecological park
 • Climbing Cobá’s 1,500-year-old Nohuch Mul, the Yucatán’s tallest pyramid.

Weather

Cancun’s location gives it sunny, warm weather throughout most of the year, with temperatures reaching the nineties in the summer, and staying around the eighties the rest of the year. May brings the beginning of the rainy season, with showers and thunderstorms in the evenings all the way through October. Hurricane season usually runs from June to November, and March and April bring a different kind of threat: spring breakers.

TULUM

If your dream Mexico beach vacation is less about mega-resorts and more about munching on tacos under a palapa by the sea, taking yoga classes at dawn, and visiting Mayan ruins, then a visit to Tulum will fit the bill. The main draw is Tulum's pristine beach, one of the best in Mexico, plus the laid back atmosphere of the town - you can easily pass your days with a book and a drink in hand by the pool. But there's also much to see and do nearby; a recent boom in tourist travel to Tulum has led to a welcome upswing in the restaurant and bar scene, and there's a flourishing strip of high-class hotels and resorts along the beach.

Things Not to Miss in Tulum

Tulum offers sights and activities for history buffs and late-night revelers alike, with a combination of archeological ruins for touring and a thriving nightlife scene for partying. Highlights of Tulum travel include:
 

• Sampling slow-cooked pork enchiladas at El Mariachi Loco
• Touring Mayan ruins at the Reserva de la Biosfera Sian Ka'an
• Taking in some live music at the Curandero nightclub
• Visiting the famous Tulum Ruins

Weather

Tulum tends to have warm weather all year round, with highs staying well within the 70s and 80s. Even in December, the temperature never falls below 60 degrees, so any time you travel to Tulum you will find tropical, sunny wether. Tulum's rainiest months are June, September, and October. The three-month stretch from October to December is the best time to visit Tulum, when hurricane season is over and the weather is warm but not oppressively hot. January through March sees the biggest wave of tourists, so avoid this period if you're not a fan of crowds.