Puerto Vallarta - is there local culture or is it a tourist trap?
 

My sister (16) and I (25) are looking to do a week long trip in the first week of April. We have narrowed down our choices to either Paris or somewhere in Mexico (very random, I know). My fear with Mexico is that our choices are between super touristy areas like Cancun and places I don't think I'd necessarily feel safe taking my sister, like Mexico City (she's never been out of the U.S.). Puerto Vallarta seems like it might be a happy medium but I wanted to see what fodorites thought...is it all about the beach and giant resorts, or are there cultural activties, in-town areas to walk around, etc. Thanks!

We went to Puerta Vallarta last year in early December. It was our first time and we lucked out because it wa afestival week - the virgin of guadalupe. There were processions every night which were clearly not aimed at tourists. Even though you won't be there then, it became very clear to me tehre is an active culture. It is an enjoyable city to walk around. It is not at all like Cancun. The beaches aren't as pretty, but there is a real culture. We stayed at the Westin Regina because we found an incredible rate. It is a beautiful hotel with a beautiful pool area. Taxis in to the center are cheap. Of course Paris is quite another choice. That is my favorite city to visit and April is a lovely time. In Paris you can just walk the streets for hours and enjoy the beautiful city, and go wonderful museums. It is a hard choice to make, and it obviously depends on what you and your sister like, but I don't think you can lose with either. PV will be cheaper for sure. FYI I am 60, so can't speak to what it would be like for women your ages.

Why don;t you feel "safe" taking someone to Mexico City?

Thanks for the reply epi. Does anyone else want to weigh in on this -- any info at all would be much appreciated!

TopMan, I don't really feel safe taking my sister to Mexico City because of a combination of 1) high crime rates and 2) her lack of experience with big cities in general.

Wow.. you are talking apples and oranges here.. if you gave me the choice I'd be on my way to Paris in a New York minute ( and living in Southern California.. that would be pretty darn fast- you know us from So. Cal. even our airport is slow ( they didn't name in "LAX" for nothing)! LOL
That being the case Puerta Vallarta is all about bathing suits, margaritas, seafood, tacos, 99.9% fake silver jewelry.. sun and fun..
Paris is all about ooh la la..
beauty.. scenery.. art.. people..
the love of life..
gimme Paris anyday...

Puerto Vallarta offers a variety of experiences. You can stay in "old town" which still has no big resorts, but many small hotels, some on the beach some not. This part of town has many small locally owned businesses and restaurants and much "local flavor". Or, you can stay in the "hotel zone" or "marina" which is much more of a typical tourist area. There are lots of time share sharks in PV, but you can avoid most of them in "old town". I love PV and usually stay in the hotel zone, but always go into town every evening for dinner and shopping and strolling around. Then there is "Nuevo Vallarta" which is about 45 min or so north of downtown PV which is all new HUGE all inclusive resorts. Go to www.allvallarta.com for lots of info and a great bulletin board.

I have been to Puerto Vallarta 15 times over the past 10 years and feel I can speak accurately to this question.

I LOVE the heart of old PV! In El Centro (downtown) and Old Town (just south of the river which borders south of downtown) you will find a normal Mexican town with people going about their lives. Certainly there are tourists along the beach, but walk inland (literally) 5 blocks anywhere and you will find yourself in residential local family neighborhoods.

If you choose a resort and stay to the north in The Hotel Zone, The Marina, or Nuevo Vallarta (3 distinct areas) taking organized tours, etc. you can find a 'cancun-style' experience.

I HIGHLY disagree with the statement above <Puerta Vallarta is all about bathing suits, margaritas, seafood, tacos, 99.9% fake silver jewelry.. sun and fun..> Certainly it CAN be about that, but it does not have to be.

One thought since you mention April is that Easter is an incredibly busy time in PV (the very busiest of the year for hotels) because Mexican families come to vacation along with foreign tourists. Not a bad thing, but make sure to get hotel reservations earlier for this particular week.

YES there are cultural activities (stroll The Maleon on a weekend evening with local lovers and families, listen to free music under The Arches, go sit in the cathedral one afternoon). All of in-town is a fantastic area to walk around. You'll find a combination of practical local shops (grocery store, fabric, hardware, department store, health food, vet, hair salon) and tourist shops (art galleries, crafts, clothing, jewelry, not to mention loads of fantastic restaurants).

Twice I have taken women who had not been out of the U.S. to Puerto Vallarta (sister, cousin) and they both felt very safe, comfortable, and totally enjoyed their trip!

p.s. Please note by loving ramble re PV above does not in any way reflect my opinion of Paris!!! I don't know where you live, but personally for me on west coast U.S. I only plan trips to Europe when I have several weeks (feel I need that to make worthwhile flight time, time change, jet lag). I wouldn't hesitate to run down to PV for 7 days.

Thank you all so much for the info. Suze, your post was great, it makes me think that PV might work for us after all. In terms of the flight thing we have a dilemma - I live on the west coast too, but my sister lives on the east coast, so one of us is going to have to have a long flight either way! One more question, though, you mention that easter is a very busy time. We were thinking to go March 31 through April 8 or 9 - do you know if it will be very crowded that whole week? Or do the crowds arrive on easter (April 11) and later? Either way I'll be booking the hotel soon, I'm just curious whether it will be really crowded.

Unless I'm reading my 2005 calendar wrong Easter is Sunday March 27th, so even generously allowing 1 week before and 1 week after doesn't seem like it would effect April dates this year.

Just want to echo Suze's comments about PV -- it doesn't have to be typical tourist stuff, as long as you don't stay in an AI...
Definitely the best part of town is the "old town". Very charming, and wonderful to walk around!
If I had more money and time, I'd go to Paris, but Mexico has plenty of charm, if you go to the right spots...

audreyleigh99, one thing that noone has mentioned to you is: your sister is 16 years of age so she is a minor..
Check with your airline because as I understand it any minor taken out of the country (the USA) must have a written, signed, notorized statement by the minors guardian(s) giving permission. I believe this law came about because nonUSA citizens were taking their children out of the USA without the other parents knowledge and/or permission.
I know that minors of divorced parents taken out of the USA have to have this paper from their noncustodial parent.
You do not want to get to the airport with your 16 year old sister to discover that she can not board the flight.

I have a vacation residence 20 minutes north of the PV airport. My travels to PV have been for 34 years. The most culture you can find there is to become friendly witht the local people. I agree with the commnets that this is place is a vacation place for food, drink and beach. Culture is closer to cities with musuems, history, architecture and higher eductation for the locals. I enjoy every trip I make to this area but it is for a relaxing time. Also, travel from Nov-April is the time of year the weather is more cooperative.

As well-stated above Puerto Vallarta is not a hub of museums, ruins, ancient history or education. Their wealth is the friendly and welcoming local people. I was thinking of "local culture" meaning and pertaining to Mexican family life, family businesses, shopping at the supermercado, women in the fabric stores, praying in the cathedral, those types of activities... which you can easily find in PV.

Thanks again for all the help. Yes, Suze, I suspect I looked at the wrong calendar or something (I looked it up on calendars.com or something, don't have my 2005 calendar yet...good thing I'm not booking my airfare based on that calendar!!). And thanks for the warning loveitaly, I actually did know about that requirement for minors, but I know it catches some people by surprise. PV sounds much more interesting than I thought it would be at first...but I am sorry to report to all of you PV lovers that my sis and I have decided to go to Paris!! She will go to college soon and I will be starting a new 80 hour a week type job next fall and we just don't think we'll get another chance to take a big trip any time soon, so we are just going for the really big expensive one. But I am now so interested in going to PV that I am thinking of ways to talk my husband into taking a mini-trip to PV with me...we live in S. Cal. so it shouldn't be that expensive and won't take us that long to get there....I'll work on it and post a trip report if I do go.

I think it's fantastic you're going to Paris with your sister!! Congratulations and thanks for the follow-up post. PV is easy to get to and especially knowing you're in So Calif, is a breeze to go down a week or even a long weekend on a package deal sometime, just to get a feel for the town.

My wife and I recently went to Puerto Vallarta for the first time and we stayed near Mismaloya (sp?) and liked the feel of the town a lot, especially the downtown area. We bought some nice Indian art, but my experience with the people was anything but friendly.

We went in the off-season when there weren't many tourists around, and it seemed like the only friendly people we found were those who wanted our money. If they weren't trying to sell us something, people on the street just looked through us.

And the selling was relentless. Walking down the street, laying on the beach, just standing looking at something, it didn't matter. If we stopped to look at something in a stall on the street, we'd often be subject to a harangue if we started to walk away. Etc. etc.

Maybe it won't be so bad when there are more tourists, but, for me, "friendly people" isn't something I found in Puerto Vallarta.

I agree that if you stay in the old town of PV, you will get a lot more flavour. West of the main restaraurant areas, there are teh areas where the people who work in town actually live. We walked to Red Cabbage restaurant one night from our hotel near the pier, and there were tons of fabulous food stands. We regretted our hard-to-come-by reservation at Red Cabbage! Next time, we will eat at both the stands and at Red Cabbage.

If you want a place 1/2 way between Paris and Mexico City, go to Guadalajara, and stay in Tlaquepaque. Its cheap, clean, and has a great mix of big city importance, fantastic colonial sites, and families strolling the safe streets at night.

I know our original poster has decided on Paris instead, but I'll top this post with a reminder for people lucky enough to visit PV in early December...

As mentioned by 'epi' above the Festival for the Virgin of Guadalupe is a wonderful local event. Processions thru the streets with music, dancing, floats, etc. Special food and bakery stands are set up. It culminates December 12th but there are nightly parades all the week before. Some tourists do participate, but it is truly an important local religious festival and celebration and a special peak into the 'real mexico' that people are so often hoping to find but miss in a resort town.