Tdiddy12

Hello my Dear Fodorites!
My last post on this site was in January 2020. We arrived home from a 4 month trip on March 8th and...well you know the rest. We are planning another trip back to Mexico in Oct. 2021, hoping by then the Covid is done. So we are doing a circle starting in Mexico City and ending in Patzcuaro for Day of the Dead. We have about two weeks before arriving at Patzcuaro and leaving Mexico City. Will be traveling by bus. We are looking at four places maybe cutting it down to three. Queretaro, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato and Morelia. We would like to spend a couple of days in Morelia because we spent last Christmas there and would like to stop there before heading to Patz.
I've heard that San Miguel is great, not great, opinions seem to vary. How about Guanajuato or Queretaro. We read Crellston's report about Guanajuato and it sounded interesting and smaller. We like smaller.
So any advice is greatly appreciated.
Tdiddy12

baldone

I don’t think you can go wrong with any of your options. It all depends on your interests and perhaps if you’re interested in doing some day trips. Some random observations after living in San Miguel for 10 years and Queretaro for 1:
San Miguel and Guanajuato have essentially the same population, ~75,000 for the cities themselves and about 180,000 for the municipios. San Miguel has far more and better restaurants, not all of them being expensive, though some certainly are. Guanajuato has better museums. San Miguel has more boutique type shops catering to the chilangas. Guanajuato is a university town, hence a large student population. San Miguel these days gets the majority of its tourists from CDMX and Queretaro although it still gets it’s share of gringo tourists along with Asian and European tourists. The architecture of both cities are unique in their own way, Guanajuato’s topography being more interesting in its setting in the valley.
Queretaro, while indeed a big city, has quite an attractive centro histórico. The best lodging areas are either along Madero or near the Plaza De Armas. I believe it has the largest colonial center in all of Mexico besides CDMX. Good restaurants, good shopping, and quite walkable. If you like smaller, as you say, day trips to the charming towns Bernal and/or Tequisquiapan are easy to do. Queretaro also has an urban archeological site, El Cerrito, which is easy to get to.
In sum, all of Mexico’s Bajio colonial cities have their own charms. More day trips could include: From Patzcuaro, Uruapan & Santa Clara del Cobre. From Guanajuato, León. (see trip report below). From San Miguel, Mineral De Pozos and the archeological site of La Cañada. Also Celaya, for which I’ll have an upcoming trip report. Plus a brief report on Yuriria and its convent on the way to Morelia from San Miguel or Celaya. Some opt to stay in Queretaro and day trip to San Miguel. Or vice versa. They’re only about a hour apart. Or stay in San Miguel and day trip to Guanajuato. Or vice versa. No bad choices.
And if covid19 is still somewhat present, the ETN double-decker buses offer the best spacing, with 1 row of 2 seats and 1 row of single seats.
Leon, GTO Mini-Report

baldone

I neglected to mention a couple of other simple day trips from San Miguel, Dolores Hidalgo, the Santuario de Atotonilco, and the nearby hot springs.