Drive from Ixtapa to Acapulco
 

How long does it take to drive from Ixtapa to
Acapulco? How is the road? Was going to take the bus, but decided it would be nice to
have a car in Acapulco since we will be staying in the diamonte zone. Would like to
do side trips to Taxco and Cuernavaca. Any advice?

It's 245 km from Acapulco to Zihua and should take round about 5 hours to do the trip.

Have fun!
Mark
www.tiogringo.com

With no stops, Acapulco to Ixtapa will take about 4 hours. The road is in good condition, but watch out for the "topes" or speedbumps as you enter each little town as many of them are not well marked. There are not many gas stations once you leave the outskirts of Acapulco or Zihua, so plan ahead.

Side trips to Taxco and Cuernavaca are doable, but don't underestimate the time it takes to drive in Mexico. My US rule of thumb is 1 hour per 100km on average with stops, here it is more like 90 minutes per 100km. Even on the toll roads you are going up and down mountains, getting stuck behind slow moving trucks, etc. (It's not exactly stress-free high-speed interstate cruising.) If you are set on going to both places, I would make one trip and plan on spending the night in one of them.

Don't forget to bring pesos for the tolls -- it's about 300 pesos or a little more from Acapulco to Cuernavaca, so the equivalent of about US$60 round trip. Also, most gas stations are cash-only. And don't count on driving after dark. The last 50km on the toll road would be ok, but off the main roads the topes and killer potholes can be very hard to see in the dark -- not to mention cows, donkeys, dogs and pedestrians on the side of the road.

We took the bus from Ixtapa to Acapulco. It took around 5 hours. After we arrived at the bus depot, we took a taxi to our resort in the Diamonte zone. We took taxi from our resort into town. We also took the bus to Taxco. I highly recommend taking the bus. You can relax on those winding roads....
Enjoy!