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Condé Nast Traveler picks
 Best of Puerto Vallarta
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When John Huston shot his film The Night of the Iguana in Puerta Vallarta in 1964, there weren't even regular flights to the sleepy beach village. The film's commercial success—and the scandal surrounding co-stars Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor's off-screen love affair—put it on the map. Today, Puerto Vallarta attracts more than three million travelers a year and has a growing community of well-heeled expatriates. While primarily a beach destination, the city also has a burgeoning downtown with ambitious restaurants, galleries, and a scenic waterfront. North of the city, the rapidly developing—and very exclusive—neighborhoods of Nuevo Vallarta and Punta Mita lure Prada-toting travelers and avid golfers. Attractions & Activities Although Puerto Vallarta and its environs are spread over 40 miles, you can easily get around via local taxis. Useful maps and pamphlets in English are available at most downtown restaurants and at the official tourism Web site (visitpuertovallarta.com). The city proper is small, located about midway along 20-mile-wide Banderas Bay. The Río Cuale bisects downtown, dividing it into the areas of El Centro, to the north, and the Zona Romántica, to the south. Most tourist attractions as well as the densely packed Hotel Zone are north of the river. Along the picturesque Malecón, the walk along the bay, cantinas with wandering mariachi bands and all-day drink specials are a dime a dozen (these establishments are generally more clean-cut than their counterparts in Cancún and Acapulco). Some of the city's better shopping is one or two blocks inland, especially on Morelos, between Aldama and Corona. Here you'll find boutiques including Daniel Espinosa, the eponymous outpost of the well-known Mexican jewelry designer (600 Morelos; 52-322-223-0863), and La Casa del Habano, an aromatic tobacco shop cum bar with a wide array of Latin American cigars (170 Aldama; 52-322-223-2758). Puerto Vallarta has a reputation as an art town, with an active artist community and striking installations dotting the Malecón. Most of the best galleries are concentrated in El Centro, including Galería Uno, which has the city's most exhaustive collection of works by contemporary Mexican artists (561 Morelos; 52-322-222-0908). Galería Vallarta is the place to get a crash course in the local art scene: On display are NDO Lozano's hand-cast bronze jewelry, Manuel Valles Gómez's hand-carved palmwood masks, and Claudia Nery's dreamlike watercolors (265 Juarez; 52-322-222-0290). The Romantic Zone, south of the Río Cuale, is on the upswing despite its slightly downtrodden streets. Around Olas Altas, a string of fusion restaurants and a handful of espresso bars with long menus of frozen concoctions signal revitalization, and Basilio Badillo, a nearby street, has been nicknamed Restaurant Row. In the same neighborhood, the Banderas Bay Trading Company is a welcome change from the lackluster shops touting mass-produced pottery as artisanal handwork. Owner (and locally famous interior designer) Peter Bowman's eclectic collection ranges from rare religious pieces to cheerful painted lamps (263 Lázaro Cárdenas; 52-322-223-4352). Because of the store's popularity, Bowman recently opened an annex a few blocks away, at 319A Constitución (52-322-223-9871). Puerto Vallarta's status as an expat getaway was cemented during the filming of The Night of the Iguana and the subsequent exploits of tabloid darlings Taylor and Burton. The couple's vacation home, Casa Kimberley, started the so-called Gringo Gulch in El Centro. Now the villa has a small museum (and bed-and-breakfast) with daily tours of the property (52-322-222-1336; casakimberley.com). About 20 minutes south of downtown, a string of popular beaches begins with Mismaloya, where Hollywood buffs can also visit the original film sets. From Boca de Tomatlán, you can take a small ferry to more secluded beaches such as Caletas, the family-friendly Las Ánimas, and Quimixto, farther down the coast. Just past these spots, the sleepy beach village of Yelapa is a popular day-trip. There's no road to this small curve of coarse yellow sand, but boats leave frequently from Boca de Tomatlán ($6). You can also take a 45-minute ferry from the pier at Los Muertos, just south of the Río Cuale ($18). Yelapa has a line of palapa restaurants, all of which serve fresh seafood. On the beach, Rogelio's Restaurant stands out for its friendly service and ample portions of delicious fish. Whole pargo, or red snapper, simply grilled with garlic and butter, is particularly tasty. For dessert, flag down one of the women walking the beach with large bowls balanced on their heads: They are selling delicious homemade pies (no address or phone; entrées, $6-$18). The Bay of Banderas is backed by lush tropical rain forest, and the best way to explore the terrain is on one of Canopy Tours de los Veranos's canopy tours. Guides lead you through the Los Veranos ecological preserve, followed by a tour of the forest via a series of zip lines: Don't try this if you're afraid of heights! (52-322-223-0504; canopytours-vallarta.com; canopy tours, $79 per person). Most sailboats and fishing boats leave from Marina Vallarta, north of town. Vallarta Adventures is one of the most popular operators and has a wide range of options for visitors looking to get off the land. Take a sunset sail along the coastline, or charter a private boat for the day (52-322-297-1212; vallarta-adventures.com; day-sail, including lunch and beverages, $85 per person). Lodging Puerta Vallarta's top property is in ritzy Punta Mita, 45 minutes north of downtown: the Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, which frequently appears on Condé Nast Traveler's Gold List. On a hill above downtown Puerto Vallarta, the Hacienda San Angel was originally a Valentine's Day gift from actor Richard Burton to wife Susan Hunt. American Janice Chatterton combined the Burtons' villa and the two adjacent properties to create an elegant nine-suite hideaway. Second-floor terraces have unbelievable views of Banderas Bay and the jagged southern coastline, and the best way to soak it all in is from the plush chaise longues next to the tiled lap pool. If you can't get a room, reserve a table for dinner, preferably during sunset. For travelers with a taste for escapism, the area around Punta Vallarta has a handful of unique retreats. The only way to get to Majahuitas, an idyllic eco-resort just north of Yelapa, is via a 20-minute motorboat ride from Boca de Tomatlan. Set in a small cove, the hotel has eight spacious open-air casitas and a main house with a dining room, a kitchen, and lounge areas. During the rainy season, the mosquitoes can ruin the atmosphere, so time your stay for winter or spring. In Yelapa, the isolated Verana is a far cry from the area's usual Margaritaville lodgings. German production designer Heinz Legler and his French set-decorator wife, Veronique, have finessed what was essentially two raw acres of hilltop jungle into a simple eight-room retreat with a strong modern aesthetic. An open-air restaurant and bar serves fantastic local dishes with spectacular views of the water. A bit farther away, about an hour's drive from Puerto Vallarta, the Hotelito Desconocido is a 24-room eco-retreat on a sea turtle and bird estuary. A blend of chic luxury and environmental integrity, it uses only solar energy and candlelight. Dining In part because of its well-heeled expat community, Puerto Vallarta has a sophisticated restaurant scene. Although you could eat very well without going near a quesadilla, you'd be missing half the fun. Better to dine high and low, checking out both the local scene and the gourmet spots. (Note: Many restaurants are closed in September.) Some of the city's best traditional food can be sampled on the second floor of the Municipal Market, near the Río Cuale. Don't let a lack of proficiency in Spanish intimidate you: The servers at Restaurant Marusso are happy to guide you through the menu. Try the seafood taquitos or the fish of the day in a garlic mojo (Mercado Río Cuale, southeast corner; 52-322-222-7752; entrées, $3-$10). In a fuchsia building overlooking El Centro, El Arrayán is widely considered the city's best Mexican restaurant. Cheery oilcloth-covered tables are arranged around an interior courtyard, and a live band plays folk music. The menu rescues familiar dishes such as taquitos and seviche, making them lighter and more flavorful and sometimes adding a slight twist: The addictive plantain empanadas are made with a slightly sweet plantain-based dough and a savory black bean and cheese filling (344 Allende; 52-322-222-7195; entrées, $14-$21). Chef Thierry Blouet owns two top restaurants at 740 Guadalupe Sánchez: the ground-floor Café des Artistes and the more lavish second-floor Thierry Blouet Cocina de Autor, both featuring classical French techniques, seasonal ingredients, and modern Mexican composition. The latter offers a choice of tasting menus, which might include soft-shell crab served atop an avocado salad with wild oregano or a mushroom and scallop mousseline (52-322-222-3228; Café entrées, $15-$45; Cocina prix fixes, $54-$69). Most of the restaurants on the Malecón have spectacular water views but overpriced ho-hum food, so have a cocktail and save your appetite for better things. Snag a window table at the open-air Las Palomas, right in the thick of the tourist area (610 Paseo Diaz Ordaz). On the newly rehabbed section of the Malecón, near the Río Cuale, Vitea has a cool Mediterranean decor and unobstructed ocean views (2 Libertad). Truth in Travel is the guiding principle for all content published in Condé Nast Traveler. Other travel publications often accept free travel and accommodations. Condé Nast Traveler does not. It is independent of the travel industry. The magazine always pays its way, and, as far as possible, its correspondents travel anonymously. By doing so, they experience the world—both the good and the bad—as other travelers do, and their reports and recommendations are fair, impartial, and authoritative.
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