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I personally liked Guanajuato better than San Miguel. They're both charming but Guanajuato is more picturesque and beautiful and seemed to be less "gringo" than San Miguel. San Miguel is easier to navigate via bicycle or scooter than Guanajuato with its array of underground roads.
I think San Miguel intrigued me a lot as a place to live but reading through the myriad blogs available on the internet made me feel like it was a little "played out" and pretentious as a place for an American to reside. When too many snowbirds flock to the same place, it loses a bit of its charm for me.
I was in Mazamitla, Jalisco - on the other side of Lake Chapala and south a bit closer to Michoacan and kind of liked that feel a lot and it felt a bit more genuine, but to each their own.
They're both charming but Guanajuato is more picturesque and beautiful and seemed to be less "gringo" than San Miguel.
San Miguel was the target of gringo migration back as far as the post WWII period when veterans could stretch their education benefits from the GI bill as long as the money would last. It went much longer in Mexico than the USA. Sp I would Guanajuato A LOT less "gringo" than San Miguel.
Guanajato is very cosmopolitan with tourists from all over the world.
okay, but what are the things to do in Guanajuato? don't we risk getting bored because its not on the seaside ?
GTO is an inland city like any other. Markets, libraries, theater, restaurants, there's a university, museums, and it's one of the prettiest cities I've ever walked in.
What do you do at home? Cause you'll be doing that in GTO also. If you don't speak fluent Spanish, you should take that opportunity to learn and practice which should take up a decent amount of your time. GTO is within a short drive of all kinds of interesting cities so little day or weekend trips would be fun. Leon, Guadalajara, Morelia, Irapuato, Lake Chapala, Queretaro, San Miguel, San Luis Potosi. Why not mix in day trips to your life down there? One thing I missed out on seeing was San Juan Parangaricutiro. Definitely go there!
@ llowllevellowll : thank you for your informative posting, it seems awesome (and precisely I need to beef up my Spanish).
But I'd like to practice physical activities like hiking, swimming, pilates, yoga, etc, is it possible down there ?
@ llowllevellowll : thank you for your informative posting, it seems awesome (and precisely I need to beef up my Spanish).
But I'd like to practice physical activities like hiking, swimming, pilates, yoga, etc, is it possible down there ?
Fantastic Hiking is a given as the area is full of mountains. SMA and Guanajato are very upscale and pilates and yoga will probably be universal. May I suggest flamenco lessons as these cities attract dancers from Spain. If that is too demanding, then just take Mexican dance. A rental with a private pool can be expensive, but from my experience in Oaxaca pools were not too difficult to come by.
I would work Oaxaca City into your options as well. The culture is broader as about 1/3 of the state is indigenous people. Fantastic cooking!
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