Some of the airlines that fly into Puerto Vallarta include Aeromexico, Alaska, American, America West, Continental, Delta, and Mexicana. If you are flying, consider a vacation package to Puerto Vallarta, which includes your airfare and your hotel, perhaps with some nice amenities included at the hotel. These packages can offer excellent value.

The Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport is about four miles north of the downtown area of Puerto Vallarta. It services over 400 flights a week, welcoming travelers from all over the world. The airport has two levels: the main one is the ticketing and arrival area, and the upper level is for departures and includes duty-free shops, restaurants, and flight gates.

If you are driving, Puerto Vallarta is only two or three hours from Guadalajara, on Toll Road 15. As with other large cities in Mexico, Puerto Valerie is also well served by first-class and deluxe buses that leave frequently.

Cruises from Los Angeles are popular as well during the tourist season, mainly the winter.

Once you’re in Puerto Vallarta

The airport is less than five miles north of PV. City buses and combis (minivans) run from the airport south through the hotel zone, into downtown, and on to the beaches south of the city, for about 50 cents. There are plenty of taxis — the usual kind and also “water taxis” which go to various interesting spots along the bay that Puerto Vallarta is located on.

Tours of the city and the surrounding attractions are easily arranged, often through your hotel.

You can rent a car, but with the heavy traffic especially during tourist season, it may be more relaxing not to.

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Why would you want to have a home in Puerto Vallarta? Perhaps because of the stunning beauty of the city. Perhaps because the foreign community there includes a lot of young, hip writers and artists. Or because there are a number of retirees who appreciate the good health care in the city. There are thousands of foreigners of all ages, in a community that’s known to be open and gay-friendly.

Puerto Vallarta real estate offers magnificent views of the ocean from many of the hills that the city is built upon. In much of Mexico, homes near downtown sell for more because of the convenience, but that is less the case with houses in Puerto Vallarta, due to the foreign influence here. Still, take your time and look around. You’ll find all sorts of places and all sorts of prices. Rent for a while, perhaps. Visit Gringo Gulch, named for the chic people who settled here when Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton made Puerto Vallarta famous.

There is an elegant gated community with a golf course north of Puerto Vallarta, called Nuevo Vallarta. Beautifully done, prices are upscale– but houses there might be completely out of your reach back home! It also offers condos as well as a yacht marina from which you can take a water taxi to Puerto Vallarta

Not far south of Puerto Vallarta, you could look at Mismaloya, which is becoming developed. Retirees and others are buying and building houses there.

Throughout the Puerto Vallarta region, million-dollar homes (and up) are offered, as well as much more modest dwellings. PV has a long-established multiple listing service.

Commercial real estate in Puerto Vallarta

Development continues in PV. New hotels, department stores, movie theaters, and other commercial buildings offer opportunities to investors. Not for the naive, but if you know what you are doing, you could take a laptop and have a working vacation exploring the options for commercial real estate in Puerto Vallarta.

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But in Spanish, this city is correctly called Puerto Vallarta. Puerto means port, and puerta means door. This began as a port town. The town was known as Las Peñas until 1918, when it was renamed in memory of a lawyer and former Governor of the state of Jalisco, Don Ignacio L. Vallarta.

So do call it Puerto Vallarta instead of Puerta Vallarta! Easier yet, just call it Vallarta and you’ll sound like you live there!

Ahem… I’m about to post several pages I’ve just written on this city, and as I ran the spell-checker, I discovered that I’ve spelled it Puerta Vallarta by mistake more than once!

Puerta Vallarta or Puerto Vallarta? is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

Ifyou decide to go, you will have plenty of company. Puerto Vallarta draws over two million tourists a year, from Mexico and from many other countries. The first airplane landed there in 1931, and with the famed filming of Night of the Iguana in the 1960s, the world heard of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Unlike Cancun, the city wasn’t designed to become a resort… it just happened naturally over the years. So there is still a lot of the old Mexican flavor throughout the city, though newer buildings dominate the prime beachfront real estate.

Puerto Vallarta is the second most visited beach resort in Mexico. It wasn’t always this way. In 1993, for example, Mexican tourists were more likely to go to Cancun, Acapulco, Mazatlan or Veracruz. But then efforts were begun to really put Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on the short list of top world beach resorts.
The success of the promotional efforts means that Vallarta is no longer a laid-back small city. But it’s still a wonderful destination.

One warning: in this tropical paradise, there are many salespeople wanting you to buy a timeshare, and many vendors. I try to recognize that they may be doing the best they know how to make a living. Often I find that looking directly into their eyes with a friendly smile while saying a firm No, thanks or No, gracias makes them give up on me and go seek a more likely prospect.

Primavera en Vallarta Buy this Canvas Transfer at AllPosters.com

With more accommodating at all price levels, with electrical wires being buried underground in the center of the city, with plenty of water in the region, with a bay that protects the city from the worst of hurricanes and other storms, the future looks good for glorious vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

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Tourists have been coming to Puerto Vallarta since the 1930s, but it really became an “in” place after John Huston’s Night of the Iguana was filmed here in 1964. The film starred Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, who later bought homes there. Now some two million visitors a year come to PV, as it’s often called.

Puerto Vallarta has historic areas with cobblestone streets. Some say the shopping is the best of any resort town in Mexico, whether at the Mercado (market) downtown, or at any of the many little shops. There are numerous art galleries. On a vacation day, you can have a swim, work on your tan, do a little shopping and gallery-hopping, devote some time to doing nothing, try a fine restaurant, dance the night away — and repeat the process the next day with a different set of beaches, stores, restaurants, and nightspots! Puerto Vallarta is an excellent destination for a beach vacation that also gives you the flavor of modern Mexico. It’s very popular with Mexican tourists for that reason.

With a population somewhere above 300,000, Puerto Valllarta is a relatively intimate city. It’s never very far from the ocean, as the city runs along along between the mountains and the sea. It’s actually in a bay, Banderas Bay, which results in gorgeous views. Watching the sunset can become a daily ritual, perhaps at one of the many cafes near the beach, or perhaps from a hotel patio in the hills.

You can explore outside of the city with a boat ride across the bay to Yelapa, take an outing to Mismaloya, even doing a little kayaking along the coast. If you are traveling with children, there are many enjoyable and educational things to do and places to go: whale watching in season, for one. With over 20 miles of beaches, it’s easy to find your own favorites.

The weather is delicious in winter — you might want a light jacket or sweater in the evenings — and can be very hot in summertime. It’s on the humid side year round. A tropical haven!

See my related pages on this city, by clicking on Puerto Vallarta in the Categories menu, under PLACES.

About Puerto Vallarta is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

Resorts in Puerto Vallarta include small ecological paradises and large, do-it-all complexes with countless amenities.

“Gran Tourismo” is a rating above five-star. Some of the Gran Tourismo resorts and hotels in the Puerta Vallarta area include: Camino Real, Four Seasons, La Jolla de Mismaloya, Marriot CasaMagna, and the Mayan Palace

In Nuevo Vallarta, just a short ways away and a with a bit more of a getting-away-from it-all feeling, you’ll fine the Gran Tourismo quality Paradise Village, Premiere, Sheraton Buganvilias, and Westin Regina.

Five-star hotels and resorts in Puerto Vallarta include: Sun Getaway Resort, Krystal Vallarta, Crown Paradise Resort, Meliá, Canto Del Sol Plaza, Plaza Las Glorias, Presidente InterContinental, Flamingo Vallarta, and Allegro Resort.

Some boutique hotels include Casa Claudia, Casa Las Brisas, Majahuitas, and Quinta Real Puerto Vallarta.

There are also four-star, three-star, and two-star hotels, as well as condo units, bed and breakfast choices, and more. There are economy hotels that are often a short walk to the beach, typically older places in or near the downtown area. There are family-friendly hotels, and adult-only hotels. You can find hotels that offer all-inclusive packages where your meals and other amenities are included.

Whatever your taste or budget, there’s a Puerto Vallarta hotel for you!

Hotels and Resorts in Puerto Vallarta is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

It’s located on the beach, though you may find the pools to be more enjoyable! There are pools just for kids, for adults, and for families. They have garden islands and are quite lovely, with the hundreds of palm trees’ shadows on the water.

Located in the marina district, the Westin Regina is only a few minutes from the airport and a short taxi ride into the heart of Puerto Vallarta. You can watch cruise ships gliding to their terminal from the hotel.

Of course it has all sorts of extras: satellite TV, room service at any hour, internet connections, shops, tours and activities, a poolside bar, wedding services, a business center, a hair salon, and much more. Parents will be glad to know that supervised child care and activities for children are offered.

The Westin Regina in Puerto Vallarta has plenty for everyone. But if you want a private beach free of vendors with your hotel, try the Camino Real.

The Westin Regina in Puerto Vallarta is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

Puerto Vallarta villas are located throughout the whole region. Want to be close to downtown or further out in the country? No problem.

The villas and luxury homes come in many sizes, with varying numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms. If you weren’t sure you could afford the glorious experience of a vacation in a villa in Vallarta, consider having a family gathering or business retreat in one. Chances are you’ll have your own private heated swimming pool, a gourmet kitchen, parking, full-house water purification, television and VCR or DVD player, privacy and security, air conditioning, easy access to the city, and much, much more!

Vallarta has been a luxury destination for decades, and because of its history as a place where the rich and famous of the world come to relax, play, and be seen, the inventory of villas is unusually large. So whether you’ve been to Puerto Vallarta villas before or never set foot in one, do consider one for a superb vacation! Or maybe you could even buy one!

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Do a Google or Yahoo search on “puerto vallarta vacation rental” — with the quotes around the phrase for best results.

Ask people you know. Vallarta is such a popular destination that you may well get some good recommendations this way. But keep in mind that what someone calls a cheap or an expensive Puerto Vallarta vacation rental will reflect their income and their ideas of what to spend on a vacation.

Take a look at my page on hotels and resorts in Vallarta, and do note my warnings about the seasons that things fill up.

You should be able to find a condo or private house for any number of people, at minimal to terrific levels of luxury. Some are right on the beach, and of course you do pay a premium for that. Many others are very close to the beach or uphill a bit with great views out over the water.

If you are using a Puerto Vallarta vacation rental for a family reunion or a trip with a group of compatible friends, the per-person costs often work out surprisingly well for a trip you’ll long remember! Be sure to take your camera! Oh yeah, and sunscreen!

Note: here is a comprehensive website on Puerto Vallarta vacation rentals and much more.

Finding a Puerto Vallarta Vacation Rental is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

How can you find good deals in a Puerto Vallarta vacation package? There are several ways.

Phone a local travel agent and see what they can offer. This is an excellent way to get started, as they can answer questions you might have. You may want to do some comparison shopping after you talk to them.

If you live in or near a big city, the Sunday section of the newspaper will probably have ads from travel wholesalers, who may offer some of the best deals. Your local public library no doubt has the paper if you are searching midweek or don’t want to go buy one.

Do a search at Google or Yahoo on the phrase “puerto vallarta all inclusive” — you’ll get the best results if you use the quotes around the phrase. You can just cut and paste it from here.

If you start searching some of the travel websites, it can get confusing as they start asking you for specific dates and hotels when you may be just trying to get a general sense of costs. I find it helpful to keep a pen and paper handy, to make a list of what I’ve searched so I can really compare prices. Much as I love the internet, I think that your local sources are easier to use.

It’s fun to look around and see what’s out there. Often the short trips are quite low cost and fit into busy schedules. If you’ve never been to Mexico before, or if you just want a short getaway, do consider Puerto Vallarta all inclusive vacation packages!

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