San Sebastian del Oeste Near Puerto Vallarta
Colonial Village in Jalisco, Mexico, Offers Escape From Crowded PV
Jan 19, 2009
Mexican coastal resort cities like Mazatlan, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo are highly popular winter destinations for tourists from Canada and the United States. The trade offs for warm sunny beaches are the crowds and traffic, but little-known havens of tranquility can be found near any of these resorts.
One of the least-known and most attractive of these getaways is San Sebastian del Oeste, less than fifty miles from the Puerto Vallarta international airport.
San Sebastian del Oeste, Near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
San Sebastian del Oeste was an important commercial and silver processing center for nearby mines nearly two hundred years ago, when many of the present adobe homes, haciendas and buildings were constructed. Today, San Sebastian's population is well under a thousand friendly inhabitants.
In the state of Jalisco and lying at about 4,500 feet above sea level to the east of Puerto Vallarta, San Sebastian epitomizes picturesque colonial Mexico. A small stream cascades through the town, which is built on hills. The winding streets are narrow, cobblestoned and lined with beautiful trees. A plaza and church are the central focal points. Only a mile in length, the town can be traversed easily on foot.
San Sebastian can be reached by car, bus, taxi or even airplane from Puerto Vallarta, since there is a short landing strip just outside of town. The road, once a time-consuming tortuous route, has been modernized and is now an easy one hour drive from the Puerto Vallarta airport. One could easily visit the town on a day trip, but the preferred visit would include at least one overnight.
Accommodations In San Sebastian del Oeste
There are a surprising number of hotels, bed and breakfasts and cabin accommodations within and near the town. These range in price from less than fifty to nearly two hundred dollars per night for a couple, and many of them can be found on the Internet.
An example hotel at the lower end of the price range is the Real de San Sebastian, on the right side of the main drive into town before you reach the plaza. It features king beds and includes breakfast for less than fifty dollars per night. The rooms are small and are on a second level. Other similarly priced accommodations are also found near the plaza.
North of the plaza, across the small stream, are two other choices: La Gallerita de San Sebastian, private cabins set in the trees that are priced at about one hundred fifty dollars, and Hacienda Esperanza de La Galera, a bed and breakfast run by Canadian Debra Old, priced at about seventy dollars. The Hacienda's rooms are quite nice, including fireplaces, and Debra provides a full breakfast. Unlike the cabins, however, both rooms are upstairs, accessed by an outdoor stairway. Both of these accommodations are located in a relatively quiet area set in pines and oaks.
Hacienda Jalisco, another two hundred year old bed and breakfast, is located to the left of the main road into San Sebastian, about a mile before the town. The town's river runs through the lovely private grounds surrounding the Hacienda, and a path follows the river into town. The rooms are priced at $65 per person per night including breakfast, or $82 per person per night including both breakfast and dinner, and the meals are exceptional. There are three rooms, all up an outside stairway. One room is sandwiched between the other two and is not as open and light as the two end rooms, both of which have many more windows and open to front and back balconies. The middle room opens only to the front balcony, but is priced the same as the other two. There is no electricity at the Hacienda.
Restaurants and Other Items of Interest in San Sebastian del Oeste
There are many excellent restaurants in San Sebastian, including El Arriero, a ranch-style place to your left as you enter town. Several choices lie near the plaza, ranging from authentic Italian pasta to more traditional Mexican fare.
On the right just past the entrance to town, is La Quinta, an organic coffee cooperative, where you can buy wonderful whole bean coffees at very reasonable prices.
Birding in and around San Sebastian is excellent, with well over 100 species of resident and migratory birds, many of which, like the Grey-crowned woodpecker, can be seen in the town itself.
Getting to San Sebastian del Oeste in Mexico
From the coastal highway 200, just north of the Puerto Vallarta airport, turn east at the signed intersection toward Ixtapa and the University. Follow this road about forty miles, skirting Las Palmas to the right, and then turning left at the end of La Estancia, where a sign directs you to San Sebastian.
Picturesque San Sebastian del Oeste is a beautiful mountain getaway for Puerto Vallarta tourists looking for a change of scenery.
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