If you’re looking for the perfect holiday or travel destination in Mexico, then Puerto Vallarta is the answer to all that you seek. For families, couples, retired, students, luxury, or backpackers, Puerto Vallarta has something to offer for everyone, from adventure to ecotourism, golf to fine dining, street food stalls to canopy tours in nearby rainforests, and the Sierra Madre Mountains.
Forget Cabo, Cancun, or Cozumel! TripAtlas is bringing you “Ten Great Ways to Discover and Experience Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.” Then, you’ll understand why this is the place where Mexico truly comes to life!
Ten Great Ways to Discover and Experience Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Overlooking Banderas Bay, rated one of the most beautiful bays in the world, Puerto Vallarta is where the heart and soul of Mexico comes to life—and it’s where you can get the true experience of what Mexico is all about in its culinary delights, activities, nightlife, history, and more.
With more cruises than ever anchoring in Puerto Vallarta and new flights from California and Canada flying into Puerto Vallarta’s Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport, visiting or traveling to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico has never been easier or more accessible!
Art Comes to Life in the Streets of Mexico
As home to over thirty art galleries in Mexico, Puerto Vallarta offers an outstanding display of local, national, and international art. In the past few years, it has become has become home to a cosmopolitan group of resident artists who offer everything from native indigenous art to Mexican silverware, glasswork, pottery and folk art, as well as contemporary painting and sculptures.
When walking through Puerto Vallarta’s malecon, you’ll see the famous nine-foot tall “Caballeo del Mar” (or The Seahorse) by Rafel Zamarripa that has been a sight for locals and visitors since 1976. Another famous sculpture is “La Nostalgia” by Ramiz Barquet, which tells the story of the sculptor’s own love story of a woman that he long loved, lost and later married.
From October 2008 to May 2009, art lovers can indulge in seventeen of Puerto Vallarta’s finest galleries while they host special events that include discussions and cocktails with artists about their showcased work.
Gourmet Dining and Fine Food
For a delectable culinary experience, Puerto Vallarta offers a wide array of selection: from traditional Mexican dishes to contemporary tastes from around the globe. You’ll find family-owned taco stands to sophisticated top-rated restaurants, all which will appease and tease your gastronomically sensitive palette.
Every November, gourmet food lovers can experience the best culinary delicacies that Mexico has to offer at the Annual Festival Gourmet International. This year, the festival will take place from November 13 to 23, 2008 and will be its fourteenth year of celebration. Later in May 2009, Restaurant Week 2009 will take place where three-course prix fixe meals are offered for up to 50 percent off the regular menu price.
Golfing in Mexico’s Premier Golf Destination
Puerto Vallarta is quickly becoming Mexico’s premier golf destinations. This resort town is home to seven world-class golf courses and has hosted a number of PGA events in the past.
Its complex and challenging seventy-one and seventy-two-par courses were designed by Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf, and are perfectly complimented by the surrounding Pacific Ocean and the Sierra Madre Mountains.
Visiting the Wixarika (or Huichol Indians) in San Andres Coamihata
The Wixarika are believed to be descendants of the Aztecs and are perhaps the last indigenous group in North America to live with ancient pre-Columbian traditions. Also know as the Huichol Indians, they reside in San Andres Coamihata which is a remote mountain village found high in the Sierra Madre Mountains.
The Wixarika are respected by locals as knowledgeable healers using medicinal plants, as well as for their ritualistic, symbolic, and celebratory practices during the harvest. Artwork and beadwork provide the Wixarika with income to preserve their community. San Andres Coamihata can be reached via a one-hour flight from the Puerto Vallarta airport.
