The World Agrees. San Miguel de Allende is the Best City on Earth.

I'll be honest: I didn't need a magazine to tell me. When Mike and I first walked through Centro, when we heard the bells from La Parroquia and watched the light go golden over the jacaranda trees, we already knew. This place was different. This place was it.

But there's something deeply satisfying about watching the rest of the world catch up.

This year, three of the most respected travel and lifestyle publications in the world pointed to the same city on the map. And that city is ours.

Travel+Leisure: #1 Best City in the World

Travel+Leisure named San Miguel de Allende the #1 Best City in the World in their 2025 World's Best Awards. Not top ten. Not honorable mention. Number one. For the second year in a row.

These awards are reader-voted, which makes it even more meaningful. Real travelers, real people who have been to the great cities of the world, came home and said: San Miguel. Their readers scored cities on sights, culture, food, friendliness, shopping, and value. San Miguel scored a 93.3 out of 100. That's not a city people merely visit. That's a city that stays with them.

It's also the fourth time San Miguel has taken the top spot since 2017. That kind of consistency doesn't happen by accident. It happens when a place is genuinely, persistently extraordinary.

Condé Nast Traveler: One of the World's Best Small Cities

Condé Nast Traveler's Reader's Choice Awards named San Miguel one of the best small cities in the world. CNT readers are sophisticated. They've been to Kyoto and Dubrovnik and Cape Town. And they keep coming back to this cobblestoned colonial city in the Bajio highlands of Mexico.

San Miguel has appeared on CNT's lists five times since 2017, including multiple years as the outright #1 Best Small City in the World. Five times. In a world full of remarkable places, that is a remarkable record.

What do they keep saying? The art. The architecture. The food scene that surprises even the most well-traveled palates. The warmth of the people. The feeling, impossible to manufacture, that this city is alive in a way that most places simply are not.

International Living: Mexico Among the World's Best Places to Retire

For those thinking beyond a vacation and toward a life change, International Living's Annual Global Retirement Index ranked Mexico #5 in the world for retirement living. San Miguel de Allende is consistently highlighted as one of Mexico's premier destinations within that ranking, recognized for its UNESCO World Heritage status, its temperate climate, its active expat community, and a cost of living that runs 30 to 40 percent below comparable U.S. cities.

International Living has even called San Miguel “The World's Best City for Expats Who Put Down Roots.” That phrase lands differently when you're the person who has put down roots here. It's not an exaggeration. It's just accurate.

What This Means for the Market

Every time San Miguel earns another accolade, something real happens in the real estate market. More people visit. More people start to wonder. More people make the call that Mike and I made years ago. The market reflects that: The Agency San Miguel saw a 22 percent increase in transaction volume in 2025, with total sales exceeding $275 million.

That's not just a number. That's hundreds of families, couples, individuals who decided that the best city in the world was also where they wanted to live. I get to help people make that transition, and I do not take it lightly.

The properties that are available right now reflect this city at its most compelling: colonial homes with interior courtyards, modern architectural statements, off-grid retreats on the edges of town, and everything in between. The variety is part of what makes this market so interesting. There is no single San Miguel home. There is your San Miguel home.

Come See for Yourself

If you have been curious about San Miguel, let these awards be your permission slip. Not to buy a home tomorrow, but to come experience a city that three of the world's most respected travel publications have now independently concluded is among the finest places on earth.

Every Saturday morning, Mike and I host our Welcome Table at Hotel Amparo from 10 to 11 a.m. It's a casual gathering, coffee in hand, for anyone thinking about a move here. No presentations. No pressure. Just honest conversation about what this life actually looks like.

If you can't make it in person, reach out. I am always happy to talk through what San Miguel is like, what the real estate market looks like, and what it might take to make this city yours.

The world has weighed in. I think you already know which direction your heart is pointing.