Puerto Vallarta - Guadalajara Help please

Two absolute musts in PV, and amazingly, both free. Wednesday Night Art Walk and Cocktail Tour. Check on line in the free newspapers.

Monday morning sculpture tour. Starts across from McDonalds, and tours all of the malecon art with the stories behind them. Ends up at a gallery owned by the leader who provides beer. Fabulous, you'll see things you haven't known existed.

Cheeky Monkey, dollar beer, dollar margaritas, limited but good menu, Best view in all of PV. On the malecon, second and third floor, across the street from one of the Sergio Bustamante galleries. Directly across the street from Bustamante's large sculpture, In Search of Reason. (figures climbing up a ladder.) Should be on line, too.

Yes, Tonala is a great place to shop, but you'll find a great cross section of everything in PV, without having to go to Guad.

While you are in Guadalajara, do not bypass Tlaquepaque, not too far from Tonala. You will find lots of little restaurants and a large Mariachi center. While in Guadalajara, stay away from car rental companies at the airport, they will rip you off with the insurance costs.

For cash use any bank ATM. To minimize ATM fees take out as much as possible each time. (last year we could take out 12,000 pesos. We split it up between us in various pockets and wallets until we get home. Never had a problem, but just as when traveling anywhere in the world, don't flash a big roll of cash.

Thank you all very much - good info.
Scotia Bank from Canada has banks in MX and was just wondering if my Canadian friends still get the ATM withdrawal for free :)it was 2008 when we where in MX.
We still have friends in Zacatecas and they will take us around in Guad. :)
Also was wondering if anyone knows of ANY Catholic Church in PV that offers english masses ????
Thanks Silvia

I just took a debit and US credit card from Scotia. They assured me I could witdraw money from the Mex Scotia bank or their ABM, I would expect it is free of machine charge, but I suppose there will be a 2 to 4% charge over the exchange fee.

Here is what they say on their Website: Scotiabank is a founding member of the Global ATM Alliance. When you’re travelling, you can use the ABMs of the international banks in the Alliance, and you’ll skip the surcharge and access fees.

Here is some info I was told by scotia bank. In USA, I am suppose to be able to withdraw money from the Bank of America automatic machine without machine fee. If they collect a fee, I will call them and try to get re-imburse, otherwise, I will discontinue use of this card and close all my account, no need if I get no benefit and I hate to be rip-off. When you withdraw money from Bank of America, you have to take it from your Scotia canadian money account, even if you have a US money account in Canada. So there will be a money exchange fee of 3% over the day exchange rate.

Your US money account is just to withdraw US money in Canada or to pay your Scotia bank US credit card.

Yes, you can still withdraw from Scotiabank anywhere in the world with no ATM charges, with your card from Scotiabank in Canada. I do it all the time- just last week actually. Best wishes for your time in PV!

Bucket Lists rarely satisfy the aficionado. The true treasure lf this country is its people and it's culture. Come and enjoy and let the winds of delight steer your course. Mazatlan on Monday and Manzanillo on Tuesday is for sun burnt tourists wobbling with hangovers seeking a theme park reality. Hmmm...

Thanks Linda nice to see you are still around :)
Mexicowanderer - Kidoo thanks a lot- we where in Mexico many times on the back roads like I said prior our stolen Truck incident :(
We rent a studio in PV- we are not all inclusive resort people.
Looking forward to mingle with the locals and brush up on my Spanish.

Take something a teenager wouldn't be caught dead, in. Drive a new BMW 7 series in South Central L.A., Detroit, SF's Fillimore District, East Oakland, or Harlem, and see how far you'd get.

The bozos that snagged the 2 motorhomes near Cd Victoria several years ago quickly learned the weren't worth snot and hiding them was similar to hiding a Zepplin.

Even Michoacan, is boringly safe in most areas during the day. How many years ago has it been since the Canadian Rainbirds lost their bright blue jeep? After a tremendous firefight outside the scumbag hole of Caleta de Campos, about 100 flakes were either killed or driven off out of the state. I do not trust the Paracho - Patzcuaro route nor area east of el sancuario de los mariposes, nor south from Villa Escalante (sta Clara del Cobre) but Mex 200 is safe.

English speaking maseros and cantineros have little patience for me. It is distressing to see folks miss the true beauty of this country. When "John (Juan)" or "Tony (Antonio)" are disappointed I do not buy a genuine imported from Australia frozen lobster dinner for twenty five dollars, or a vat on a stem swash of Margarita* for nine dollars and they know they are going to miss out on the five dollar tip, they lose interest instantly. This is Mexico?

Got GNUS for some. Bartenders are so sick of hearing about "weak" margaritas, the practice of spiking the "Juan Fulano" bargain basement tequila with pure cane alcohol (pop skull) is the rage in tourist resorts.

It's gotten to the point where I'd just as soon spend ten dollars on a plate of (tourist restaurant) fast frozen Chilies Rellenos smothered under a half kilo of pasteurized milk product appeals to me about as much as snorking a can of Alpo.

BEWARE! Many banks have drastically cut maximum extractions in the last few months. BanaMex and BanComer were the first pair of banks to start this nonsense. Some ATMs allow 10K M.N. extractions - others, 6K. The local BanComer charges 81.90 pesos per transaction.

MEXICOWANDERER - thanks - "The local BanComer charges 81.90 pesos per transaction. " that is why I wanted to know if you still can use the Scotia bank card. I can just take out 500-1000pesos without a fee :)

"Take something a teenager wouldn't be caught dead, in. Drive a new BMW 7 series in South Central L.A., Detroit, SF's Fillimore District, East Oakland, or Harlem, and see how far you'd get."

It was not the fact our Truck got stolen - this can happen anywhere- which was upsetting -rather the sad part was - that we had to leave Monterrey by bus to go to the USA. They did not have a truck with a hitch to pull our 5ht wheel to McAllen TX - and no RVer in the Rio Grande valley or Mexico came to our aid to bring us to the Border - at which point the US tow trucks could have pulled us over to TX. We offered to pay for all their expenses. Also the canceling of the temporary importation permit in order to import another truck to pick up our RV in Monterrey was very challenging even with help from a local. Hopefully today 8 years after there are trucks with hitches available.