San Miguel de Allende

Three days from the Parroquia to the painted vaults of Atotonilco

Start San Miguel de Allende in the Jardín with coffee, then visit the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel, whose neo-Gothic front was added in the 19th century by Zeferino Gutiérrez, a local stonemason said to have worked from postcards of European cathedrals. Next door, the Casa de Allende museum tells the independence story.

Walk down to the Bellas Artes cultural centre in a former convent, where an unfinished Siqueiros mural fills one room, and the domed Las Monjas church next to it. After lunch, take a taxi to the Fábrica La Aurora, an old textile mill turned into galleries and design shops. Finish with sunset at the Mirador, then dinner on a rooftop.

Day two. Climb early to El Charco del Ingenio, the botanical garden above town, with cacti, a canyon walk and a view of the reservoir. Walk back down through Parque Juárez, stopping at El Chorro, the spring where the town was founded, and its old public washing basins. In the afternoon, wander the street murals of the Guadalupe barrio, then join the evening crowd in the Jardín.

Day three. Drive or take a bus about 14 km north to the Sanctuary of Atotonilco, whose walls and vaults are covered in 18th-century folk-Baroque paintings. Spend the afternoon at one of the hot spring pools along the road back, then return for a final evening in town.

Enchiladas mineras, Tuesday tianguis stalls and Sunday barbacoa

San Miguel's restaurant scene is famous, but the way to understand local food is to eat where residents do, starting at the Mercado Ignacio Ramírez, whose fondas serve breakfast and set lunches until late afternoon. Order enchiladas mineras, tortillas dipped in guajillo sauce and filled with cheese, then visit the Tuesday tianguis and Sunday barbacoa stalls.

Start at the Mercado Ignacio Ramírez, the central market, where fondas inside serve breakfast and set lunches from morning until late afternoon. Order enchiladas mineras, the Guanajuato miners' dish of tortillas dipped in guajillo chile sauce, filled with cheese and topped with fried potatoes and carrots. Gorditas, thick corn pockets stuffed with chicharrón, beans or nopal, are another regional staple, and tamales with hot atole are sold from carts in the early morning.

Weekends bring barbacoa, slow-cooked lamb or beef sold by weight at street stands on Sunday mornings, with tortillas and consommé. On Tuesdays, the tianguis, the huge open-air market on the edge of town, has dozens of food stalls serving carnitas, quesadillas and fresh juices among the stands of clothes and junk.

Evenings belong to the Jardín, where carts sell elotes and esquites, corn on the cob or in a cup with mayonnaise, chile and lime, and churros with hot chocolate. For a step up, the town's comida corrida restaurants serve good-value multi-course lunches in the early afternoon, the main meal of the day here. To drink, try wines from the vineyards between San Miguel and Dolores Hidalgo, which have grown fast in recent years.

Fiesta de los Locos, the alborada and the dry Bajío winter

San Miguel de Allende has one of Mexico's busiest festival calendars. Semana Santa brings solemn processions over flower-strewn streets, the Fiesta de los Locos fills the streets with costumed crowds on the first Sunday after 13 June, and the alborada fireworks honour the patron saint in late September; the dry Bajío winter is the calmest time.

Easter week, Semana Santa, brings solemn processions through the centre, with residents carrying statues and the streets strewn with flowers. In June, on the first Sunday after the 13th, the Fiesta de los Locos fills the streets with thousands of people in outrageous costumes and masks, throwing sweets to the crowds. September is the biggest month. Independence is celebrated with patriotic fervour in Allende's hometown on the 15th and 16th, and at the end of the month the feast of San Miguel Arcángel begins with the Alborada, an all-night party ending with a mock battle of fireworks over the Parroquia at dawn. Day of the Dead, in early November, brings altars and painted faces, and December brings posadas.

The weather favours autumn to spring. From October to April it barely rains, from 6 mm in December to 19 mm in November, with clear skies and highs of 22 to 28 C. Nights are cold, though, at 5 C in December and January, so pack a warm layer. April and May are the warmest months, at 30 to 31 C, and spring jacarandas cover the streets in purple. The rains arrive in June, with 115 mm, peaking at 147 mm in July; showers usually fall in the afternoon, leaving mornings sunny and the surrounding hills green.