10 Best Sights in San Miguel de Allende and the Heartland, Mexico

San Miguel's botanical garden has an extensive variety of Mexican cacti and succulents collected from different parts of the country. The area is protected from encroachment by an ecological reserve of 445 acres and was visited by the Dalai Lama, who declared El Charco one of the five "zones of peace" in Mexico. A garden area will introduce you to some of the 120 varieties of agaves that grow here.

The reserve is huge and has special pathways for walking, running, and mountain biking. If you don't have MX$40 (or are with your dog, which is not allowed in the garden), the adjacent Parque Landeta has nice walking paths as well.

Twice a month, during full and new moon phases, it opens the

, ritual herbal steam baths (MX$250). If you're driving up Salida a Querétaro from El Centro, turn left at the traffic circle and follow the signs to the main entrance. A taxi will cost about MX$45.

Amateur anthropologist Bill LeVasseur shares with the public his collection of more than 500 ceremonial masks collected from all over Mexico. Since visits to this private museum are by appointment only, LeVasseur or his wife, Heidi, will be on hand to talk about the masks as well as the folk art in the adjacent salon. Some of the masks and handicrafts are for sale; museum entrance fee goes to a local preschool.

Once the cloister of the adjacent Convent of the Immaculate Conception, this impressive building has been an institute for the study of music, dance, and the visual arts since 1938. Renovated over a period of several years, it has an auditorium, bookstore-giftshop, and salons for rotating art exhibits. Cultural events are listed on a bulletin board at the entrance.

Within the library complex are a lovely courtyard café, the offices of the English-language newspaper Atención San Miguel, and reading rooms with back issues of popular publications and books in English. Movies, plays, lectures, and concerts are presented at its Santa Ana Theater. The bookstore sells gifts and souvenirs as well as books about Mexico and San Miguel, including those by local authors, in both English and Spanish. On Sunday at noon a two-hour house-and-garden tour (about $20) of San Miguel leaves from the library.

Notices about such things as literary readings and yoga and aerobics classes are posted on the bulletin board in the library's entrance.

Constructed in 1764, this house is the birthplace of Ignacio Allende, one of Mexico's great independence heroes. Allende was a Mexico-born aristocrat of Spanish blood who, along with Father Miguel Hidalgo, plotted in 1810 to overthrow the Spanish regime. He was captured and executed by the Spanish Royalists in 1811. As a tribute to his brave efforts, San Miguel El Grande was renamed San Miguel de Allende in 1826. The highlight of the museum is the second floor, with period rooms and furnishings including a kitchen, chapel, parlors, and bedrooms.

San Miguel's heart, the plaza commonly known as El Jardín (the Garden), is where much of the town's action takes place, from live music to dance presentations and fireworks on special occasions. You can get a real feel for the town just by sitting on one of its wrought-iron benches, where locals and expats alike enjoy the early-morning sunshine or the shade of the geometrically cut laurel trees on a hot afternoon. The Parroquia bells toll each quarter-hour, and at dusk the square fills with lovers smooching, men getting their shoes shined, roving musicians, and teenagers practicing break-dancing moves in the central kiosk.

Adjacent to Bellas Artes cultural center this church—aka "Las Monjas" ("the nuns")—has one of the largest domes in Mexico. The two-story dome (completed in 1891) and the elegant Corinthian columns and pilasters gracing its drum are said to have been inspired by Paris's dome of the Eglise des Invalides. Zeferino Gutiérrez, the architect of La Parroquia, is credited with its design.

This church has one of Guanajuato State's finest churrigueresque facades. The term for this style refers to José Churriguera, a 17th-century (baroque) Spanish architect noted for his extravagant surface decoration. Built in the late 18th century, the church was financed by donations from wealthy patrons and by bullfight revenues. Topping the elaborately carved exterior is the image of St. Francis of Assisi. Below, along with a crucifix, are dozens of limestone sculptures of angels, saints, and Franciscan friars. The church's interior, by contrast, is rather stark.

Since the school's founding in 1951, thousands of students from around the world have come here to learn Spanish and to take classes in the arts. The historical campus, a former country estate, is open to visitors—even if you don't plan on taking any courses, the institute is a great place to spend a few peaceful hours, though it is definitely not a must-see. Take a break at El Cafecito coffee bar. The Galería La Pérgola specializes in modern Mexican art. The Institute also provides a complete travel service, hotel bookings, and cultural, adventure, and shopping tours.

This multipurpose park at the eastern edge of the historic center (just three long blocks from the main plaza) has ancient trees, flower-lined paths ideal for a morning jog, a basketball court, and a children's play area with swings and fun things to climb. Local artists sell paintings and prints on Saturday, beginning at 10 am, on the north side of the park; during the first two weeks of February, more than a hundred vendors gather to sell mountains of decorative plants and baby fruit trees, as well as ceramic pots.