What is the driving distance between Nogales Arizona and Puerto Vallarta Mexico?

Answer 1

It is 1040 76miles and two long days of driving during daylight hours in the summer (two and a half days on shorter winter days) between Nogales on the border and Puerto Vallarta. It's mostly 4-lane, divided highway at 70+ mph between Hermosillo and Tepic, but lookout for speed traps (long stretches of 40 kph) south of Hermosillo. A great place to layover is the Best Western in Navajoa (good pool). The two-lane road from Tepic down to Puerto Vallarta (3 hours) is very curvy and sometimes moves at a crawl behind truck traffic, but it is very scenic at leisurely speeds and there are many opportunities to pull off to buy fruits and beverages. Unless you truly want to visit Tepic, decent colonial architecture, but nothing extraordinary, you are far better off leaving Highway 200 and turning west toward the coast on Mexico 54, to San Blas, a beautiful place worth spending time there, and heading south toward Las Varas and Puerto Vallarta. After the turnoff on to Mexico 54, the interstate begins to climb rapidly to Tepic which sits at roughly 7000 feet, if memory serves. From there you must descend a nasty, but beautiful, winding road on Mexico 200 which drops thousands of feet in a short distance, usually stuck behind a caravan of sugarcane trucks driving 15 mph. The earlier-mentioned Mexico 54 is also winding, but equally beautiful and the drive from San Blas to Las Varas is unbelievable, jungle with coconut orchards and hugs the ocean the entire distance. It might add a short amount of time to the trip, but avoids the nasty descent from Tepic, and takes you through the wonderful San Blas where you can take a jungle boat tour through an estuary with tropical birds, crocodiles, swimming holes, etc. I have driven both routes numerous times and highly recommend the route through San Blas. Brad Purdy BTW, watch the road signs VERY carefylly and purchase a descent map such as Guia Roji (Guiaroji.com.mx). I have no financial interest in any of this.