Puerto Vallarta

[HeatherFL]

Will be going to Puerto Vallarta in September through part of October. Been to Mexico several times, but not this area. Must sees? And places to dine? We're staying at the The Westin Resort & Spa Puerto Vallarta.

Thanks,

Heather

[amew]

We were there about two years ago. It's great! Kind of a quirky, artistic community with lots of American ex-pats and a better fine dining scene than most Mexican resort communities. We had a fabulous dinner at Cafe des Artiste. Kind of pricey by Mexico standards, but not all that bad when compared to a similarly luxurious meal in most big cities in the US or Europe. We ate at a couple other good restaurants as well and went on a snorkeling cruise that we enjoyed, but the names are all escaping me right now. I will check our travel journal at home and post again later.

[Toonces]

I've been there a couple of times. I think the last time was '98 or '99 so I don't remember a lot of names of things. There used to be a bar called The Zoo that was a lot of fun. We went to La Jolla de Mismaloya - the beach where "Night of the Iguana" was filmed. We also went on a boat tour that took us to a private beach area - some people went hiking, others went parasailing. I think we just hung out by the beach. It was at the base of mountains and was gorgeous. If you're going with Apple or Funjet, they'll probably be able to recommend some things. Puerto Vallarta is my favorite city in Mexico. The beaches aren't as nice as Cancun, but the scenery is gorgeous. Have fun!! Oh, and we stayed at that Westin. It's very nice!

[irish74]

I haven't been since my single twenties and I know what I do on vacation has certainly changed ;) but for nightlife, we used to go to Carlos O'Briens and then once it closed for the night there was a place down the street called the Zoo that was open way late nite. The Corona factory is across the street from the Sheraton, at least back then beer was like 10 cents with the conversion rate, tons cheaper than the hotel minibar. Also summer time is flash flood time, don't wear ivory suede heels. Have fun!

[amew]

Okay, I checked my notes. In addition to Cafe des Artistes, we ate at Trio, which was also wonderful. We went on a day trip to Caletas through Vallarta adventures for snorkeling and loved it. We also went on zip-line jungle tour that was very fun, though I am not sure what company we used. We went for a romantic anniversary trip, so we pretty much stuck to relaxing on the beach and dining out and skipped the night club scene.

[Walton]

We went there for our honeymoon in July 2002. One of the restaurants we went to was called "La Clif" (or whatever the Spanish translation for "The Cliff" is). The restaurant is built on the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean, and has been written up in Architectural Digest and places like that. It's all open air - the roof is just like a tarp or something. (Clearly, my knowledge of architecture is minimal. :rolleyes: ) The cost of the meal was definitely expensive, especially for Mexico, but the food was delicious and the atmosphere was amazing. It's very romantic.

On the menu it gave the backstory of the restaurant, talking about the architecture and everything, and it mentioned some celebrities that have dined there (I'm thinking Julia Roberts and Mel Gibson were two of them). Since I'm a total celebrity nut, I liked that part.

Another fun thing we did was a Tequila Tour. It talked all about the history of tequila, and there were samples of every kind of tequila you can imagine. With the purchase of the ticket (very reasonable), we got lunch at a restaurant across the street. We enjoyed that.

[amew]

Another fun thing we did was a Tequila Tour. It talked all about the history of tequila, and there were samples of every kind of tequila you can imagine. With the purchase of the ticket (very reasonable), we got lunch at a restaurant across the street. We enjoyed that.

We toured some sort of distillery as well. It was very fun.

[HeatherFL]

Thank you all! I appreciate all the feedback. Looks like I am going to be having myself some good food LOL! :)

ETA: I think that restaurant is Le Kliff. :)

~H.

[Parrothead]

DH and I have been to PV 3 times in the last 5 years. We LOVE it. I highly recommend staying at the Westin Regina (http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/search/hotel_detail.html?requestedChainCode=WI&requestedAffiliationCode=WI&goToRooms=yes&lengthOfStay=1&numberOfRooms=1&numberOfAdults=1&arrivalDate=2005-08-13&departureDate=2005-08-14&rpoi=&propertyID=1090&rcdi=&linkbrand=&fromSearch=22XX&sherlockRatePlanID=&sherlockMiniRate=&sherlockRoomType=&sherlockBedType=&iATANumber=&corporateAccountNumber=&propertyDistance=&propertyDistanceInUnits=&requestType=page&page=&ratePlanName=&roomOccupancyTotal=1) , located in Marina Vallarta.

You absolutely, positively MUST catch sunset El Faro (http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2806107-el_faro_lighthouse_bar_puerto_vallarta-i;_ylc=X3oDMTE3N2phcW1vBF9TAzI3NjY2NzkEX3MDOTY5NTU zMjUEc2VjA3NyBHNsawN0aXRsZQ--) , a bar that is built into a historic lighthouse. It overlooks the marina and has a 360 degree view of PV (mountains, Bahia de Banderas, town, etc.)

I love margaritas at Oscars. It's located on a small island on the Rio Cuale, at the south end of town (can't find a website).

Enjoy!!!

[miel]

I like the "Posada Rio Cuale." Total old school gourmet restaurant. They make the caesar salads and some of the steak dinners at your table. Delicious food and the waiters have been there for like 50 years. I think Liz Taylor used to eat there.

[miel]

Oh, and they now have jungle zip line tours, places you can swim with dolphins, etc. I can't say I've done that stuff. I just hang out on the beach.

[irish74]

I like the "Posada Rio Cuale." Total old school gourmet restaurant. They make the caesar salads and some of the steak dinners at your table. Delicious food and the waiters have been there for like 50 years. I think Liz Taylor used to eat there.

We went there when I was in PV as well. Really enjoyed it. The consumme was also very good.

[HEW?B]

I was there in Sept Oct 2 years ago and had a great time. If you are in the marina area, there is a resturaunt called Victors. It is not at all fancy but sooo much fun. The drinks are crazy che cheep and every time you buy a beer, they give you a shot to go along with it. We also went on a trip with Villarta Adventures and really had a great time.

[IUAlum]

DH and I went in January and we really enjoyed it. We did a zip line tour, which was truly fun, I would definitely recommend it. All the hotels will have the brochures.

As for restaurants, we did a lot of wandering around and eating what sounded good. Everything was great, especially the restaurants where they made the guacamole tableside. YUM. A touristy-but good place we went was Pipis. We randomly found a place called The Blue Shrimp which was actually great.

It was a fun vacation.

[zhannushka]

We're going to Puerto Vallarta in 2 weeks. I am just looking for recommendations of some fun activities that don't require much physical strain. I am 6 weeks pregnant now and such things as bungie jumping are out of question... :) Any ideas? Thank you!

[designer]

Snorkling...and laying on the beach, is what I would do :)

[KK812]

IL's have a time share down there and go pretty often. They like to spend time at the pool and browse the markets :) They also do the ruins, which should be fine for you as long as you don't have bad MS.

[Reenie]

How was your trip? We are leaving for PVR in four days! :eek: :D

[zhannushka]

Our trip was great. I highly recommend taking all-day tours, especially with Puerto Vallarta Adventures group. We went to the island of Yelapa and on a city tour. My sister and her friend also went on a Sierra Madre tour and loved it! You can check out my journal for some pictures. Have fun!!! :)

[lawyergirl25]

We're stopping at Puerto Vallarta on a cruise in December. We'll only have about 6-8 hours in port. What would you suggest is the best way to spend our time? Any recommendations on places to go? We love active excursions - especially snorkeling, swimming, and ATVing - but we also love to shop and eat (the best part of cruising!).

[zhannushka]

Since you'll only be there for 6-8 hours and you like to shop and eat - I'll recommend taking a walk downtown, going to the flee market and having lunch/dinner at one of the restaurants on the strip. Snorkeling is great there too, but I'm not sure whether you'll have enough time for that...

[Rosebud]

Bumping up this old thread. DH and I are thinking about taking a trip to Puerto Vallarta for our anniversary in October (without the baby). Neither of us have been there before. We'd stay at the Westin since we have Starwood points. Anyone have thoughts on the Westin or more thoughts on PV in general?

Are there any historical/ cultural sights of interest in the area? We'll probably do some relaxing, but we'd also love to sightsee if there's anything nearby that's accessible & interesting.

TIA!

[conneals]

We went in 2003 and loved it. Granted, that was 5 years ago, but we loved it. It was a very relaxing lazy vacation. Our favorite thing to do was to swim with the dolphins thru Vallarta Adventures. We also took a snorkle trip with them. They were very gracious hosts and it was a ton of fun.

http://www.vallarta-adventures.com/

Our favorite restaurant was The River Cafe. The food and service was excellent.

http://www.rivercafe.com.mx/

We really enjoyed walking around the downtown area, but really, we just played on the beach and enjoyed the downtime. I would suspect with a 7/8month old, you would really enjoy that too!