Immerse yourself in San Miguel's baroque architecture, thriving art scene, and local flavors with Moon San Miguel de Allende. Inside you'll find: Flexible, strategic itineraries, from a week covering the best of San Miguel to three days exploring the art and architecture of the city The top sights and unique experiences: Admire colonial architecture and browse contemporary art galleries and streetside markets. Soak in a hot spring, sample mezcal, and snack on gorditas. Stroll the Franciscan missions of the Sierra Gorda or enjoy the mariachis serenading diners on the sidewalks. Celebrate Mexico's independence at the colorful parades of the fiestas patrias, or indulge in handmade tamales before siesta time Focused advice from expat Julie Doherty Meade, who shares her passion for the vida mexicana In-depth coverage of San Miguel de Allende and vicinity, Guanajuato, and Querétaro Full-color photos and detailed maps throughout Background information on the landscape, culture, history, and neighborhoods Essential insight for travelers on health and safety, transportation, and accommodations, as well as a handy Spanish phrasebook With Moon San Miguel de Allende's practical tips and an insider's view on the best things to do and see, you can plan your trip your way. Looking for más Mexico? Check out Moon Cancún & Cozumel, Moon Los Cabos, or Moon Mexico City.

Robert de Gast, author of the popular The Doors of San Miguel de Allende crosses the thresholds of homes in this historic Mexican town to discover their remarkable outdoor paradises--sunstruck, lushly colored courtyards, patios, and breezeways--that lay beyond them. Come with de Gast as he guides viewers to parts of San Miguel visitors seldom see and offers glimpses into the daily lives and traditions of those who live in this unique place. Established in the sixteenth century as a Franciscan mission, the lovely town of San Miguel de Allende has been an art and artisanal center for nearly two centuries. Its cool summers and mild winters have more recently made it a popular destination for vacationers from North America and Europe. A part-time resident of San Miguel since 1991, Robert de Gast is an award-winning photographer and a widely published writer. His avocations include hot-air ballooning, which he pursues in Mexico, and sailing, which he does for part of the year on the East Coast of the United States.

Immerse yourself in San Miguel's baroque architecture, thriving art scene, and local flavors with Moon San Miguel de Allende. Inside you'll find: Flexible, strategic itineraries, from a week covering the best of San Miguel to three days exploring the art and architecture of the city The top sights and unique experiences: Admire colonial architecture and browse contemporary art galleries and streetside markets. Soak in a hot spring, sample mezcal, and snack on gorditas. Stroll the Franciscan missions of the Sierra Gorda or enjoy the mariachis serenading diners on the sidewalks. Celebrate Mexico's independence at the colorful parades of the fiestas patrias, or indulge in handmade tamales before siesta time Focused advice from expat Julie Doherty Meade, who shares her passion for the vida mexicana In-depth coverage of San Miguel de Allende and vicinity, Guanajuato, and Querétaro Full-color photos and detailed maps throughout Background information on the landscape, culture, history, and neighborhoods Essential insight for travelers on health and safety, transportation, and accommodations, as well as a handy Spanish phrasebook With Moon San Miguel de Allende's practical tips and an insider's view on the best things to do and see, you can plan your trip your way. Looking for más Mexico? Check out Moon Cancún & Cozumel, Moon Los Cabos, or Moon Mexico City.

Immerse yourself in San Miguel's baroque architecture, thriving art scene, and local flavors with Moon San Miguel de Allende. Inside you'll find: Flexible, strategic itineraries, from a week covering the best of San Miguel to three days exploring the art and architecture of the city The top sights and unique experiences: Admire colonial architecture and browse contemporary art galleries and streetside markets. Soak in a hot spring, sample mezcal, and snack on gorditas. Stroll the Franciscan missions of the Sierra Gorda or enjoy the mariachis serenading diners on the sidewalks. Celebrate Mexico's independence at the colorful parades of the fiestas patrias, or indulge in handmade tamales before siesta time Focused advice from expat Julie Doherty Meade, who shares her passion for the vida mexicana In-depth coverage of San Miguel de Allende and vicinity, Guanajuato, and Querétaro Full-color photos and detailed maps throughout Background information on the landscape, culture, history, and neighborhoods Essential insight for travelers on health and safety, transportation, and accommodations, as well as a handy Spanish phrasebook Experience the best of San Miguel de Allende with Moon. Looking for más Mexico? Check out Moon Yucatán Peninsula: With Cancún, Cozumel & Tulum, Moon Los Cabos, or Moon Mexico City. About Moon Travel Guides: Moon was founded in 1973 to empower independent, active, and conscious travel. We prioritize local businesses, outdoor recreation, and traveling strategically and sustainably. Moon Travel Guides are written by local, expert authors with great stories to tell—and they can't wait to share their favorite places with you. For more inspiration, follow @moonguides on social media.

Profiles homes from the colonial town of San Miguel de Allende, surveying numerous interior, architectural, and garden design ideas, from stately rural haciendas and villas to renovated colonial townhouses.

Struggling to free itself from a century of economic decline and stagnation, the town of San Miguel de Allende, nestled in the hills of central Mexico, discovered that its "timeless" quality could provide a way forward. While other Mexican towns pursued policies of industrialization, San Miguel--on the economic, political, and cultural margins of revolutionary Mexico--worked to demonstrate that it preserved an authentic quality, earning designation as a "typical Mexican town" by the Guanajuato state legislature in 1939. With the town's historic status guaranteed, a coalition of local elites and transnational figures turned to an international solution--tourism--to revive San Miguel's economy and to reinforce its Mexican identity. Lisa Pinley Covert examines how this once small, quiet town became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to one of Mexico's largest foreign-born populations. By exploring the intersections of economic development and national identity formation in San Miguel, she reveals how towns and cities in Mexico grappled with change over the course of the twentieth century. Covert similarly identifies the historical context shaping the promise and perils of a shift from an agricultural to a service-based economy. In the process, she demonstrates how San Miguel could be both typically Mexican and palpably foreign and how the histories behind each process were inextricably intertwined.

A Lifetime to Get Here: San Miguel de Allende, the first in a series of two, was created from the author's almost-daily blogs about visiting San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, for increasing amounts of time and in different seasons, spanning winter 2009 to the conclusion of 2012. The culmination of those years was the sale of her house in her fourth-generation hometown of Philadelphia and her permanent settlement in Mexico. It is a unique combination of travel memoir, how-to guide for the first-time visitor, the occasional lesson in Mexican history or culture, a Spanish grammar lesson or two, an answer to Stateside friends' questions of "What do you do in Mexico?", as well as honest, introspective reactions to what the older American author experiences as she navigates this unknown territory on her own. Lovingly-maintained vintage family photos of trips to Mexico decades ago and the author's own carefully-curated photos from more recent years punctuate and add richness to the text.