Our 5 Day Puerto Vallarta Budget Itinerary
Considering visiting Puerto Vallarta in the Fall? Check out our ideas for how to have the perfect 5 day Puerto Vallarta budget itinerary and accommodation suggestions from our trip to PV in November.
Why Puerto Vallarta? Well, honestly I was sitting on a boatload of Jetblue points (the sign up offer was 100,000 points back then!) that I acquired 4+ years ago. Before I really understood how to maximize different miles and points programs, I signed up for a Jetblue card ( despite the fact that I do very little domestic travel). Luckily, Jetblue has continuously expanded it’s international flight route options ( which is how we also flew to Belize for FREE). We cashed in 21,000 points pp/roundtrip and had ourselves a FREE roundtrip flight from New York to Puerto Vallerta. With my birthday coming up in November, we thought it would be the perfect time to go to Puerto Vallarta.
If you aren’t trying to burn low value credit card points, you may be interested in Puerto Vallerta for a more standard reason: the beach! If you’re looking for a warm weather getaway as the temperatures are dropping at home, Puerto Vallarta Mexico is a great quick escape! With direct flights from the majority of major US cities, it’s an easy to reach destination to change up the scenerary.
What to Expect in Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta is the perfect mid-size beach-front town. With a combination of local food spots, hip coffee shops, tortilleria’s and a long ocean-front promenade filled with lots of culture and energy, Puerto Vallarta has it all!
How to get from the airport to Zona Romántica
Taxi’s at the airport are at a fixed price for the different parts of the city so negotiation isn’t easy. If you want a stress-free arrival and are willing to spend a bit more, you can prebook a shuttle for $30-80 USD depending on the number of people in your party and where you’re going.
If you do have larger luggage, it may be best to avoid the bus as there isn’t a designated spot for bags. As long as your bag can sit by your legs/on your lap, you will be fine!
Best Time to Visit Puerto Vallarta
The weather in Puerto Vallerta is enjoyable year round ( with rain peaking in September). Puerto Vallerta is busiest during Spring Break season from March -April. Peak Dry season runs from December to March.
If you come at the end of November, you’ll be at the beginning of peak whale watching season which runs from then until March. The best time to visit Puerto Vallarta will really depend on your interest in wild life and crowd tolerance!
Weather in Puerto Vallarta in November
In November , the weather is very warm ( and very humid) with temperures around 75-85 degrees. If you visit in the beginning of November, you may still be able to see the Day of the Dead celebration along the malecon.
The humidity will really control how the temperature feels in Puerto Vallarta in November. At the beginning of the month, the humidity often hovers around 90% and at the end of the month it drops to around 70%. When we visited during the second week, it was SO HUMID. We realized the best way for us to stop sweating was to shower/swim/be in water 2-3 times a day. Once we came to terms with that- we were fine.
Where to stay in Puerto Vallerta on a budget: Marina Vallerta or Zona Romántica?
Marina Vallerta is great if you are looking for a bit of luxury and high end resorts. If that is your end goal, then you should search for properties here. In Marina Vallerta you’ll find plenty of all inclusive options too if you want all aspects of your trip taken care of. Honestly though, the food scene is SO GOOD in Puerto Vallerta that I think you would be missing out if you were at an all inclusive.
Zona Romántica is a part of the Old City and is a more traditional area. This is also known as one of the cheapest parts of Puerto Vallerta to stay in so it’s perfect for helping the budget out too.
Our Pick: Zona Romántica Accommodation
We found a great Airbnb right in Zona Romántica that we really enjoyed and would definitely recommend! For about $55 USD/ night you can rent this ENTIRE APARTMENT walking distance to everything you’ll need ( **Airbnb doesn’t sponser, we just think this is a great find).
With a full kitchen,living room, bedroom with ( with airconditioning), and a small balcony there is more then enough space. The best part of this accomodation? Rooftop access with ocean views! To be honest, we probably spent 75% of our time in Puerto Vallerta on that rooftop- reading, eating, and taking the sun from the privacy of our own place. When you want a swim, walk 15 minutes and BAM, you’re at the beach.
Things to Do in Puerto Vallarta
There’s plenty of things to do in Puerto Vallarta if you are looking to ” keep busy”, but there are also lots of great opportunities to relax and hang back too! Here’s how we recommend splitting your time for your 5 day Puerto Vallarta budget itinerary!
Go to the Beach with the Locals
Los Muertos Beach is a favorite spot for locals and is so easy to get to from anywhere within Zona Romántica. From our Airbnb, it was about a 15 minute walk to the ocean. Come early in the morning for some peace and quiet. In the afternoon ( especially on weekends) there is a lot of energy. It’s an experience.
Explore Downtown on a Budget
The Old Town part of Zona Romántica is really charming. Maybe it’s because I didn’t research this trip too much and I was just pleasently surprised. Maybe it really is just that charming. It’s probably a combination of both! Regardless, we really enjoyed our time going up and down the small streets. Some “can’t miss” spots ( that are free to explore) include:
- Plaza de Armas ( the central square)- Home to Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe. There’s often free music and dancing here too!
- Basilio Badillo St and Olas Atlas St: Both are filled with small shops, eateries, and galleries gallore
Have drinks on the beach?
If you walk along the beachfront, most restaurants will tempt you with some amazing drink deals ( $2 margaritas, anyone?). And while it may be fun to try it out once ( it is vacation after all), what you save in drinks you’ll end up overpaying in low quality food. Instead, we recommend going to one of the ( seemingly) hundreds of convenience stores ( OXXO takes credit card) to grab a drink to go for much cheaper.
Splurge Activities
If you have some capacity( and interest) to expand your budget, you could try one of the MANY tours that operate from Puerto Vallerta. A friend recommended us this boat and snorkel tour in Los Arcos Marine National Park and this full day hike to a beach/snorkel tour ( for only $36 USD). We personally didn’t try either, but they came recommended and look interesting and are not too straining on the budget!
Where to Eat in Zona Romántica on a Budget
( vegetarian friendly!)
We didn’t know this until after the fact, but apparently Mexico has one the highest percentage of vegetarians per capital! Who knew?
We ate really well on this trip. Some trips are food trips and this was definitely one of them for us!
For Breakast :
We typically try to have groceries and eat at home, but the house is right down the street from this amazing smoothie bowl spot, so we went there instead! We also treated ourselves to pancakes from The Pancake House ( cash only, but very reasonable prices: $4-7 USD)
For Lunch:
While there are many delicious meat-friendly places, it’s not nearly as often you find authentic food that is also vegetarian. Yes, you can find a veggie burger or cheese sandwich anywhere in the world, but that is NOT why we came to Mexico! Lucky for us, 10 minutes away from the airbnb is a DELICIOUS vegan taqueria. Pat ( who isn’t vegan or veg but goes with the plan) LOVED this place and requested we return the next day. Did I mention most of the tacos are around $1.50? Spoiler- we went 4 times.
For Dinner:
We went to Tacos Revolution 3 times. We tried a few other places but found the flavors to be the best here and the prices are very reasonable. Best part- free chips with FOUR different types of salsa. We even ordered ” to go” one night and they still provided us with the complimentary chips and dip.
We were actually in PV for my birthday and decided to try a new spot for dinner that night. We went to Planeta Vegetariano , and again, non veg- heads bear with me- the food is so good. It’s a buffet ( the fresh kind, not the cruise line kind) that cost $10 USD and then you eat as much as you want- plus dessert. You can’t beat it! We can definitely attest that the vegetarian food in PV is one of our favorite parts of our 5 day Puerto Vallarta budget itinerary!
What else to know before traveling to Puerto Vallerta?
Language:
It’s obviously helpful to know some basic Spanish phrases ( especially when taking the bus). Once you’re in the Old Town, most businesses/hotels have English speaking staff. It doesn’t hurt to brush up on your high school Spanish though to show your respect and interest in the culture.
Money:
If you stay in the main tourist area, you can use USD or pesos. Outside of the tourist area/Old Town and for public transportation, you’ll need pesos. Credit card is widely accepted too.
Water Consumption
For US stomach’s, it’s safest not to consume the tap water in Puerto Vallerta. It’s very easy to buy large ( 5 gallon) water tanks from convenience stores on every corner. However, we REALLY recommend investing in a reusable water filter. We’ve had Water To Go bottles for 6 YEARS now and have never had any problems. They’re a little pricey upfront, but it’s an investment for your health and for Mother Nature.
Hopefully you may feel ready to push ahead and book your November Puerto Vallarta budget trip!
Now, if you’re wondering how many days you should stay in Puerto Vallarta, I would say, ” it depends.” We stayed for 5 nights and thought that was a nice amount of time to explore the areas we wanted to see, in depth. You could come for a long weekend and still have a great time. You can come for a month and really get to know this part of Jalisco well. Can you really have too much taco and beach time?
We hope you feel inspired and ready to explore the Pacific Coast gem of Puerto Vallarta with our 5 day Puerto Vallarta budget itinerary. Though PV is far from the cheapest place to explore in Mexico, there are plenty of budget friendly ( and free) things to do in Puerto Vallarta that will make this trip well worth your time ( and money).
Looking for suggestions on where to go next?
Check out my recommendations for other Central America budget itineraries:
- Belize
- Guatemala
- Chile
Like cheap food travel inspiration?
Check out our guide to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, one of our favorite affordable foodie cities. We found 9 vegetarian restaurants with meals all under $3.00 USD!
Headed to Europe? Check out out Bulgaria guides where we share some of our favorite vegetarian restaurants for under $10 USD!
