It may be hard to turn your back on Banderas Bay, the liquid half-moon that flows into the horizon off the beaches of Puerto Vallarta. But PV, as this alluring Mexican resort on the Pacific coast is commonly known, has much more to offer than beaches and water sports. Unlike the master-planned resort towns of Cancún and Ixtapa, PV is puro mexicano—totally Mexican—at least in its historic Viejo Vallarta and Zona Romántica. Whitewashed houses seem to tumble down the green hillsides along the Río Cuale, and sinuous streets are packed with incredible restaurants and galleries. Downtown is still a traditional city where families stroll the malecón (seaside promenade) and dance in the plaza on Sunday night. Shake the sand from your toes and join our journey into the heart of Puerto Vallarta—and beyond.

ARTFUL BROWSING
Amazing art captures the eye wherever you look in Puerto Vallarta, starting with the parade of sculptures along the malecón. Recent additions include the bulging-bellied Rock Eater and swirling Vallarta Dancers, whose artists are represented by glleries here in town. To avoid crowds, study the sculptures in the early morning, then set off to roam through our favorite haunts.

Galleria Dante 269 Basilio Badillo
You don’t need to know much about fine art to be entranced by the works in this enormous gallery’s rambling rooms and courtyards. In the garden, look for sculptures by Alejandro Colunga, who created the sky-high abstract creatures at the Rotonda del Mar on the malecón. Prices range from $200 for a small painting up into the thousands.

Galerie des Artistes 248 Leona Vicario
You could browse for hours on gallery-packed Leona Vicario, starting at this airy space with Esau Andrade’s whimsical paintings and magical watercolors by Evelyne Boren. Continue on toward the water for more arts and crafts in upscale shops and galleries.

Leona 226 Jewelry 226 Leona Vicario
The gorgeous wearable art sold in this chic gallery would make anybody look great. The owners design stunning silver pendants and earrings, and comb through workshops in Taxco, San Miguel de Allende and PV for of-the-moment pieces. Prices start as low as $10, but quickly escalate.

Lucy’s Cucú Cabana 295 Basilio Badillo
Lucy and Gil Givens use artisans throughout Mexico to replenish their ever-changing menagerie of folk art: papier-mâché mermaids perched on yellow dragons, skeletal wedding parties, red devil masks made of gourds. It’s a great spot for inexpensive gifts.

Peyote People 222 Calle Juárez
Huichol Indians of the Sierra Madre make meticulously beaded masks, bowls and animals for this co-op gallery. Owners Beatriz and Kevin Simpson answer questions happily whether you’re buying a plain $35 mask or a more intricate $350 version rife with symbolism.

Talavera etc. 266 Ignacio Vallarta
The array of hand-painted tiles and ceramic sinks may inspire a kitchen overhaul. No worries—they’ll ship anywhere, and you can always buy more through their online gallery. Tiles start at $5, sinks at $270.

A SHORT HOP TO THE MOUNTAINS
Our small plane glides over Banderas Bay then heads inland, leaving the tiled roofs and high-rise hotels of Puerto Vallarta far behind. After 15 minutes of flying over forests, waterfalls and milky green rivers, the pilot sets down by a brick shelter outside San Sebastián del Oeste, a 17th-century silver- and gold-mining town high in the Sierra Madre. The tour’s dozen passengers gather around guide Martin Aver while he runs through the town’s history, from the Aztecs and the Spanish Conquest, up to the mining boom of the 1800s when the population peaked at around 30,000. Today, only about 600 people live in the area.

San Sebastián, a UNESCO World Heritage site, seems trapped in the 1920s. (It didn’t even have a generator until 1985.) Visitors were once rare, but now tour companies are bringing groups in by van and by plane. Still, Aver says as we board the back of his pickup truck, “It’s not like Disneyland here. People aren’t sitting around waiting for the tourists to come.”

But the Sánchez family is happy to welcome guests to their coffee plantation, where beans ripen on century-old trees. While Aver tells us about coffee growing, Rosa Sánchez bags cinnamon-scented beans. Then, it’s a short, bumpy ride on dirt roads past adobe houses and tiny shops to the center of town, which seems like something straight out of Romancing the Stone. After a tall shot of raicilla (the local moonshine) at the cantina, Aver leads us to the home of Dona Conchita, who opens her doors to lucky tour groups. Showing us around, she steers her wheelchair past cabinets crammed with china, crystal, mining documents and albums of photos that go back six generations.

For lunch at Lupita’s, family members lay out fresh corn tortillas, beans, machaca (shredded beef), quesadillas and hibiscus tea. After lunch, we have an hour to wander the town’s steep, rocky streets, where brilliant bougainvillea tumbles over adobe walls. Finally, the plane makes a quick taxi before soaring away from this slice of Mexico’s past, bound for PV.

The “Colonial Treasures” air tour to San Sebastián costs $155 and takes 5 1/2 hours. Book through Vallarta Adventures, 011-52-322-297-1212; vallarta-adventures.com.

CHOICE TABLES
Foodies face a bewildering array of restaurants in PV. Here are some of the best. Prices cover a three-course meal for two, not including drinks, tax or tip.

El Arrayán 344 Allende, Vallarta Viejo; 011-52-322-222-7195
This mod place serves spicy regional specialties: goat cheese with smoked peppers, cochinita pibil (marinated pork), savory shrimp pozole. Cool your tongue with silken mango sorbet. Closed Tues. Dinner for two, $50

Café des Artistes 740 Guadalupe Sánchez, Vallarta Viejo; 011-52-322-222-3228
Chef Thierry Blouet’s sleek restaurant offers inspired roast duck and grilled tuna with cilantro sauce in an open-air café, chic wine bar bistro and the elegant Cocina de Autor. Dinner for two, $90

Emiliano 311 Pelicanos, Marina Vallarta; 011-52-322-226-6688
We recommend a massage followed by a leisurely lunch on the poolside terrace of Emiliano, at boutique hotel Casa Velas. Lunch for two, $50

Daiquiri Dick’s 314 Olas Altas, Zona Romántica; 011-52-322-222-0566
Go straight to the divine lobster tacos—tissue-thin tortillas stuffed with juicy lobster and asparagus in a tangy hollandaise sauce. Next visit, try the fish sandwich on an oven-fresh roll with perfect French fries. Lunch for two, $35

Vista Grill 377 Pulpito, Zona Romántica; 011-52-322-222-3570
Come here for martinis, tender steaks and a magical twilight view of the downtown lights merging with the starry sky. As Sinatra croons in the background, you’ll flash back to the 1950s in style. Dinner for two, $90