--- description: Visitors can relax at hot springs, shop at an organic market, tour the area by bike, sample Oprah’s favorite tequila, and much more. title: This Is the Best City in the World to Travel to image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4715866081b8efc6/6988d5240a4a2264a09cefe1/gettyimages-639285310.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Is the Best City in the World to Travel to by [Emily Weyrauch](/author/emily-weyrauch/) ## Emily Weyrauch Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 11, 2017 3:03 PM CUT  Street view in San Miguel de Allende,Mexicok. The historic city San Miguel de Allende is UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. Street view in San Miguel de Allende,Mexicok. The historic city San Miguel de Allende is UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008.VW Pics—UIG via Getty Images by [Emily Weyrauch](/author/emily-weyrauch/) ## Emily Weyrauch Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 11, 2017 3:03 PM CUT This year, San Miguel de Allende, a small city in the state of Guanajuato in eastern Mexico, takes _Travel + Leisure_’s award for [The World’s Best Cities.](http://www.travelandleisure.com/worlds-best/cities "undefined") Because the weather in San Miguel de Allende is temperate year-round, there’s no bad time to visit, according to [_Travel + Leisure_](http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-guide/san-miguel-de-allende "undefined"). There are also festivals year-round, the city’s [tourism site says,](http://www.cultura.gob.mx/turismocultural/destino%5Fmes/san%5Fmiguel/fiestas.html "undefined") including a jazz and blues festival in November, a puppetry festival in April and a June parade of the “locos” (meaning fools) where people dress up in creative costumes as celebrities and politicians and everything in between. Visitors can relax at [hot springs](http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-guide/san-miguel-de-allende/things-to-do/la-gruta-hot-springs "undefined"), shop at an [organic market](http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-guide/san-miguel-de-allende/shopping/casa-colectiva "undefined"), tour the area [by bike](http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-guide/san-miguel-de-allende/things-to-do/bici-burro-bike-tours "undefined"), sample [Oprah’s favorite tequila](http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-guide/san-miguel-de-allende/things-to-do/casa-dragones-tequila "undefined"), explore the iconic Parroquia Church, eat at one of San Miguel de Allende’s global-inspired [restaurants](http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-guide/san-miguel-de-allende/restaurants "undefined"), and end the night at a [rooftop bar](http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-guide/san-miguel-de-allende/bars/luna-rooftop-tapas-bar "undefined") with a view of the whole city. It’s a walkable city, and is filled with [small shops](http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-guide/san-miguel-de-allende/shopping "undefined")–from sellers of arts and crafts to colorful kitsch shops to high end interior design stores, _Travel + Leisure reports_. Directly behind San Miguel de Allende on the list came Charlestown, South Carolina. Another Mexican city — Oaxaca — also made an appearance. See the full list of the World’s Best Cities [here](http://www.travelandleisure.com/worlds-best/cities "undefined"). In the annual survey, readers rated experiences across 86 categories on a secure website, and scores were averaged in order to determine the _Travel + Leisure_ awards for 2017. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4852153/best-city-to-visit-san-miguel-mexico/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4852153/best-city-to-visit-san-miguel-mexico/"},"headline":"This Is the Best City in the World to Travel to","datePublished":"2017-07-11T15:03:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:29:56.860Z","description":"The weather in the city is temperate year-round, so there’s no bad time to visit","url":"https://time.com/4852153/best-city-to-visit-san-miguel-mexico/","keywords":["Travel","Mexico","onetime","onetimetravel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4715866081b8efc6/6988d5240a4a2264a09cefe1/gettyimages-639285310.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Emily Weyrauch","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/emily-weyrauch/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4715866081b8efc6/6988d5240a4a2264a09cefe1/gettyimages-639285310.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"San Miguel de Allende street view","caption":"San Miguel de Allende street view","creditText":"VW Pics—UIG via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4852153/best-city-to-visit-san-miguel-mexico/","name":"This Is the Best City in the World to Travel to"}}]}] ```