Photos: San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0; San Miguel de Allende by Russ Bowling, CC BY 2.0, cropped.
San Jose, Costa Rica 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 San Jose, Costa Rica for
- nature and the outdoors
- families
- beaches
What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’s own page.
Choose San Miguel de Allende for
- wellness
- day trips
- culture and sights
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: San Jose, Costa Rica and San Miguel de Allende.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on nature and the outdoors and families 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.
San Jose, Costa Rica in July
San Miguel de Allende in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
San Jose, Costa Rica's station stands 241 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.
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. San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre). San Miguel de Allende: 1991-2020 normals, Guanajuato, Gto. (53.7 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | San Jose, Costa Rica | San Miguel de Allende |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Spanish | Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya |
| Currency | Costa Rican Colon (CRC) | Mexican Peso (MXN) |
| Sockets | AB120 V, 60 Hz | AB127 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-6 | UTC-6 |
| Emergency number | 911 | 911 |
| Elevation | 1,161 m | 1,900 m |
| Main airport | Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinations | Guanajuato International Airport (BJX)77 km from centre22 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 11 days | 9 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | San Jose, Costa Rica | San Miguel de Allende |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 335,007 | 69,811 |
| People per km² | 7,511 | - |
| Museums within 10 km | 9 | 2 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 2 |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow San Jose, Costa Rica or San Miguel de Allende somewhere new.