About San Miguel de Allende

San Miguel de Allende is a quaint, charming colonial town with narrow, winding cobblestone streets.  Like many Mexican towns, at the center of San Miguel is El Jardin (the garden) where you can join the friendly locals in the evening sitting on park benches.  There, you can listen to the mariachi bands, watch children chase balloon sellers, enjoy the creamiest ice cream in your life, admire the beautiful gothic church (one of the many enigmas of San Miguel!) that adjoins the Jardin, relax to its pealing church bells and likely catch a glimpse of young lovers stealing a kiss under the glow of a garden lamppost.

As you are beginning to see, San Miguel is a town of romance. It’s a town that was the cradle of the Mexican Revolution and is replete with fascinating history.  It’s a town of vibrant color and rich culture.  It’s a town of many highly desired arts and handicrafts. It’s a town of many varied restaurants with exquisite food and an inviting ambiance.  It’s a town of a million colorful pictures waiting around every corner … and right in front of you!

Located in the mountains of Mexico in the central state of Guanajuato, San Miguel is only 4 hours by plane from Nashville, Tennessee (with connections through Houston or Dallas).  Because of its altitude, the days are clear and sunny and the nights comfortably cool during its high season from December 15 to April 1. 

Tour Content

This guided tour is a unique opportunity to be introduced to colonial Mexico in a small group, in beautiful and provocative settings.  Your guide, Beverly Hayden, a photographer of national repute, previously Iived in San Miguel and has an intimate knowledge of the area. The San Miguel guided tour will be limited to 10 participants.  A minimum of 4 participants is required to constitute adequate participation so that the tour can be held.  Couples are encouraged to participate together.

You will be guided through an exploration of the churches, markets and back streets of San Miguel. Rounding out the tour are several day trips to nearby ghost towns, villages with exquisite pottery and visits to nationally celebrated potters.

Your Guide

Beverly Hayden is an enthusiastic and accomplished world traveler.  She lived in San Miguel de Allende for 3 months in 2003.  During that time, she earnestly explored the town from top to bottom as well as its beautiful and interesting surrounding countryside.  Her intricate knowledge of the area, the culture and the people make this a unique opportunity to see “off the beaten path” aspects of San Miguel that you would not discover in a week on your own.

In addition to being an expert on San Miguel, Beverly is also a nationally recognized photographer, regularly exhibiting her work at the most prestigious juried fine art shows in the United States.  Her work emphasizes creative and alternative photographic processes.  

At the end of this description are links to a series of short stories Beverly wrote about her experiences in San Miguel.  Read them and let San Miguel come alive to you before you even set foot there!

Home Base during the Tour

We will be basing our tour of San Miguel out of charming Posada Carmina, a delightful Bed and Breakfast located in the heart of San Miguel de Allende. With its convenient location only blocks from the central plaza, el Jardín, and La Parrochia, Carmina offers spacious, comfortable hotel rooms with private baths, daily housekeeping service, phones, and television. The hotel also includes a restaurant and bar as well as a pretty courtyard where you can sit under orange trees.  Large stone fireplaces add additional charm to the courtyard. The staff at Carmina, some of whom speak English, offers excellent customer service and attention to detail.

Tour Pricing

This guided tour is priced to include most expenses once you reach the airport in León, Mexico. The package price includes hotel accommodations for six nights (Saturday through Friday, single occupancy); most meals; entrance fees to museums and historic sites where applicable; transportation for all field trips; and transportation between the airport in León and San Miguel.

Not included in the package price are travel expenses to Mexico, five meals (see Meals for details), alcoholic beverages, film and film processing, and personal expenses including laundry, gratuities, phone calls, sundries, and gifts.

Travel

Travel to and from Mexico is quite simple. You need a valid passport and an airline ticket—the rest is easy. There are daily, direct flights into the international jetport at León, Guanajuato, from Dallas (American Airlines), and Houston (Continental Airlines). Other airlines to consider are Aeromex and Mexicana. Plan your travel to arrive in León at midday on Saturday; We will meet your flight and accompany you by chartered bus to the B&B in San Miguel, a 90-minute trip. A week later, on Saturday morning, we will drive you back to the León airport in time for your flight home. Once you have registered, you will receive more detailed travel information. You do not need to rent a car. San Miguel is a city that is best experienced on foot.

Meals

You will enjoy a variety of delicious meals during your stay in San Miguel. We begin with a Saturday evening welcome dinner at the hotel in Carmina’s restaurant, followed by an orientation session. A breakfast buffet is served at the hotel, Monday through Saturday, and a continental breakfast on Sunday. Lunches are served buffet style at the hotel. In the evenings, you have the option of joining the group for meals in local restaurants – these meals are not included in the price of the tour.  Alternatively, you may venture out on your own for meals around town.  Restaurant suggestions will be provided. Beverage service and snacks are available daily at the B&B.

Weekly Schedule

Our week in San Miguel follows a well-organized structure, with enough flexibility to enjoy the varied pleasures of daily life in Mexico. This is the basic schedule for weekly events.

Saturday, March 11 – ¡Bienvenidos! Arrive midday at León airport, travel by air-conditioned van to Posada Carmina hotel in San Miguel de Allende.  After you settle in, we will have an orientation and welcome dinner at 6PM followed by a sunset photo shoot of La Parrochia de San Miguel Arcangel, the beautiful pink gothic cathedral that lights up the Jardin and San Miguel. At dusk there is still color in the sky and the lights on the Parroquia make it very photogenic.

Sunday, March 12 – Breakfast at our B&B followed by a walking tour of San Miguel. After lunch, you will be free to wander around the city by yourself, shop and take photographs.  For those who are photographically inclined, your guide, Beverly, will offer a question and answer session about photographic locations and techniques. We anticipate there will be many questions about equipment and techniques and Beverly is happy to share her knowledge with you. Sunday evening we will have a group dinner at a nice restaurant.

Monday, March 13 –Tours of 400-year old abandoned countryside chapels with beautiful frescos.

Tuesday, March 14 – Driving tours to see nearby charming churches and visit to neighboring town for the best pottery shopping and ice cream!  Relax in thermal baths that evening.

Wednesday, March 15 – Visit the Mercado de Artesanias (artisans market) for fabulous handicrafts – great shopping and gifts!  In the afternoon, we will visit a 76 year old potter who lives in the countryside.  You’d never guess it by his humble appearance, but he has work in the Smithsonian!

Thursday, March 16 – Day trip to ghost mining town of Pozos with its beautiful and haunting architecture. Models to pose in front of the ruins can be arranged for interested photographers.

Friday, March 17 – Free day – do whatever your heart desires! Be prepared – we’ll have a surprise Friday evening to commemorate our week together!

Saturday, March 18 – Continental breakfast at the hotel; bus leaves for the airport around 9AM to return home. ¡Adiós!

Registration

To reserve your space in this tour of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, a deposit of $500 is required at the time of registration. This can be done over the phone by calling (270) 217-4330 with your American Express, MasterCard, Visa, or Discover Card number, by mail with a check or your credit card number or in person at the Angled Art Gallery. We cannot hold space in the tour without a deposit.

Once your deposit has been received, we will send you a statement of your account, with the balance due 60 days prior to the start of the tour. Final payment of your balance may be made by check or money order payable in US funds, or by American Express, MasterCard, Visa, or Discover cards.

Cancellation Policy

We rely on your attendance to make important arrangements, so if for any reason you need to withdraw, please notify us at least 60 days before the start of your workshop. At that time we will refund your deposit, less a $150 cancellation fee. If notification of cancellation is made between 30 and 60 days before the start of the tour, we must retain the $500 deposit. If notification of cancellation is made less than 30 days before the start of the tour there will be no refund. The Angled Art Gallery is not responsible for cancellations due to medical emergencies. In the event that the tour must be canceled due to inadequate enrollment, all fees and deposits are refunded in full. The Angled Art Gallery is not responsible for reimbursement of non-refundable airline tickets in the event of a workshop cancellation.

Accordingly, it is recommended that you wait to book airline tickets until you are notified that the minimum enrollment of 4 participants is reached.  There are no exceptions to our Cancellation Policy.

Travel Insurance

We strongly recommend that you purchase travel insurance. The Angled Art Gallery is not responsible for cancellations due to medical emergencies or reimbursement of non-refundable airline tickets in the event of a workshop cancellation.

Tour Price

$1650 single or $2795 per couple