Mexico · top picks
Best hotels in Puerto Vallarta
The highest-rated, best-reviewed places to stay in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We surface Expedia properties scoring 8+ out of 10 from real travelers, sorted by review density.
- ✓Only properties scoring 8.0+ in real Puerto Vallarta guest reviews
- ✓Sorted by review density — the more reviews, the more reliable the score
- ✓Refundable rates labelled per stay — book now, decide later
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What first-timers get wrong in Puerto Vallarta
Beach vendors and marina activity desks offering free tours are running timeshare presentations, and the promised ninety minutes will be four hours. Buses charge eleven pesos, twenty after midnight, and drivers rarely carry change for a five-hundred note. Taxis are unmetered and priced by zone, so settle it before the door closes. Airport pickups by rideshare are contested; drivers meet you over the pedestrian bridge.
What's actually worth your time in Puerto Vallarta
The Malecón is the free one, a kilometre and a half of seafront studded with bronzes including Sergio Bustamante's ladder-climbing figures and Alejandro Colunga's Rotunda del Mar chairs. Behind it, the crown on Our Lady of Guadalupe copies the Empress Carlota's. Los Muertos pier lights its sail-shaped mast at night. Boca de Tomatlán, south of town, is where water taxis leave for beaches no road reaches.
What to eat in Puerto Vallarta
Tacos are the meal: al pastor shaved from the trompo at Pancho's Takos on Basilio Badillo, birria with its consommé at the morning stands, and pescado zarandeado, a whole snapper butterflied and grilled over mesquite, at the palapas around Boca de Tomatlán. Raicilla, an agave spirit from the Jalisco sierra, is the local cousin of mezcal. The best stands still take cash only.
When the weather turns in Puerto Vallarta
The rains fall June to October and usually come hard at night rather than through the day, which visitors get wrong in both directions. A genuinely wet afternoon means Galerías Vallarta, a cooking class, or the sheltered palapa restaurants along Los Muertos. Hurricane risk peaks in September, the month when a good number of restaurants close for their annual break anyway.
What things cost in Puerto Vallarta
A local bus is eleven pesos, twenty at night and seven for students and seniors. Tacos al pastor run 20 to 30 pesos each, while pescado zarandeado for two at Boca de Tomatlán lands near 600 to 900. The Botanical Garden charges a few hundred pesos. Marietas trips are the expensive day out, quoted in dollars around 150 to 200 a head.
When to go to Puerto Vallarta
| Best months for best-hotels | Avg daily high | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| March | 26°C / 79°F | 0 days |
| April | 27°C / 81°F | 0 days |
| January | 26°C / 79°F | 1 days |
The month to avoid is July — around 31°C (88°F) with roughly 23 rain days. Prices and crowds track the weather here: March is the sweet spot, July the month most people skip.
Pack for peak season: Summer clothes, plus one light layer for air-con and evenings, Comfortable walking shoes — every guide on this site assumes you'll use them.
Where to base yourself in Puerto Vallarta
- Zona Romántica — Old Vallarta — cobblestones, beach clubs, nightlife, most character per block.
- Centro / Malecón — The seafront promenade, crowned church, galleries.
- Marina Vallarta — Golf-and-yacht polish near the airport.
- Versalles — The locals' foodie quarter inland — the current restaurant boom.