2012 Mexican Roadtrip: Zacatecas to San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico

We left Zacatecas at 8:45 a.m it was 58°F (at 2431m and 22°N). We drove 376 km and it took about 4 hours to get to San Miguel de Allende going through San Luis de Potosi.

We screwed around Zacatecas for 15 minutes before we got on Blvd. Lopez Mateos which is an impressive periferico part of “Ruta Bicentenario 2010”. We went past the restaurant where we ate on Sunday night. We could see how much bigger Zacatecas is than the small Centro Historico that we had been walking for the past several days. Then we got gas.

We wanted to stop on on Hwy. #51 on the northern side of San Miguel de Allende to see a gated community called Los Labradores. We needed to go through San Luis de Potosí instead of Aguascalientes (on a toll road). We got on Hwy. 45 to Hwy. 57 which were good roads but only 2 lane. There was more traffic and more trucks than we had seen on the roads in northwest Mexico.  When we turned off the #45 we went towards (and actually into San Diego de la Union). Along the highways there were big cactus trees that Dimitri said were yuccas. We went down to 1800m and back up to 2054m. We passed through small mountains that actually had a green veneer. Lonely Planet called the region the “highlands”. We had curves and up and down and an agricultural area.

Around the wealthy-looking town of San Luis de Potosí there was another impressive periferico. We stopped for gas at a Pemex station which generally has clean bathrooms, complete with toilet paper.

Along Hwy. #57 people were selling tunas (prickly pears). We had gotten some already cleaned the day before in the market in Zacatecas and they were very good. From San Luis de Potosí we got on the #51 to San Miguel de Allende.

We wanted to stop and Los Labradores (www.rancholabradores.com) because it was on the way into San Miguel from where we were coming from, the north. It was nice, with a lap pool and another pool and a Jacuzzi. There is a café, a gym and activities for the residents. Nothing is air conditioned. There are cobblestone roads. We met Gretel Chazaro Cavero (the daughter of the developer) who was the rental agent. She showed us a 2 bedroom villa, sitting alongside a man-made lake was nice, with a good kitchen and 2 large bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, but it wouldn't be available for the whole 3 months we planned to stay. The landscaping of Los Labradores was lovely and we made an appointment with Gretel to see other accommodations in Los Labradores. Then we pressed on to the hotel where Dimitri had pre-booked a room.