7 days in magical Mexico City & San Miguel De Allende

Here’s how to combine vibrant, bustling Mexico City and the nearby picturesque town of San Miguel de Allende into one perfectly curated holiday.

These two locales are truly a match made in heaven. Get caught up in the fast-paced bustle of Mexico City’s top-class restaurant scene, massive traditional markets, and fascinating ancient culture, then slow it down in the idyllic town of San Miguel de Allende – wandering the cobble-stoned alleys and popping into boutiques that will melt any design-lovers heart.

Together, Mexico City and San Miguel de Allende will immerse you in Mexico’s vibrant world of stunning architecture, art, and energetic food scene.

Day 1

Lunch at Contramar

Mexico City is known for its dynamic food scene – specifically long lunches, which are considered the main meal of the day. And there’s no better place to post up on your first day in town than trendy, seafood extraordinaire: Contramar in the Roma Norte neighbourhood. Cult favourites that you’ll see splashed across your Instagram feed include their tuna tostadas, the whole grilled fish dressed in a duo of colourful salsas and the cloud-like strawberry meringue cake.

Tuna Tostadas with corn salad, guacamole and chipotle on a white background. (Image: Getty Images) — Try the tuna tostadas at Contramar.

Salsa dancing at Salón San Luis

Dance the night away at this retro nightclub with live music and cumbia dancing. Salón San Luis is known for its local vibe and you’ll see lots of pros on the dance floor. Come during a night with salsa lessons if you’re new to the scene and want to learn a thing or two!

Accommodation Tip: I suggest staying in the walkable (and hip!) Roma or Condesa neighbourhoods. Chaya B&B, Octavia Casa and the renowned Condesa DF are all great options.

The Octavia Casa accommodation's courtyard with stools and pebbles in the Condesa neighbourhood. — Octavia Casa originates from OCTAVIA, a Mexican clothing brand created for the contemporary woman who leads a simple and modern lifestyle. (Image: Maureen M. Evans)

Day 2

Food tour of local markets

The streets of trendy neighbourhoods like Condesa and Roma are lined with buzzy restaurants, from sun-splashed cafes to chic fine dining, but you’d be missing out on some of Mexico City’s best if you don’t try local street food.

TIP: Visitors who aren’t used to Mexico’s local cuisine should be wary of food poisoning, known as Montezuma’s Revenge. Exploring street food with a knowledgeable local guide is a good safeguard against this possibility.

Local companies, like Trippers.mx, will lead you through La Merced Market, Mexico City’s largest traditional market. As you weave through the labyrinth of stalls, you’ll sample tamales, guava apple tea, mezcal and unfamiliar fruits, like mamey sapote.

People eating and socialising at a vibrant food market stall in Mexico City. (Image: Getty Images) — Local mercados are the place to go for food and vibrant conversation. (Image: Getty Images)

Lucha libre fight

Lucha libre fights are an iconic part of Mexican culture and there’s no better place to experience this theatrical sport than Mexico City. Throw back some cold Mexican beers as you enjoy a raucous display of flashy costumes and acrobatic tussles in the wrestling ring.

Day 3

Breakfast at Rosetta Panaderia

Rosetta Panaderia is a Roma icon, often hailed as the city’s best bakery and rightfully so. With a beautiful space that flows from indoor out to the leafy streets, it’s the perfect spot to sample Mexican sweet breads and pastries. Don’t leave the city without trying a guava pastry.

Mexican sweet bread in Mexico. (Image: Getty Images) — Don’t miss out on the delicious Mexican sweet bread.

Explore museums and the beautiful Bosque de Chapultepec

Comparable to New York City’s Central Park, Bosque de Chapultepec is a sprawling, 1,700-acre green space at the heart of the city. With three distinct sections, nine museums, and the Mexico City Zoo all within its borders, there’s enough in this park alone to fill a week’s explorations. Museo Tamayo is perhaps the city’s most renowned contemporary art museum. If modern art isn’t your style, opt for Museo Nacional de Historia– which is housed in the historic Chapultepec Castle.

TIP: Bosque de Chapultepec and the museums within it are closed on Mondays so be sure to plan accordingly.

Panoramic aerial view of Chapultepec Castle with Mexico City skyline on the background. (Image: Getty Images) — Bosque de Chapultepec is in the iconic Chapultepec Park.

Day 4

Sunrise hot air balloon flight over Teotihuacan

Make a day trip about an hour northeast of the city to experience the holy city of Teotihuacan. Take to the sky in a hot air balloon to see the sunrise over the ancient city’s awe-inspiring structures, including the Temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon.

Hot air balloon over the pyramids of Teotihuacan in Mexico. (Image: Getty Images) — A hot air balloon flight over the pyramids of Teotihuacan in Mexico is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Explore the Teotihuacan ruins

With a native local as your guide, learn about the cultural significance of this city as you wander through the stepped pyramids, secret caves and grottos. You’ll learn Teotihuacan was settled as early as 400 BC, then flourished as one of the largest and most impressive of its time by 400 AD. However, when the Aztecs came across the mystical city in the 1400s (and named it Teotihuacan, meaning “the place where the gods were created"), it had been eerily empty for hundreds of years.

An aerial view of the pyramids of Teotihuacan. (Image: Getty Images) — Teotihuacán was an ancient Mesoamerican city known today as the site of many of the most architecturally significant Mesoamerican pyramids built in the pre-Columbian Americas.

Dine in a candlelit grotto

Conclude your time in Teotihuacan with an atmospheric dinner inside a cave, just steps away from the temples. At night, La Gruta is lit with candles and on the weekends, you can enjoy traditional Mexican folk dance shows.

Day 5

Weekly travel news, experiences
insider tips, offers, and more.

Travel to San Miguel de Allende

Time to swap the bustling, leafy avenues of Mexico City for the winding alleys of San Miguel de Allende. There are a few options for transportation:

1. I recommend the bus. At Terminal Central de Autobuses del Norte, there are a multitude of bus companies and timetables to choose from. I suggest booking through ETN or Primera Plus. Their double-decker buses are extremely comfortable and include bathrooms, air-con, your own entertainment units, and footrests. The nonstop (or one-stop) rides to the San Miguel de Allende bus station take about three and a half hours and cost about 535 pesos one way ($36 AUD).

2. For bigger groups, booking a chauffeured private shuttle may be the best option.

3. You can fly from Mexico City to one of the two closest regional airports near San Miguel de Allende in Querétaro or León. Both are a short drive away from the town. QRO is 35-50 minutes away and BJX is one to one and a half hours away. Your hotel should offer transportation to and from both airports, or you can always take an Uber or taxi. The flights from Mexico City take about one hour, and can be quite pricey.

Colourful buildings and streets of San Miguel de Allende in historic city centre. (Image: Getty Images) — The streets and buildings of San Miguel de Allende are known for their colours.

Rooftop dinner in San Miguel de Allende

As you take in your first wonderful day in San Miguel de Allende, you have a lot of quality options for dining– specifically, dining with a view. Perhaps due to the town’s hilly landscape, many restaurants include a cool rooftop setting. Try Atrio for a trendy aesthetic, La Única for an amazing view of the rosy-hued Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel, or Luna Tapas Bar for its sweeping skyline views and to check out the rooftop of the iconic Rosewood Hotel.

Accommodation Tip: Hotel Matilda for an artistic and elegant boutique hotel, Rosewood San Miguel de Allende for a grand, luxurious stay, and Casa Chorro for a stunning seven-bedroom colonial home that is perfect to rent out for large groups or events.

Aerial View of San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. (Image: Getty Images) — There are lots of places to wine and dine with a view. And what a view it is!

Day 6

Explore San Miguel de Allende

It is a truly magical experience to get lost amongst the twisting, cobblestone alleyways of San Miguel de Allende. Every corner turned offers a new picturesque scene and every doorway peeked into reveals something interesting and, most often, aesthetically lovely. As you wander, make sure you visit Brvjas for their unique collection of artisan-made goods, Lavanda Cafe for their coffee and Cumpanio for their fresh-baked pasties.

Street in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico. (Image: Getty Images) — Walking the streets of San Miguel de Allende is pure magic.

Day 7

Breakfast at Inside Cafe

Ask to sit on the rooftop of this free-spirited cafe. Inside Cafe is the creation of a young couple – one hailing from New Zealand and the other a local San Miguel resident. You’ll notice both of these culinary influences on the brunch menu.

Shop at local markets

A true picture of daily life in Mexico, Mercado Ignacio Ramirez is a vibrant, local market where you can browse for fresh fruit and veg or grab a delicious, cheap lunch. Wander through to the Mercado de Artesanías for a wonderland of crafts, from embroidered blouses to colourful napkins and place settings to hand-painted clay tableware. It’s the perfect place to pick up some souvenirs or gifts to commemorate your adventure in Mexico.

Wellbeing means different things to different travellers. Here’s how to pick a hotel that gets it right for you.

The best wellness holidays aren’t necessarily spent wrapped in a spa robe. Sometimes they’re found around a dinner table in Cambodia, on a hiking trail in New Zealand or after finally beating jet lag on the other side of the world. The hotel you choose is what makes them happen.

1. Easy access to good food

meals from Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20 — Taste delicious meals at Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20.

One of the quickest ways to derail healthy habits on holiday is to spend half of it working out where to eat instead of digging into the culture around you. Thankfully, Novotel has done much of the hard work already, with chefs building menus that lean into the flavours, ingredients and traditions of each destination.

In Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Korkor soup – often dubbed ‘Cambodian ratatouille’ – sits alongside raw blue crab dressed with lime and chilli, best enjoyed with views across the Gulf of Thailand.

In the lovingly chaotic city of Bangkok, the presence of food cranks up the sociability. At Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20, you can settle in with mango sticky rice and stranger-turned-friends beside the pool at Sky on 20 rooftop bar, or bring them along to tackle river prawns and stir-fried crab with holy basil at the buzzing Crab Paradise Dinner Buffet.

Then Novotel Dubai Al Barsha welcomes you with a laidback twist on the level of indulgence the Middle Eastern city is best known for up on Deck Se7en. Looking towards Burj Al Arab, the rooftop lounge has everything from Mediterranean-style dishes like seabass ceviche to Italian prosecco sundowners.

At the other end of the scale, in the hills that surround the Novotel Bali Ubud Resort, calm comes from nature. At Siralada restaurant, Balinese traditions shape the menu while thunder rumbles over the surrounding jungle – proving the setting is as nourishing as the food itself.

While at Novotel Nha Trang, chef Kieu Thi My Hanh and her team showcase Vietnam’s knack for balancing freshness, texture and fragrant herbs. Pho remains a favourite, while seafood salad with pomelo and mango brings those flavours together in one bright dish.

It’s all an approach backed by partnerships with expert food creators such as Alfie Steiner, whose plant-forward recipes prove healthy food should never taste plain.

2. Better sleep options

Novotel Bali Ubud Resort room — Sleep deeply with Novotel.

There are few travel experiences more disappointing than arriving in a new country, determined to seize the day, only to fall asleep fully clothed by 3pm.

For Australian travellers, jet lag is often an unavoidable part of the journey. That’s one reason Novotel runs sleep-focused initiatives that help guests adjust quickly without compromising on health. We’re talking partnerships with Sydney-based sleep specialist Olivia Arezzolo, known for her advice on everything from better sleep habits to beating jet lag, alongside features like pillow menus, in-room yoga content and tailored sleep guidance.

The sooner you’re operating on local time, the sooner you can get back to more pressing matters – like deciding which spa treatment to book.

3. More ways to move

woman hiking around queenstown new zealand — Stay at Novotel Queenstown Lakeside and explore local hiking trails. (Credit: GettyI mages/ naruedom)

Every place in the world has its own way of getting you moving: whether that’s hiking up ice-bitten mountains before a sauna or gentle stretching by the pool before a facial. From fitness centres to spas, Novotel recognises that wellbeing rarely looks the same.

At Novotel Queenstown Lakeside, activity is inescapable. Here, hiking trails, ski fields, bungee jumps, and white-water rafting have made the region famous. The hotel’s location on the shores of Lake Wakatipu means less time spent organising yourself and more time out there experiencing them. To top it all off, you can book a private hot tub for the evening before heading back into the wilderness tomorrow.

Bali, of course, takes a softer approach. At Novotel Bali Ubud Resort or Novotel Bali Nusa Dua, movement is less about conquering a mountain and more about a dance class between the tropical gardens and lagoon pools. Afterwards, the spa takes over, with traditional treatments like a Lulur body scrub: a combination of rice, turmeric, sandalwood, ginger and jasmine that’ll soothe muscles already relaxed by the Balinese heat.

4. Better connections

Kids will love a stay at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh.

One of the best things about travel is that it gives your family stories you’ll be telling for years. Novotel helps create them with activities that bring everyone together, whether that’s trying something new, learning a local skill, or simply spending more time together.

Go for a distinctly Thai twist at Novotel Phuket Vintage Park, where many of the family activities draw on local culture. Kids can try everything from beginner Thai boxing and language lessons to umbrella painting and – a pastime beloved by children the world over – pool foam parties. Everyone is welcome to join in, whether that’s getting splashed, covered in paint, or simply watching their children discover a new side of Thailand during the dedicated Family & Kids Day.

A different adventure awaits at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh. Kids could be perfectly content with discos, drawing classes and new holiday friends, but the Red Sea has other ideas. Sitting on the edge of Naama Bay, days here might involve snorkelling colourful reefs, taking a boat trip to Ras Mohammed National Park or heading into the desert by quad bike or camel for a Bedouin-style dinner beneath the stars.

5. Location is everything

Surin Beach, Choeng Thale, Thalang District, Phuket, Thaiföld — Explore Phuket’s gorgeous beaches. (Credit: Bence Biczo)

Everyone’s idea of wellness looks a little different. With more than 600 hotels across 65 countries, Novotel gives guests the freedom to choose the destination that suits them best. Whether that’s a beachside escape in Phuket, an alpine expedition in Queenstown or a city break in Bangkok, there’s a good chance a Novotel isn’t far away.

All that’s left? Choosing your version of wellbeing.

Discover stays to inspire your everyday at novotel.accor.com.