Magical Christmas In San Miguel De Allende

Home » Mexico » Christmas in San Miguel de Allende ✨ (It’s Magical!)

October 25, 2023

San Miguel de Allende is all year round a beautiful town to visit. But at Christmas, it turns into magic.

The UNESCO world heritage city makes a great effort in decorating and lighting up the center so you really feel the Christmas spirit. But without the cold weather and dark winters.

So keep reading to find out why you should spend your next Christmas in San Miguel de Allende and what to expect 🤩

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1. Street Christmas Decorations ✨

At Christmas, the city center of San Miguel de Allende turns into an ocean of lights. But not by tacky Christmas lights, all decorations are very tasteful and arty as San Miguel is influenced by many artists who have been moving here since the 1930s.

You can see this art influence in the Christmas decorations in the streets, in the shops and everywhere you go. This is one of the reasons Christmas in San Miguel is truly special.

In the first week of December, the city hangs up hundreds of silver stars in the streets that look great during the day and are lit up at night!

Read here: How to get to San Miguel de Allende + 11 Top Things to do there

Street with San Miguel de Allende cathedral at the end during day time with lots of silver star lights hung up — Silver star decoration all over the center

Katharina standing in a street in San Miguel at night with silver stars lit up - a real Christmas flair — Silver stars lit up at night

Big angel statue in an entrance of the tourist information of San Miguel de Allende — Angel at the entrance to San Miguel’s tourist info

Colorful Christmas doorframe with little rendeers — Beautiful Christmas decorations everywhere

2. Christmas Tree At San Miguel de Allende Cathedral 🎄

The San Miguel de Allende Cathedral is always worth a visit, day and night. In December you will see a big Christmas tree next to it that is lit up during the night.

Together with the light of the Cathedral, they also light up the whole square. You can spend an hour taking pictures, watching people, listening to mariachi bands play, or having tacos at one of the many street carts around town.

Read here: Where to eat the best tacos in San Miguel de Allende

Christmas tree with red flowers and golden stars during the day standing next to San Miguel's cathedral — Christmas tree during the day

In the evening the tree and the cathedral are lit up with lots of people standing in front of them — At night the tree and the cathedral are lit up

3. Mojiangas In Christmas Costumes 📸

When you are at the San Miguel de Allende Cathedral during the day make sure you take a picture with the tall puppet people called Mojiangas. Only at Christmas, they are in Christmas costumes.

The rest of the year you will see them in wedding costumes either standing at the square or dancing around for wedding ceremonies. They were brought to Mexico in the 1600s from Spain and used during religious pilgrimages.

Nowadays the Mojiangas are a characteristic of San Miguel that add a lot of fun to the city and stick out with their piñata heads.

Read here: 29 Unusual things to do in San Miguel de Allende

Mojiangas standing in front of the Cathedral only in Christmas costumes for Christmas in San Miguel de Allende — Mojiangas in Christmas costumes. Can you see the little holes in the middle where the people inside can see through?

4. Christmas Music At Jardin Allende 🎵

Right in front of the San Miguel de Allende Cathedral is Jardin Allende, a little park with a lot of beautifully manicured trees and benches. At Christmas, this park also gets decorated with many little lights and silver stars.

There is a typical Mexican gazebo (bandstand) in the middle in which bands will perform occasionally. One evening, a week before Christmas, a band with Santa hats was playing and people were dancing around the gazebo. It was a lot of fun and one of our best December nights in San Miguel de Allende.

Every day a few mariachi bands are hanging out at this park too and start playing when people pay them. This happens quite often so just stick around and enjoy their music.

The gazebo lit up with silver stars with the cross of the cathedral in the back — The gazebo lit up at night

Jardin Allende full of trees with small Christmas lights hanging between them and the cathedral lit up in the back at night — Jardin Allende full of little Christmas lights

5. Christmas Events In December In San Miguel 🎟️

San Miguel de Allende is well known for its art, crafts and culture. Every month you will see a schedule with events hanging around the cathedral and scattered in the city center.

Some events have an entrance fee but many of them are free. In December most events are concerts in different locations. So make sure to check the schedule to see if there is something in for you.

Event schedule printed on green paper hanging on a black board on the wall of a building — You will see this event schedule all over the city center

6. Special Christmas Gifts From San Miguel 🎁

San Miguel de Allende is full of small art galleries, shops and boutiques. Many stores are unique to Mexico and the city and offer handmade products from local artists. It’s therefore a great place to look out for crafts and special Christmas gifts.

As we are minimalists and rather gift time than things we didn’t go shopping in San Miguel. But we still truly enjoyed checking out the little shops and meeting the artists behind the crafts.

Hats and accessorises in a window of a shop with Christmas decoration around them — You will find unique pieces and crafts in San Miguel

7. Handmade Christmas Wreaths 🌺

All year round you see flower wreaths being sold in front of the San Miguel de Allende Cathedral. It’s popular for women and girls in San Miguel to buy them and wear them in their hair. You will see them being worn all over the city.

At Christmas, they come in different colors and are also sold in the streets in bigger versions for your home. Interestingly they are dark purple, dark green and dark red in color and not in the typical Christmas colors. Which once again gives San Miguel de Allende a touch of tasteful Christmas.

Colorful flower wreaths presented by a street vendor for selling — Flower wreaths you will see all year round

Christmas flower wreaths in dark red, purple and pink for sale on the street for Christmas in San miguel — These ones you will see especially for Christmas

8. Christmas Eve Flowers Everywhere🌹

Growing up in Austria I was very surprised to see Christmas Eve Flowers everywhere in San Miguel de Allende. I was used to seeing them every Christmas at my family’s house but it didn’t cross my mind they could be native to Mexico before visiting San Miguel.

In December the whole city center of San Miguel turns into a red ocean of Christmas Eve Flowers. Not only by street vendors but also all city parks and monuments get decorated with them.

For the Aztecs, the red color of the flowers symbolized the blood of the sacrifices that they would make to the sun to renew their strength. Since the flower by coincidence blossoms at Christmas it got incorporated into this celebration.

Botanical Fun Fact 🤓

The flowers of the Christmas Eve Flowers are actually the small yellow buds found in the center of the plant. The red leaves are its bracts.

Christmas Eve Flowers stacked up in form of an altar in front of trees

Christmas Eve Flowers planted into the ground around trees in a city park of San Miguel de Allende

Christmas Eve Flowers presented for sales in dark red and pink color — You will see Christmas Eve Flowers everywhere in the city for sale but also in the city parks

9. Christmas Dinner And Food In San Miguel 🍽️

San Miguel de Allende is not only famous for its art and culture but also for its food and international cuisine. It feels like every second doorway is an entrance to a restaurant, (rooftop) bar or cafe. There is literally a place to eat for everyone and for every budget.

At Christmas, we saw many cafes and restaurants with Christmas decorations advertising Christmas specials. As San Miguel de Allende can get very busy on weekends and during holidays it’s recommended to reserve a table for Christmas dinner or Christmas Day.

🌮 If you don’t fancy a Christmas dinner have a look at the best tacos in San Miguel de Allende.

🥑 And for a green Christmas check out the best vegan restaurants in San Miguel de Allende.

Blackboard with Christmas menu in front of a cafe in San Miguel de Allende — Christmas board in front of a café

Vegan tacos at Don Tacos served with salsas on a white plate for Christmas in San Miguel de Allende — Bon provecho!

10. Christmas Holiday For Every Budget 💰

As with the food San Miguel de Allende offers a great Christmas holiday for everyone and for every budget. You can choose from fine dining to Mexican tacos or from a luxurious hotel to a great hostel.

If you love pets and are looking into a different Christmas holiday experience I highly recommend Trusted House Sitters. We looked after dogs for 5 weeks in a beautiful house and absolutely loved it.

As many retired Americans ended up living in San Miguel de Allende there is a big ex-pat and pet-sitting community. Therefore you will see lots of housesits in this city. For more info on how it works check out our complete review of Trusted House Sitters here.

If you would like to sign up to Trusted House Sitters use this link + enter HAPPYHEALTHYNOMADS at check out for a 25% discount on your membership.

Buidling overgrown with red flowers in the San Antonio neighborhood — Our housesit was in the beautiful San Antonio neighborhood

11. Christmas Celebrations In Great Weather ☀️

Last but not least another reason to consider spending Christmas in San Miguel de Allende is the weather in December. San Miguel is well-known for having great weather all year round which is especially great for the Christmas holidays.

In December San Miguel has cool nights (5-10°C/41-50F) but blue skies and sunshine during the day (around 25°C/77F). Combined with 11 hours of daylight (7 am – 6 pm) that’s pretty amazing for wintertime. Especially if you are from Europe like me.

That’s also one of the reasons why so many Americans move here for their retirement. Christmas in San Miguel de Allende has to be for sure another reason.

Street of San Miguel with colorful houses and blue sky — Besides a few cloudy days, we always had blue skies and sunshine in December

Now You Know All About Christmas In San Miguel De Allende – Happy Holidays!🎅

We have spent three Christmas so far in Mexico and we found the best Christmas flair in San Miguel de Allende. Especially at night, the city turns into an ocean of lights with everyone enjoying the flair.

Besides Mexican tourists and retired Americans, you won’t spot many foreign tourists either. Which gives you a real magical Mexican Christmas experience and not a giant tourist trap.

Have you or are you going to spend your next Christmas holiday in San Miguel? Let me know in the comments below!

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Katharina

Hi, I am Katharina, super passionate about travel, sustainability and minimalism from Austria. I love sunshine, beaches, coffee and light travel gear. For the last 4+ years I'm traveling the world as a digital nomad and hope my tips inspire you to chase your dreams and get out of your comfort zone.

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