Things to do
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Casa Kimberly
Richard Burton bought this hillside house for Elizabeth Taylor in the 1960s, and a pink bridge he added across the street joins it to a second house. Restored as a small hotel, it keeps the couple's history in its rooms, on a steep cobbled street above the river with the old town roofs below.
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Isla del Río Cuale
A flood in 1926 left this island in the river between the old town and the Zona Romántica, and it is now a shaded park reached by footbridges, including a swinging suspension bridge. Craft stalls line the central path, a statue of John Huston sits by the water, and a small archaeology museum stands at the seaward tip.
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Islas Marietas
Uninhabited volcanic islands an hour out across Banderas Bay, protected as a national park and the nesting ground of blue-footed boobies. A collapsed crater on one holds a beach open to the sky, entered by swimming a low tunnel that only clears at low tide. Access is capped: licensed boats, a daily quota, a time limit ashore, life jackets and no sunscreen. Book well ahead in winter.
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Malecón
Pedestrianised seafront running the length of the old town, rebuilt in stone and lined with bronzes: Rafael Zamarripa's seahorse, the city's own emblem, stands near the south end by the arches of the open-air amphitheatre. Voladores spin from a pole most evenings and sand sculptors work the beach below. Sunset draws the walk; the bars at the north end run late afterwards.
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Mismaloya
John Huston filmed The Night of the Iguana on this cove south of town, and the ruined set still stands on the point above the beach. Offshore, the granite rocks of Los Arcos rise from the water inside a protected marine area, where boats stop for snorkelling over the reef. Highway 200 runs past the cove, which is ten or fifteen minutes by road from the botanical garden.
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Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe
An outsized crown sits on the tower above the old town, modelled on the one worn by Carlota and rebuilt in fibreglass after an earthquake brought the original down. Inside, the church is plain enough to see in minutes. For twelve days each December the parish receives nightly processions of dancers and bands, and the street outside fills.
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Playa Los Muertos
The town beach, walkable from the old town and busy all day with loungers, vendors and volleyball. A white pier shaped like a sail runs out from the middle, and water taxis leave it for Yelapa and the beaches south along the bay, reachable no other way. Surf can be choppy in the afternoon.
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Vallarta Botanical Garden
Orchids are the specialty of this garden in tropical dry forest, south of town in the hills on the road to El Tuito. Paths drop to the Los Horcones river, and a reserve covers most of the grounds. A public bus runs from the Zona Romántica every half hour. The garden closes on Mondays from April to November.
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Yelapa
Water taxis from the Los Muertos pier are the usual way into this village in the southern cove of Banderas Bay, a ride of under an hour along the cliffs. A beach of fine sand fronts the cove, and a path climbs behind the houses to a waterfall in the forest. Boats run through the day, so the last one back sets the timetable, and the village deals mostly in cash.
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Zona Romántica
South of the Río Cuale, a grid of cobbled streets on a slope: low tiled roofs, bougainvillea, and restaurant rows along Basilio Badillo and Olas Altas. Steep pavement and uneven stone underfoot. Best explored late in the day, on the walk down to the beach.
