chicago2europe

We recently visited Oaxaca and loved its culture, its architecture, its art, its intimate feel, and most importantly, its people. We are considering San Miguel de Allende for next year. How does it compare to Oaxaca? Do you have any other recommendations for people who love Oaxaca and would like to explore other similar-sized towns in Mexico?

baldone

The 2 cities really are not very similar. Oaxaca has a strong indigenous culture, San Miguel, not so much, other than a small population of Nahuatl. Both have a thriving art community. Both have many fine restaurant options. Oaxaca of course has more regional food options, (moles, etc.), while San Miguel has probably greater variety. San Miguel gets very busy on the weekends these days with visitors from primarily Mexico City weekdays are very quiet. The local populace is very welcoming.
San Miguel's proximity to Guanajuato, Queretaro, Leon, Bernal & Tequisquiapan allows you to travel around the region either by day trips or by spending a couple nights elsewhere, whereas Oaxaca is more isolated.
​​​​​As far as other places like Oaxaca, that's hard to say, as each of Mexico's colonial cities has it's own flavor, if that makes sense. If you liked the indigenous influence of Oaxaca, then probably San Cristobal would be worthy to investigate.

chicago2europe

Thank you, Baldone!

Christina

Well, they're both Mexican. San Miguel is a lot smaller, of course.

San Miguel is NOT similar-sized to Oaxaca, it isn't remotely similar. Oaxaca city has about 300K, San Miguel only about 50K population. I don't consider Oaxaca to have an intimate feel because it is such a large city, but if you do, San Miguel will seem like a village.

Because it isn't such a big city, San Miguel has a different feel, lots of American expats and rich people there, it seems to me. Not as much to do, nor as much to see, of course. If you want some bigger city, maybe go somewhere other than San Miguel, but it does have a very attractive center park/square and is well-kept in the center.

ekscrunchy

Given your criteria, I would highly recommend Patzcuaro. You could begin in Morelia which has an international airport, and is an easy drive from Patzcuaro. Patcuaro itself is much smaller than Oaxaca but has a strong indigenous feeling, and there are many villages around there with the same. This is one of the best areas in Mexico to see craftspeople at work and to buy handcrafts; there are many nearby villages, each with their own specialty, from copper to all types of pottery to weaving to furniture making, and on and on. You can also access the winter home of the Monarch butterflies within a few hours' drive of Morelia. Morelia itself is a charming city, easy to wander around and with many museums and important churches, not to mention good restaurants. Hotels are quite inexpensive even as compared to Oaxaca, and roads are good; we rented a car for our visit but buses are, as usual, comfortable and running to most of the places you'd probably like to visit.