In Praise of the Local Taco Stand in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Taco Stand, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

When we asked locals in San Miguel de Allende (that is, the actual locals from Mexico, not the expat ‘locals’) where to eat Mexican food, we were often met with a deafening and sometimes embarrassing silence and mumbled directions to a taco stand. I’m guessing it was the fact we used the words ‘good’, ‘local’ … Read more

Shopping Local in San Miguel de Allende

Shopping Local in San Miguel de Allende. Ave María and Shopping Local in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Specializing in cool, kitsch and quirky Mexicana – t-shirts, bags, jewellery, art, and interior design products — everything in Ave María, Giovanna Canela Miranda’s hip store in San Miguel de Allende, is ‘hecho en Mexico’ or ‘made in Mexico’, by Mexicans. That means that Giovanna has designed the products herself and commissioned Mexican artists and … Read more

Local Knowledge: Giovanna from San Miguel de Allende

Local Knowledge: Giovanna from San Miguel de Allende. Giovanna Canela Miranda, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

San Miguel de Allende, our second ‘home’ in Mexico, is renowned for its shopping. I was told it was possible to find anything here from anywhere in Mexico, and it seemed to be true. As I did the rounds of the stores, I saw every kind of Mexican handicraft and folk art conceivable, from the … Read more

The Streets of San Miguel de Allende

The streets of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

San Miguel de Allende is beautiful, our friends in Mexico City had told us. We believed them, but based on what we’d read and heard we somehow expected a Disney version of a Mexican town, with perfect buildings and immaculate streets, with all the gritty character and atmosphere painted over and scrubbed away. The streets … Read more

Our Home Away from Home in San Miguel de Allende

Our Home Away from Home in San Miguel de Allende. Holiday rental apartment, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

A colourful casita (little house) that looks like it has leapt out of the pages of a Mexican interior design book is our home away from home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Yes, San Miguel de Allende! When HomeAway Holiday-Rentals asked us to come here, we must admit that we had some reservations. We’d avoided … Read more