Apr 27 - May 10, 2018 Last updated: 5/13/18 3:00pm PT
We took this vacation to relax. There was no real plan other than to stay in two cities, Ajijic (on Lake Chapala) and San Miguel de Allende. Both are in the central highlands: Ajijic at over 5000 ft in elevation and San Miguel over 6500 ft. We flew into Guadalajara because Ajijic is only about 30 minutes from the airport. We used Uber quite a bit to get around as it allowed us to avoid trying to describe in Spanish where we wanted to go (although some Uber drivers spoke fine English). We took a long distance bus (very plush buses, took about 5 1/2 hours) to get to San Miguel and back. From Ajijic we took a day trip to Guadalajara, and from San Miguel we took a day trip to Guanajuato.
Ajijic is one of many towns/villages along Lake Chapala, the largest lake in Mexico. It has a very small town feel, with a great malecón, a walkway and park long the lake. It seems very family friendly, where even the teenagers hung out with their parents.
San Miguel de Allende is an old historic city from the 1500’s. It was an important city during the silver mining days when Spain ruled Mexico. It’s more upscale than Ajijic, meaning more touristy and more expensive, but still had plenty of Mexican ‘feel’ (I really don’t want to use the word ‘charm’).