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ABOUT PUERTO VALLARTA

Mexico's second-most-visited resort after Cancún, Puerto Vallarta is, without a doubt, "touristy." From the clean streets to the English-speaking personnel and menus, business owners and tourism officials aim to help you feel at home. But you won't feel like a cipher or, worse, a bothersome intruder. Cancún didn't exist before the 1970s, and employees and business owners are imported from elsewhere. In contrast, the majority of Puerto Vallarta's tour companies, restaurants, and hotels are run by local people—proud of their city and happy to have you. Happy, because tourism is PV's only real industry. And though plenty of twentysomethings party all night at Señor Frogs or Carlos O'Briens, this is not a spring-break destination. A sense of decorum and pride in the city keeps things reasonably restrained.

Top Reasons to Go

Legendary restaurants: Eat barbecued snapper with your feet in the sand or chateaubriand with a killer ocean view.

Adventure and indulgence: Ride a horse, mountain bike or go four-wheeling into the mountains, dive into the sea, and relax at an elegant spa.

Natural beauty: Enjoy the physical beauty of Pacific Mexico's prettiest resort town, where cobblestone streets disappear into emerald green hills with the big, sparkling bay below.

Authentic art: PV's artists and artisans—from Huichol Indians to expats—produce a huge diversity of exceptional folk treasures and fine art.

Diverse nightlife: Whether you're old, young, gay, straight, mild, or wild, PV's casual  party scene has something to entice you after dark.

Great Itineraries

Each of these fills one day. Together they touch on some of PV's most quintessential experiences, from shopping to getting outdoors for adventure tours or golfing, or just relaxing at the best beaches and spas.

Romancing the Zone

Head south of downtown to the Zona Romántica for a day of excellent shopping and dining. Stop at Isla del Río Cuale for trinkets and T-shirts; have an island breakfast overlooking the stream at the River Cafe or an excellent lunch at Le Bistro, where the romantic, neo-Continental decor and monumental architecture produce a flood of endorphins.

Most of the stores in the neighborhood will either ship your oversized prizes for you or expertly pack them and recommend reputable shipping companies. Crossing the pedestrian bridge nearest the bay, drop nonshoppers at Los Muertos Beach. They can watch the fishermen on the small pier, lie in the sun, sit in the shade with a good book, or walk south to the rocky coves of Conchas Chinas Beach, which is good for snorkeling when the water is calm. Meanwhile, the shoppers head to Calle Basilio Badillo and surrounding streets for folk art, housewares, antiques, clothing, and accessories. End the day back at Los Muertos with dinner, drinks, and live music.Some of the musicians at beachfront restaurants work for the restaurant, others are freelancers. If a roving musician (or six) ask what you'd like to hear, ask the price of a song.

A Different Resort Scene

If you've got wheels, explore a different sort of beach resort. After breakfast, grab beach togs, sunscreen, and other essentials for a day at the beach and head north. Those with a sweet tooth might make a pit stop at Pie in the Sky, with excellent pie, chocolate, and other sugar fixes. About an hour north of PV, join Mexican families on the beach at Rincón de Guayabitos, on attractive Jaltemba Bay. Play in the mild surf; walk the pretty, long beach; or take a ride in a glass-bottom boat to El Islote, an islet with a small restaurant and snorkeling opportunities. Vendors on the sand sell grilled fish and chilled coconuts and watermelon from their brightly colored stands. On the way back south, stop in the small town of San Francisco, aka San Pancho, for dinner. You can't go wrong at La Ola Rica, Gallo's Pizzeria, or the more sophisticated Cafe del Mar (brush the sand off your feet for that one). In high season and especially on weekend evenings, one of the three will probably have live music, especially Gallo's.

Take a water taxi out for a look at El Islote island, where with luck you might spot a whale between December and March.

Head for the Hills

For an unforgettable experience (at least for a few days, until your thigh muscles recover), take a horse-riding expedition into Vallarta's verdant tropical forest. Rancho Charro and Rancho Ojo de Agua have full-day excursions; the former offers multiday excursions as well, including tours to the former silver-mining towns of Mascota and San Sebastián. For those who prefer motorized horsepower, Wild Vallarta runs full-day ATV tours to San Sebastián.

A Day of Golf and Steam

Puerto Vallarta is one of Mexico's best golfing destinations. And what better way to top off a day of play than with a steam, soak, and massage? At the southern end of the Costalegre, Tamarindo and Grand Bay Isla Navidad have courses (18 great holes and three 9-hole courses, respectively) and very good spas. Above PV, the Four Seasons has 19 holes of good golfing (the optional 19th on its own little island) and an excellent spa, but the latter is for guests only and nonguests rarely get desirable tee-times. In between these extremes are less-exclusive but still great courses. The closest spas to the greens of Marina Vallarta and the Vista Vallarta are those at the Westin Regina and the CasaMagna Marriott, which has gorgeous new facilities. The El Tigre course is associated with the Paradise Village resort, but this moderately priced spa is open also to those who golf at Mayan Palace, just up the road and at Flamingos, at the far northern edge of Nuevo Vallarta.

Downtown Exploration

Puerto Vallarta hasn't much at all in the way of museums, but with a little legwork, you can get a bit of culture. Learn about the area's first inhabitants at the tiny but tidy Museo Arqueológico (closed Sunday), with info in English. From the museum, you can head downtown along the newest section of the malecón, which now crosses the river. About four blocks north, check out the action in the main plaza and Los Arcos amphitheater. At the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, you can pay your respects to the patron saint of the city (and the country). Taking a stroll farther north along the malecón is like walking through a sculpture garden: look for the statue of a boy riding a sea horse (it's become PV's trademark), and La Nostalgia, a statue of a seated couple, by noted PV artist Ramiz Barquet. Three figures climb a ladder extending into the air in Sergio Bustamante's In Search of Reason. One of the most elaborate sculptures is by Alejandro Colunga. Rotunda del Mar has more than a dozen fantastic figures—some with strange, alien appendages—seated on chairs and pedestals of varying heights.

Getting Oriented

The original town, Old Vallarta, sits at the center of 42-km (26-mi) Bahía de Banderas, Mexico's largest bay, in Jalisco State. From here, the Sierra Madre foothills dive into the sea. Mountain-fed rivers nourish tropical deciduous forests as far north as San Blas, in Nayarit State. South of PV the hills recede from the coast and the drier tropical thorn forest predominates south to Barra de Navidad.

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Welcome to Puerto Vallarta