Road trip Summer of 2024
As I do every summer, I try to get out of Puerto Vallarta to see more of Mexico as my business slows down.
My first stop was Guadalajara for the weekend. I went via the toll road and that cost was just under $1200 pesos. Roads were great and I did the trip in less than 3 hours. I have been here before, but I figured that I would do some shopping. I stayed in the Colina Americana in a boutique Hotel call Ekléctic Hotel which I believe is my third visit to this Hoyel. There are only 13 rooms, and it feels that you are staying in an art gallery with each room having a total different feel. It cost me $1300 pesos a night. Here is the website – https://hoteleklectic.com.mx/
Monday morning, I did about a 3-hour drive to Leon Guanajuato and again on a toll road but this time it cost just over $500 pesos. Scenery is rolling hills with lots of farmland. I stayed 3 nights at a hotel called Divino Sol – https://hoteldivinosol.com/. This Hotel was fantastic, and I had a fantastic view plus good air movement and if you know me, I talk about air movement a lot during showings. The price was $2500 pesos a night which is a bit pricy for this Canadian, but I liked its location near the Historic Central Area. Noise from the road and a couple of local bars makes this place very noisy. I can sleep through anything so if you can´t don´t pick this place. Now for the town of Leon and specifically the Historic Central Area where I spent all my time was not that fantastic. There were just too many bars, pizza and burger joints. I found one good Mexican restaurant called La Casona del Arco – http://lacasonadelarco.com.mx/. I highly recommend this restaurant. In the end I think this is my first and last visit to Leon, Guanajuato.
Then I drove about an hour ( no toll ) to Guanajuato, Guanajuato. Wow. Beautiful Historic Center. Hardly any foreigners but lots of Mexican tourist. I stayed in the Historic Center in an old hotel (clean and simple) that was a 2 minute walk to the action and all the restaurants. It was called Mesón Cuévano. It was about $1300 pesos a night. Here is their website – https://www.mesoncuevano.com/. I will be back to Guanajuato as I fell in love with this place.
Next on my hit list was San Miguel De Allende, Guanajuato. It was about 1.5 hrs away with no tolls. This was my third visit there and I always leave a bit heavier then when I arrived as they have many many fantastic restaurants. San Miguel is beautiful and there are plenty of foreigners. I stayed at an Airbnb that was pretty on the outside but not very good in the inside and I will leave it at that.
Last stop was Ajijic Jalisco. This town is on Lake Chapala which is the largest lake in Mexico. The lake is not deep or wide but it is 80KM long. One day I drove around the lake and it took me 5 ½ hours. I only spent 4 days there, so I splurged on the Hotel and found a beautiful Hotel called Hotel Nuevo La Posada. It is on the lake and beautifully decorated. The cost was $2000 pesos a night. Here is there website – https://hotelnuevaposada.com/wp-content/newfold-page-cache/_index.html
The common theme of this trip was that it was in the Mountains so I had a break from the heat and humidity of Vallarta. Mexico is a big country to explore and the majority of my clients after getting comfortable in Vallarta they start exploring out of the general area of Vallarta utilizing their new home base. Please note I had no safety concerns during the entire 25-day trip except I ate way too much.
If you have any questions, please email or call me. I am already starting to get emails and calls for the upcoming season so I believe things will pick up as normal but with more reasonable prices.
Enjoy the rest of your summer.
Gerard