San Miguel de Allende

San Miguel de Allende needs 2 days: the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel, with its pink neo-Gothic facade unique in Mexico, on one, and touring the art galleries and the Jardín Principal on the other. October-May is best, with dry weather. It's expensive by Mexican standards, with a strong American and European expat community that drove up real estate prices. Its colonial old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008, has repeatedly been voted "best city in the world" by international travel magazines, and it's a birthplace of the Mexican independence movement alongside Dolores Hidalgo.