Quick Tips:

Images of Puerto Vallarta
http://community.webshots.com/album/256082886Cxriwb

Puerto Vallarta - Zona Hotelera Norte
http://community.webshots.com/album/261507926wQtbsS

Puerto Vallarta - Zona Romantica
http://community.webshots.com/album/261602069VgRFta

Puerto Vallarta - Punta De Mita in Nayarit
http://community.webshots.com/album/261759517mrEOqY

Puerto Vallarta, El Tuito, Off The Beaten Path
http://community.webshots.com/album/263492302uwthdg

Puerto Vallarta - Las Caletas
http://community.webshots.com/album/266618577GJxVCJ

Puerto Vallarta - Gringo Gulch I
http://community.webshots.com/album/272376554jAtlqk

Puerto Vallarta - Gringo Gulch II
http://community.webshots.com/album/272445126eVxhqZ

Puerto Vallarta -Sunsets Collection
http://community.webshots.com/album/276207990iwcfcs

Puerto Vallarta - Through My Camera Lenses
http://community.webshots.com/album/276955228sAKOOg

Best Way To Get Around:

This is a very safe city to explore on your own!

Your personal safety is protected by Tourist Police (policemen dressed in white and white hat)!

To research your trip before traveling to Puerto Vallarta, I strongly recommend this website: http://www.puertovallarta.net/interactive/index.php

You may also view a photo album of "Puerto Vallarta - Zona Hotelera Norte" by going to this website: http://community.webshots.com/album/261507926wQtbsS.

El Malecón by night is the place to see and be seen in Puerto Vallarta. Old Viejo Vallarta encompasses the El Malecon, the visitor-friendly promenade, and the steep cobblestone streets that climb their way uphill from there. El Malecon offers spectacular sunsets over Banderas Bay!

For some reason, we avoided Puerto Vallarta, thinking it must be a very crowded place. Recently we traveled there, and of course, we realized how wrong we were!

While viewing pictures, I strongly recommend that you read my comments under each image. My comments will help you to do your travel research, and you will learn about the beauty of Puerto Vallarta and its surroundings.

These pictures were taken between January 1 and 15, 2005. F.Y.I.: daily temperatures were above 30C, with predominantly sunny weather.

Please view photo albums by using this link:
http://community.webshots.com/user/komierowski1300

From every corner you can see the mountains that limit Vallarta's growth. These mountains are now home to Vallarta's most expensive residences. Puerto Vallarta is a photographer's dream. Many scenes reminded me of Italy.

You may also view photo album "Puerto Vallarta - Zona Romantica" by going to this website: http://community.webshots.com/album/261602069VgRFta.

Again, you may also view photo album "Puerto Vallarta - Las Caletas" by going to this website: http://community.webshots.com/album/266618577GJxVCJ/0. There are pictures there were taken on Friday, January 7, 2005. Daily temperatures were above 30°C, with predominant sunny weather.

Village restaurants serve cold drinks. We prefer to walk along inviting beaches and explore this little-known place. A short walk along the beach brings visitors to isolated stretches of a pristine coastline. This is a SUPERB (day-long) walk!!

You may also view a photo album entitled "Puerto Vallarta - Punta De Mita in Nayarit" by going to the following website: http://community.webshots.com/album/261759517mrEOqY

FYI: These pictures were taken between January 1 and 15 of 2005. Daily temperatures were above 30°C, with predominantly sunny weather.

Traveling by bus is the most convenient and hassle-free travel mode around Puerto Vallarta. Take a blue and green Mismaloya/Boca de Tomatlan or El Tuito bus from the corner of Constitution and Basilio Badillo (in Zona Romantica in Puerto Vallarta). It costs 15 pesos one-way to go to El Tuito.

To learn more about El Tuito and region, I strongly recommend visiting this website: http://www.virtualvallarta.com/vallarta/articles/vv401-padres.html

Gringo Gulch rests on the hillside has done a magnificent job at retaining much of the original town's picturesque setting and Old Mexico charm. Despite the transformation, every attempt has been made to keep the town's character and image intact. Even the parking lot at the local Gigante supermarket is cobblestone, and by law, any house built in town must be painted white. From every corner you can see the cathedral, which dominates Gringo Gulch’s landscape.

On the hillside above rests Gringo Gulch, so named after the thousands of US expatriates who settled here during the 1960s and 1970s. Take a stroll along many charming cobblestone streets. Explore this wonderful area, and meet and talk to locals. Enjoy their hospitality!

Again, you may also view photo albums of this area by going to this website:

Puerto Vallarta - Gringo Gulch I
http://community.webshots.com/album/272376554jAtlqk

Puerto Vallarta - Gringo Gulch II
http://community.webshots.com/album/272445126eVxhqZ

Famous Puerto Vallarta art galleries feature and offer great works. Here, at Galeria Arte Moderno Mexicano, I found many spectacular works by Margerita Pointelin. Her works can be seen in many international galleries.

Take a walk and explore art galleries located in El Centro or Zona Romantica, or see the spectacular works of Alejandro Colunga, also know as "The Colunga Collection," along El Malecon Boulevard.

However, shopping is fun and another way to meet people or learn more about this fine community.

Puerto Vallarta offers diversified shopping opportunities, from a very sophisticated shop in Old Town, aka Zona Romantica, to well-known shops at Marina Vallarta to very friendly beach vendors.

It is up to you what you would really like to purchase or add to your collection. For example, we are collectors of the primitive musical instruments and masks from all over the world. You may buy them in galleries, souvenir shops, or from beach vendors. In our case, the most beautiful artistic mask we bought on our last day was at the beach. The vendor himself was an artist, and it was fun to haggle the price. In the end, we got surprisingly high-quality, good art and talked for about 3 hours with the artist about subjects we would have never been able to get information about elsewhere.

Below are my sunset photos observed from a various points in Puerto Vallarta. You may view more sunstes photos by using this link: Puerto Vallarta -Sunsets Collection http://community.webshots.com/album/276207990iwcfcs