Puerto Vallarta vs San Miguel de Allende
The short answer
Puerto Vallarta is the cheaper trip, by roughly 17% a day — $65–140 against $75–170 mid-range per person. Both are at their best in Nov–Apr, so one trip can take in both.
Side by side
Mid-range, per person, in US dollars. Both guides were costed the same way — see how we work these out.
| 🇲🇽 Puerto Vallarta | 🇲🇽 San Miguel de Allende | |
|---|---|---|
| Daily budgetmid-range, per person | $65–140cheaper | $75–170 |
| Cheap meallocal staple | $4–7cheaper | $5–9 |
| Mid-range hotelper night | $90–180cheaper | $110–230 |
| Transit ridesingle trip | $0.35 | $0.30cheaper |
| Avg. monthly salarylocal, for context | ≈ $650 | ≈ $700 |
When to go
Filled months are the ones each guide recommends; hollow ones it warns off.
What you'd actually do
A few of each guide's picks, one per category before seconds — the full lists are on the guides themselves.
🇲🇽 Puerto Vallarta
A Pacific Coast resort town where jungle-covered mountains drop straight into Banderas Bay — a mile of oceanfront Malecón sculpture walk, cobblestone Zona Romántica, and one of Latin America's most established LGBTQ+-friendly scenes.
- La Bodeguita del Medio$$Nightlife
- La Palapa$$$Restaurants
- Blue Chairs Beach Club$$Beach clubs
- Paco's Ranch$$Nightlife
- Café des Artistes$$$Restaurants
🇲🇽 San Miguel de Allende
A UNESCO-listed colonial hill town of pink-stone spires, cobblestone lanes, and courtyard galleries that's become one of Mexico's biggest expat and arts hubs — pricier and more polished than a typical Mexican town, but genuinely, jaw-droppingly beautiful.
- La Azotea$$Nightlife
- Áperi$$$Restaurants
- Fábrica La Aurora$Culture & landmarks
- Luna Rooftop Tapas Bar$$$Nightlife
- The Restaurant$$Restaurants
Practicalities
| Puerto Vallarta | San Miguel de Allende | |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Spanish. English is widely spoken in hotels, restaurants, and Zona Romántica — decades of US/Canadian tourism and a large expat community made this one of Mexico's easiest cities for non-Spanish-speakers. | Spanish, with one of Mexico's largest English-speaking expat populations — you can get by in English in the centro more easily than almost anywhere else in the country. |
| Tap water | Don't drink it — bottled and purified water are everywhere, restaurant ice is safe | Don't drink it — bottled water is standard even in nice restaurants |
The same in both:
- Currency
- Mexican peso (MX$). US$1 ≈ MX$18–19
- Time zone
- CST (UTC-6), no daylight saving
- Power
- Type A/B plugs, 127V (US plugs fit)
- Emergency
- 911