San Miguel de Allende, MX

The town's most ambitious kitchen, inside the Dos Casas hotel, where chef Matteo Salas plates refined contemporary Mexican built on local farms. It has earned three consecutive years on OAD's North America list and is widely regarded as the city's top fine-dining table.

A rooftop restaurant in a historic colonial hotel with a head-on view of the Parroquia's pink spires and a menu of modern Mexican and European-inflected dishes. The view is as much the reason to book as the food.

An open-air terrace restaurant with broad views and live music in the evenings, serving generous Mexican plates. It's a relaxed sunset-and-dinner spot away from the main square crush.

A husband-and-wife kitchen from Acapulco tucked down a Guadalupe alleyway, plating beautifully composed southern-Mexican dishes. It's an intimate, personal alternative to the rooftop scene.

A tiny handful-of-tables spot in the centro known for gourmet tacos, tostadas, and a short, inventive menu that changes with the kitchen's mood. It's the kind of small, personal place where every plate over-delivers.

One of the town's most popular cafés, pouring careful coffee and a strong breakfast in a bright, plant-filled room. It's the morning anchor for residents and visitors alike.

A casual rooftop spot just off the Jardín serving classic Mexican plates and margaritas with a Parroquia view at a fraction of the fine-dining prices. It's the easy, lively lunch-or-dinner default.

Chef Donnie Masterton's long-running, globally inspired restaurant set around a leafy courtyard off Sollano. The wide-ranging menu and the patio have made it a steady favorite for years.

A French-style bakery and all-day café known for excellent bread, pastries, and a polished breakfast in the heart of the center. It's the go-to for a refined morning before sightseeing.

A lively rooftop taco-and-tequila spot in the center, pairing solid tacos with a long agave list and a festive evening vibe. It's the fun, casual antidote to the town's pricier tables.

A French-style patisserie on Mesones turning out delicate pastries, tarts, and chocolates. It's the town's elegant sweet stop between gallery visits.

A farm bistro at an organic ranch just outside town, cooking vegetable-forward plates from its own fields. It's a green, garden-set escape for a relaxed, produce-led lunch.

A creative Mediterranean restaurant on Quebrada drawing on Greek and Lebanese flavors, ranked among Mexico's 100 Best Restaurants. The shareable, Middle-Eastern-inflected plates and strong cocktail list make it a destination dinner in the centro.

A botanical garden and nature reserve on the edge of town with a network of trails through a cactus canyon, past a reservoir and a dramatic gorge. It's the city's main nature escape, full of birds and rare succulents.

The reservoir southwest of town, ringed by flat dirt tracks and a noted birdwatching spot where migratory flocks gather. It's an easy, open walk with big-sky views over the water and the highlands.

The leafy downtown park below the center, a shaded grid of paths under old trees with a small aviary and resident birdsong. It's the gentle, flat urban walk for a slow morning.

A series of warm spring-fed pools in a garden setting north of town, reached through a low cañada of mesquite and farmland. The short approach and the soak together make a restful half-day in nature.

The area's most famous hot springs, a chain of warm pools culminating in a candle-lit cave you swim into through a tunnel. It's the classic relaxing day-trip just outside the city.

A jewel of a 19th-century theater near the center, hosting concerts, dance, film festivals, and recitals under a frescoed ceiling. Catching a show is the way to experience its intimate gilded hall.

A cultural center in a former convent, home to an unfinished mural by David Alfaro Siqueiros and rotating art shows, classes, and concerts. The cloistered courtyard is a calm cultural pause off the Jardín.

The rooftop bar of the Rosewood hotel, with the best elevated panorama over the town's domes and the Parroquia at sunset. It's the splurge spot for a sundowner above the rooftops.

The town's traditional covered market of produce, flowers, and cheap comida-corrida stalls, spilling into the artisan stalls of the Mercado de Artesanías behind it. It's where daily local life and souvenir shopping meet.

A long-running courtyard venue off the Jardín with nightly live music, from Andean folk to jazz and Latin bands. It's the center's reliable spot for an evening of music and drinks.

A dawn balloon flight over the highland valley, drifting above the town's domes, ranchland, and the reservoir as the sun comes up. It's the splurge experience that reframes the whole landscape.

An intimate mezcal bar pouring small-batch agave spirits with knowledgeable staff to guide a tasting. It's the spot to learn the spirit beyond the margarita.

The town's unmistakable landmark, a neo-Gothic parish church whose pink sandstone pinnacles rise over the main square. Its fairytale spires, added in the 1880s by a self-taught mason, are the symbol of the city.

The central plaza facing the Parroquia, ringed by colonial arcades and shaded by manicured laurel trees, where the whole town gathers. Mariachis, balloon sellers, and evening crowds make it the social heart of the city.

A 1902 cotton factory reborn as the city's main art complex, with dozens of galleries, artists' studios, design shops, and cafés in the raw industrial space. It's the engine of San Miguel's renowned art scene.

A richly decorated 18th-century church near the market, with a pink-stone facade and a side chapel — Santa Casa de Loreto — gilded like a jewel box. It's the most rewarding church to step inside after the Parroquia.

A grand church a block from the Jardín with an ornate Churrigueresque stone facade carved like lacework over the entrance. The contrast of its Baroque front and neoclassical tower is a highlight of the center's skyline.

The birthplace of independence hero Ignacio Allende on the Jardín, now a regional history museum tracing the area and the independence movement. It's a compact, well-told stop on the square itself.

A grand convent church nicknamed 'Las Monjas', crowned by a soaring dome modeled on Les Invalides in Paris. The adjacent former convent now houses the Bellas Artes cultural center.

The hillside overlook on the southern edge of town with the postcard panorama of the whole center, the Parroquia rising above the rooftops. It's the classic sunset photo spot.