Ixtapa vs. Puerto Vallarta
 

I've been to Ixtapa and loved it. I liked being able to walk to everything and the service was awesome. I'm thinking about Puerto Vallarta. If I stay in the hotel zone, do I take a cab to downtown? Is there restaurants, bars, shopping around the hotels? Any other advice or comments on Puerto Vallarta would be appreciated.

Better compare Ixtapa & Nuevo Vallarta as both were built for the tourist industry & are slick, gorgeous places with almost no similarity to Real Mexico. Now Zihuatanejo 4 miles away from Ixtapa & old PV are very comparable. Zihus has one of the most beautiful bays in the world. Old Town has more interesting architecture.Prices a similar, Zihua is far smaller & less congested but catching up unfortunately. I would say that Zihua is about where PV was 20 years ago. Either is great. One thing that really pleases me is that there are very few beach peddlers in Zihua (technically illegal but a few do sneak on) & wonderfully a real dearth of Time Share Ghouls.

I have not visited Zijuat but go to PV often. I have always heard, as Stewbear says, Zijuat is like Puerto Vallarta 20 years ago.

Ixtapa is similar to Nuevo Vallarta (recently being dubbed Vallarta Nayarit since it is in a different state from PV) where the Cancun-style resorts have been developed.

I didn't like Ixtapa because it didn't have the town like Zihua. It was too quiet although beautiful. I can't imagine what you were walking too in Ixtapa because there isn't much of a town. But maybe I think that because I am used to Puerto Vallarta (Centro and Old town). There is much to see and do in the real PV (Centro). From the hotel zone it is a short taxi ride. From Nuevo its a longer ride. Only the Sheraton from the hotel zone is really close enough to walk. What is nice about staying in Old Town is that you can walk to so many places, go take a nap, and walk again, go to the beach, and walk to the malecon at night, etc. Being in the midst of the best restaurants and best shopping and sightseeing is your main difference. That is other than the hotels in Nuevo being newer. Good Luck.

I went to Zihautenejo in December and I definitely recommend it. If you like a place with less tourists and a real Mexican town than you should check it out.