San Miguel de Allende

San Miguel de Allende rose rich on the colonial silver route, but its icon is a late addition: the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel, whose pink neo-Gothic towers were raised in the late nineteenth century by the self-taught local mason Zeferino Gutierrez, working - so the story goes - from images of European cathedrals. The result is one of Mexico's most photographed churches, glowing over El Jardin plaza where mariachis and balloon sellers work the evenings. Behind it spreads a UNESCO-listed town (inscribed in 2008 together with the frescoed sanctuary of Atotonilco nearby) of cobbled lanes, carved doorways and flowering courtyards, colonised since the mid-twentieth century by artists and a large international community - galleries, rooftop terraces and craft shops now fill the old fabric. The Fabrica La Aurora, a textile mill turned art complex, anchors the creative scene.

What you actually see

• The Parroquia - the pink fantasy towers above El Jardin.
• El Jardin evenings - mariachis and promenades under clipped laurels.
• The doorway lanes - carved portals, courtyards and rooftop views.
• Atotonilco sanctuary - the mural-covered church that shares the UNESCO listing.

When to go

October to April brings dry, sunny highland days and cool nights at 1,900 metres. Semana Santa and the September patron-saint fiestas are spectacular and packed; summer afternoons bring brief rains.

Honest expectations

This is Mexico's most internationalised small town - English is everywhere and prices run well above regional norms. The cobbles and steep lanes punish thin soles, and weekends fill with visitors from the capital. It is beautiful rather than undiscovered - come for polish, not grit.

Nearby

The Atotonilco sanctuary, the canyons of the Guanajuato highlands and the UNESCO city of Guanajuato itself.