Photos: Rio de Janeiro by Arne Müseler, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, cropped; San Miguel de Allende by Russ Bowling, CC BY 2.0, cropped.
Rio de Janeiro or San Miguel de Allende?
Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.
Choose Rio de Janeiro for
- beaches
- nature and the outdoors
- nightlife
What lies behind each score is written up on Rio de Janeiro’s own page.
Choose San Miguel de Allende for
- wellness
- day trips
- shopping
What lies behind each score is written up on San Miguel de Allende’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Rio de Janeiro and San Miguel de Allende.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.
Wins on wellness and day trips with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Rio de Janeiro in July
San Miguel de Allende in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Rio de Janeiro has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.
San Miguel de Allende's temperatures are measured 54 km from the centre, at Guanajuato, Gto..
San Miguel de Allende has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Rio de Janeiro: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km. San Miguel de Allende: 1991-2020 normals, Guanajuato, Gto. (53.7 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Rio de Janeiro | San Miguel de Allende |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Portuguese | Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya |
| Currency | Brazilian Real (BRL) | Mexican Peso (MXN) |
| Sockets | CN60 Hz | AB127 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-3 | UTC-6 |
| Emergency number | Police 190, ambulance 192, fire 193 | 911 |
| Elevation | 31 m | 1,900 m |
| Main airport | Rio de Janeiro Galeão – Tom Jobim International Airport (GIG)12 km from centre54 non-stop destinations | Guanajuato International Airport (BJX)77 km from centre22 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 14 days | 9 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Rio de Janeiro | San Miguel de Allende |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 6,211,223 | 69,811 |
| People per km² | 4,930 | - |
| Museums within 10 km | 69 | 2 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 3 | 2 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | - |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Rio de Janeiro or San Miguel de Allende somewhere new.