Looking for suggestions for 7-8 days in Mexico
 

We may have 7-8 days vacation days in the last week of November, and I was thinking of visiting Mexico. We have been to the beach destinations of Yucatan, but wanted to see a bit of inland Mexico this time.

After I have done some reading, I thought we could spend about 3 days in Mexico City and Teotihuacan, and the remaining days in Guanajuato (with a trip to San Miguel de Allende), and fly home from QRO.
On the other hand, with such a short amount of time, maybe it makes sense to spend all days around Guanajuato/San Miguel de Allende and QRO.
What do you suggest?

We are interested in history and local culture We also like walking around old and historic towns, visiting markets and enjoy local food.

Thank you for your help in advance!

All of the above might be a bit much for 7-8 days. Mexico City by itself could be worth 7-8 days. I think GTO/SMA/QRO probably would be less hectic and more walkable, with local foods and markets somewhat more accessible. San Miguel has a Tuesday market very popular with the locals. All 3 cities are very colonial, and each unique with their own histories. Another stop could be in Leon, with a visit to the leather district. You could do the Zona de Piel in an afternoon while in Guanjuato. Fly into BJX and leave from QRO. November can be cool here, so bring a light jacket. Or buy a leather one in Leon. If you like this part of Mexico, do Mexico city another time and combine that with Puebla and/or Oaxaca.

<makes sense to spend all days around Guanajuato/San Miguel de Allende>

Yes!! With only a week I would skip Mexico City this trip. that said, I'm extremely interested in seeing Guanjuato sometime so my answer definitely reflects personal preference.

Baldone, Suze, Thank you for your suggestions!

I think we will follow your advice to just limit this visit to GTO/SMA/QRO. With Mexico city, for me a real draw was to see Teotihuacan (wanted to see it for a while).

How do you suggest to split our days between these cities

We will probably fly in on Saturday, and fly out the following Sunday.

There are some hot springs around SMA? Are they nice and worth visiting? I normally love hot springs, if they are clean and not too crowded.

Is Bernal worth visiting from QRO?

Thank you, again!

For a hot spring close to SMA, take a taxi to La Gruta. You can google it and see. Some good youtube videos of it out there also.

I would probably figure 2 1/2 days in each, being that each city is within an hour of the other. That allows you, for example, to spend the morning & early afternoon in GTO before leaving for SMA since your check in time will probably be 3 PM. Same for your move from SMA to QRO. Although if you were to arrive early, most hotels will happily store your luggage.
Bernal is worth a visit, mostly on the weekends. It is a quaint little town, and the Pena provides a scenic backdrop.
In addition to La Gruta hot springs, there are also Xote and Escondido Place, with the former more family oriented with water slides and such. While in QRO, hire a taxi at night to take you around the aqueduct. It's quite impressive all lit up. FYI, if you do decide to go leather shopping in Leon, the bus terminal is right in the center of the leather district. If you do go to the Tueday market (tianguis) in San Miguel, bear in mind that it's mostly where locals go to buy used clothes, veggies, tools, TV remotes, and cheap plastics. But lots of food stalls, and a few pickpockets.

I just did that same trip, actually, but I had about 10 days. I did split them between Guanajuato and Mexico City, which was perfect for me. And I also visited Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel de Allende on a day trip from Guanajuato. I really enjoyed that, it was a small group van tour. I think there were about 6-8 of us. I was the only person who wasn't Mexican, actually, and it was not bilingual (which surprised me, as it was one of those officially licensed ones, the main ones in town). I understand enough Spanish that it was fine (I understood the guide enough, and understood enough to figure out what we were doing, when to be back to meet up, etc), I just wanted to get to these places and it was very convenient. I'm glad I did that as I was thinking of going to San Miguel de A on my own by bus but I really liked Dolores Hidalgo and would have missed it.

With 8 days, I would still spend a couple in Mexico City myself. You probably would get better flights home frm there, also, perhaps.

I didn't spend any time n Queretaro, though, so I think not going to the Df would be fine, also, depends what you most want to see.

In have done a weekly rental in San Miguel ( two yrs ago) and have also visited Guanajuato and Queretaro for several days each on the same trip.

I would not base myself in SMA. I would base myself in Guanajuato. it offers more music, arts, culture on a consistent basis. SMA is an artists town, expats who paint settle there. But honestly, it is not all that active, it is a sleep place. And I totally agree about the comment on the Tuesday market there! it's full of blender parts (why do people need so many blender parts, I have no idea), old tires, household goods, things locals need. Only a few stalls with ceramics. Not a great market to visit. It's a ways outside the main area of town in a dusty area off a hwy.

Queretaro is nice for a day trip or maybe one overnight. But not nearly as charming overall and as much culture and arts Nd music as G uanajuato with the university there.

Stopping at Dolores Hidalgo on a day trip to SMA is great, esp. If you like good quality colorful Mexican ceramics

Guanajuato is absolutely charming and lovely and so much good food and culture all around, marvelous colors, hilly cobblestone streets....

Where are you flying in and out of, is that set?

Baldone,Emd, Christina,Mark,

Thank you so much for your responses again!

Emd, I do not have plane tickets yet. I am still trying to decide to include Mexico city or not. I was almost convinced to skip Mexico city this time, but Christina made me think again.

Christina is correct. We will be flying from Chicago, and we have a direct flight into Mexico city, and we will loose more time in transit flying directly into BJX (and airfare to BJX is higher);

On the other hand, it seems too hectic with a long bus ride from Mexico City to GTO.

Is El Norte bus station in Mexico City safe and easy to navigate? Are there private transfers that are faster than a bus ride?

As for basing ourselves in SMA for a couple of nights. I normally like towns atmosphere at night - lights, restaurants, music, and that's why day trips normally do not make it for me. Very often, places look much more charming at night than during a day. Not sure if this is the case with SMA. With that I wanted to split between GTO/SMA.

Too bad you don't have even a couple more days. I think too many people try to do too much in too short of a time, and then a vacation turns out to be more like work. But some of that depends on your age. It's hard to pass on DF, since that's where you'll fly in to, it seems. Norte is safe and finding your terminal is easy. But your taxi ride will eat some time, and taxis directly from the airport are expensive. Private transport could be arranged, but then that negates your cost savings of flying into MEX. Did you know that you can take the Primera Plus bus directly from MEX to QRO?
I would also respectfully disagree with emd's take on the entertainment in SMA. True, it is not a university town, but there's plenty of music and arts, and there are far better (and more) restaurants in SMA than in GTO. Many of the restaurants have free live music 1 or more nights a week. SMA is quite charming at night and very safe, as is GTO. As is QRO. Here's a couple of guides for music and arts in SMA: http://www.sanmiguelevents.com/
http://www.atencionsanmiguel.org/
So, if your set on some time in DF, here's a doable intinerary:
2 nights in QRO taking the bus directly from the airport.
2 nights SMA, it's only 45 minutes from QRO.
2 nights GTO.
Bus back to DF for the remaining 3 nights, departing from DF.
One advantage of staying in places like SMA, QRO, & GTO is that pretty much everything you'll want to see is a short walk from your hotel, whereas in DF you'll need taxis and/or the metro.
One last thing, what airline are you using? Have you checked Volaris' fares out of O'Hare? They also fly out of BJX to Midway.

Baldone, I just want to say I really appreciate you taking time and giving me all this information!

I wish we had two more days! We are both working full time for large corporations, and our vacation time is very limited. Every time, we plan a trip, we go thru the same pain - select what NOT to see ...
I did more reading today, and looked at photographs, and really want to take it easy this time (which means skipping DF). I would like to fly to BJX (not MEX), and fly out of QRO per your original suggestions.
There are many flights, but the shortest ones are expensive.

After reading your post, I checked Volaris. They do not seem flying to BJX from ORD. They fly from Midway, but only on certain days.

Yes, I did see this bus from MEX to QRO - it takes about 3 hours.

I'll search for tickets... Thank you again for your help!

I just purchased air tickets - arriving BJX around 11:30 on 11/22 am and leaving from QRO on Sunday 11/30.

Should we just take a taxi from BJX to our hotel in GTO, or it is preferable to order a private transfer in advance?

I would also really appreciate hotel recommendations in GTO, SMA, and QRO (something nice and close to old town centers) In SMA - we need a hotel with very reliable Internet connection, because my husband has to work remotely on one of the days.

Also, would it be possible to use taxi (vs. bus) to move between towns from GTO to SMA to QRO. My husband is still recovering from his surgery, and I am trying to make it easy on him.

I have no idea what those acronyms mean. I'm not going to look them up.

I think they are mostly obvious, except BJX is the airport for Leon/Guanajuato. Why on earth did you even bother to write that, kja, if you didn't intend to do anything and couldn't figure out that SMA means San Miguel de Allende, etc? Oh, to tell off the OP, of course, as usual on here.

You do not need to order a private transfer in advance at BJX, why would you think you needed to? There are plenty of taxis at airports and those drivers want the work. I'm not sure why you are thinking you might want to, so not sure what your concerns are. The taxi fare is fixed between BJX and Guanajuato. There is a desk in BJX (which isn't that big, obviously), where you pay and get assigned an official taxi. One tip, the price is cheaper if you pay in pesos than USD. I hadn't used the ATM yet and somehow wasn't dividing clearly in my head when she told me the prices, so I thought the price in USD was about the same or just a bit more, but I think it was about 10 pct more than if you paid in pesos. IN pesos, it's around US$35, and in USD, I think it was $40. Something like that. My hotel was near Jardin de la Union and the traffic was really bad in the center that day, so a fixed price was a good deal for me.

I'm sure you could move by taxi between those cities, but I don't know if it would be a reasonable cost or not. They are pretty far apart. Of course there are plenty of buses in Mexico and some are very nice (I took ETN from Guanajuato to DF and it was very nice), but it is more trouble to get to the bus station, of course.

Thank you Christina! No reason for a private transfer at all. We use taxi most of the time.

It is just in some places, we order an airport pick up in advance for various reasons (convenience, safety, price, etc...), so I wanted to check. Taxi is just fine... I appreciate your tips.

As someone who flew into one city and then traveled by ground transportation for 3 weeks before flying out of another city, I honestly don’t know the codes for Mexican airports. But if the OP visits any of the places I saw, I might have hotel recommendations. I regret that I posted without patience and I apologize for that. OTOH, the OP might get a wider range of helpful responses if she makes it just a tad easier for people to know what she is seeking. ;-)

Your trip sounds great. I love those towns, in Guanajuato several years ago we stayed at Alma del Sol and loved this small B&B. It was a very well situated B&B with a wonderful owner, SMdA has a ton of places to stay. I've liked all the places we have stayed over the years, but can't recall any of the names. We're going back this winter and are staying at a very small studio apt which looks nice. If you are interested I can provide the info on that.
Have a great trip!

I just booked an apartment in Guanajuato for the months of January ^ February. This is my third visit. A week in 2012, a month in 2013 & now 2 months in 2015.
As you maybe can tell I like it.
Great culture, food, architecture surrounded by a number of other very interesting places Leon with it's leather Market, The Gringo City of San Miguel, Delores Hidalago & Queretaro name but a few.
Or Spend the entire time in Mexico City & it's many many delights including Teotihuacan

Another lovely town nearby you can visit is Mineral de Pozos which is interesting to explore & less touristed than the ones mentioned by Stewbear. You likely will not find many gringos there-or at least that was the case when we were last there.

Hi Helen! If you will need airport transfers to your hotel or the place where you will be staying I recommend you Discovery Mundo Shuttle, is very comfortable, good service, at time and good price... They have shuttle for the places youre going :)
www.discoverymundo.com

We often do overnights in Queretaro, and have stayed at a number of hotels. Probably our favorite, for the location as much as anything, is http://www.hosteriadospatios.com/index.html.
It doesn't come up under hotels on Tripadvisor as a hotel, but it should. There are 2 sections, the newer is actually more motel like than the rooms near reception, which are more quaint. It's located on Cinco de Mayo, just up from the Plaza de Armas, a very quiet area. Dona Urraca is in the same area.
I don't really have too much recent experience with SMA hotels, as we live here. But generally, the closer to the Jardin, the noisier, and more expensive. But there are certainly many options. Your budget will probably dictate where you end up.

Kja, apologies for using abbreviations (a habit picked up on various travel forums). We will be visiting Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, and Queretaro.

Yestravel, Baldone, Johanna, Stewbear, than you so much for ideas on side trips, transportation and accommodations!

Yestravel, we will be only 3 nights in SMA, so I think we are better off with a hotel.

@ helen63 -- absolutely no need for you to apologize to me! I hope your response means that you accepted my apology. I haven't been to Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, or Queretaro, and so can't offer any helpful input. (In the absence of clarification, I had wondered whether QRO indicated a new airport somewhere in <u><b>Q</u></b>uintano <u><b>Ro</u></b>o, for which I might have had something helpful to contribute.) Thanks for your forbearance.

Helen--do take two days to see Mexico City--one of our favorite places in the world and an historical and gastronomic capitol. You would have ample time to see the rest.

We've been to all that you are thinking of visiting except SMA, which we have heard is a little touristy for our taste.

Hello,
Everyone here helped me with my itinerary when we went there in late May early June and their input was invaluable. So thanks all of you, we had a fantastic time!
We were in Mexico City, Queretaro, Guanajuato, a day in San Miguel and a day in Leon. We loved all the cities we went to except Leon but then I hate shopping and wasn't expecting it to be so overwhelming. Mexico City we stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites it was very central. The pyramids were worth seeing. Queretaro stayed at La Casa de la Marquesa and cant say enough about this hotel, it was exceptional, beautiful! We took Baldon's advice and went to the aquaduct in the day and night and was not disappointed. By the way the weather was wonderful too! Guanajuato we stayed at Hotel Quinta las Alondras which I wouldn't recommend unless you wanted an inexpensive hotel. We took the local bus into town which was fun but staying in the midst of things would be better. Each town had its own uniqueness. We enjoyed them all. We were there for 13 days and still could of stayed longer. Don't try to fit it all in give yourself time to explore. I think 2 days in Queretaro and a daytrip or 2 in San Miguel would be good. I felt we didn't have enough time in Guanajuato. If you can do Mexico City that would be good too but like us you will be hooked and will probably want to explore some other places at another time! We took the buses and they were 1st class probably much nicer and more comfortable than a taxi.

Kja, no worries :). I enjoyed your posts and suggestions on numerous other topics.

Dwdvagamundo, Mexico City will be next time :) I booked my air tickets already directly to Guanajuato. We only really have 7 days, and one of them, my husband needs to work, so it would be too hectic. We will combine a trip to Mexico City with Oaxaca next time.

Mirasia, thank you for your review! We will stay 3.5 days (this include half a day on arrival) in Guanajuato, 3 days in San Miguel, and 1 day in Queretaro. I wanted 2 days in Queretaro, but it is easier if my husband stay put in SMA and works from there (while I walk around or go go hot springs). I hope this works.

Just beginning to plan a trip to this area and found this thread VERY helpful to get my thinking/planning going. I'm sure I'll be back to post questions separately but just wanted to thank everyone who posted here---seems like a great summary of options for places to see in a relatively limited time

All hotels are booked (a bit pricier that I thought it would be, but it is OK). So, we have, 3.5 days in GTO, 3 days in SMA, and 1 full day in QRO.

Now looking for restaurants recommendations, and what not to miss. I really like mariachi music (even went to their concerts a couple of times, here in Chicago). Where can we listen to them? Do they perform on streets, in restaurants?

Also, I have been reading about walking tours - Callejoneadas. Are those fun? Unfortunately, we speak no Spanish.

Thank you again for all your helpful recommendations!

For me, at least in San Miguel, these would be faves:
Rosewood Hotel rooftop bar for sunset/views and drinks. They have tapas, too. A tad pricey, but worth a visit. The hotel itself is beautiful. It should be for $500 US a night.
La Posadita (on Cuna de Allende), another rooftop restaurant right off the jardin, behind the parroquia. Good food, good service. Lunch or dinner, closed Wednesday.
Hecho en Mexico, on Ancha de San Antonio. Mexican/American comfort food. Pedro Cartas and his band play Fridays and Saturdays for $150 peso minimum, no cover. Check out his you tube videos. His rendition of Gabriel's Oboe will bring tears to your eyes.
La Mezcalaria (on Correo)for mezcal, cucumber, & cilantro margaritas with a white chili infusion. Tapas, too. but kinda pricey.
Mi Casa restaurant at Instituto Allende, a couple of doors up from Hecho's on Ancha. Currently, Doc Severinsen and Gil Gutierrez are playing W-T-F. I don't know for how long, though. Even if Doc's not playing, Gil usually is and worth it. Mama Mia's has live music w/no cover TWTF. Average Italian & pizza. Fish bowl margaritas, but lots of ice.
Mariachis are pretty much always in the jardin, except Mondays. Weekends get pretty crazy, with 2 or more playing at the same time. Kinda confusing. Better during the week when there's less competition.
Typically, there are a couple of trios that walk the restaurant scene and will play at your table.
Breakfast, if not included in your hotel, would be La Parroquia, (on Jesus), Media Naranja (on Hidalgo), Juan's Cafe (on Relox), Muro (Loreto), & Posada de Carmen, on Cuna de Allende near the jardin.
All the above restaurants are within an easy walk from the jardin area.
In Queretaro, we usually like 1810 and Chucho Roto, right next to each other in the Plaza de Armas. Probably the nicest restaurants with outdoor seating. Others no doubt have their favorites. Avoid the places on 16 de Septiembre where the hawkers pester you.
Have a taxi take you around the aqueducto at night.
Here's a link to walking tours, in English, in SMA: www.patronatoproninos.org
If you have time, (and transportation) a half day trip to Mineral de Pozos is kinda interesting. Lunch at Posada de Las Minas. 40 minutes from San Miguel, an abandoned silver mine/semi-ghost town.

Baldone, this is amazing! Thank you so much for all this great info!

I am glad we will be there on Friday night for Pedro Cartas. It looks like we have our choice of music for each day we are there (Wed - Fri).
Your breakfast recommendations are very much appreciated. I booked Belmond Casa De Sierra Nevada, and breakfast is not included.

Mineral de Pozos was mentioned earlier, and sounds very interesting. I assume we can just take a taxi. Not sure if we can just arrange a ride there, and then ask the same taxi to pick us up later on (or better just take a taxi back in Mineral de Pozos).

A walking tour sounds great as well.

Great hotel choice. We stayed there years ago and it was very nice. Have visited it on subsequent trips and it seems just as lovely. At one time it was THE hotel in SMdA.

Sierra Nevada is a lovely hotel in a great location. The hotel is spread out among 3 or 4 old colonial homes. Some rooms may face the street, which is generally deserted at night. What traffic it does have moves very slow. I believe that street-side rooms have double paned windows.
As far as Pozos goes, I don't know if they even have taxis there. It is a small enough town where locals walk everywhere and take the local bus to SJ Iturbide or SL de la Paz, nearby larger towns. If you decide to go, I would suggest asking your hotel about a driver/guide, or renting a car, instead of having a taxi drop you off. It's quite an uphill walk from the main road to the ruins, so you'll need wheels. The ruins do make for some good photos; a number of movies have been filmed there. Some of them are fenced off these days, as are most of the mine shafts, for good reason. A car in San Miguel rents for about $100 a day, and should be reserved in advance.

I am glad I picked out a good hotel.

I will look into renting a car or hiring a driver. I was looking at SMA tours/transportation sites, and it looks like, we can hire a car with a driver for about $20/hour, so this maybe an option vs. driving.

If it were me, costs being the same, I'd hire a driver, as long as he knows Pozos as I'm sure most in SMA do. It's not terribly difficult to find, but at the same time, signage in Mexico leaves a lot to be desired. Plus, the road out of San Miguel is a little tricky; narrow with no shoulders and not-so-safe buses. Plus, its kinda fun to sight-see and let someone else do the driving. If you do, have him take you to Posada de Las Minas for lunch and treat him as a tip.
Here's a driver you might contact: http://www.sanmigueldriver.com/
BTW, if you do go see Pedro Cartas, have your hotel get you a reservation maybe the day before. Chances are you could walk in without one, but with one you'll get a better table.

Baldone, thank you so much for recommendation! I will email this driver.

Baldone, I just heard Pedro Cartas on youtube, and really hope we do not miss him. How wonderful! His gypsy violin music made me nostalgic (these melodies were popular from where I am from).
What time does he normally start playing at night? Just want to make sure we get right reservation.

Doc Severinsen is great as well.

Is there any recommended restaurants/live music in Guanajuato?

Music generally starts at 730. He pretty much has a standing gig at Hecho's, unless he's on tour or something.
I'm not too up to speed on night life/restaurants in GTO as when we're there it's usually just for the day.

Thank you, Baldone!

Helen, a friend of mine who lives in Playa del Carmen had a great trip to Guanajuato last spring.
She has a blog and did some good posts on their favorite restaurants of the trip and how they spent their time. She is an occasional poster her on fodors also, as "michelleinplaya"

Here are her blog entries on Guanajuato:
http://www.buyplaya.net/blogs/rob_ki...e/2014/04.aspx