Vallarta Botanical Garden: Go on Your Own for 50 Pesos by Bus, or Book the Tour?
6 min read
For most people who just want to see the garden, go on your own: it is a bus ride, and the entrance is a few hundred pesos. If you want the garden plus a tequila distillery and a coffee factory in one day, with a driver, the Botanical Gardens, Distillery and Coffee Tour is the one to book: €79.29 per person, 4.5 stars from 41 reviews, 6 hours.
See dates and prices for the Botanical Gardens, Distillery and Coffee Tour
The garden is not in town. It lies at the Km 24 marker of Highway 200, the road towards Barra de Navidad, on the Los Horcones river. That is the thing to settle first, because the cost of getting there is most of the decision.
Four ways to see it
| Tour | Duration | From | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Botanical Gardens, Distillery & Coffee Tour | 6 hours | €79.29 | 4.5 from 41 reviews | Garden plus tequila and coffee, hotel pickup |
| Sun Buggy Sightseeing Tour with Lunch | 5.5 hours | €125.14 | 4.8 from 24 reviews | Driving your own buggy; the garden is one stop of five |
| Botanical Garden Walking Tour | 6 hours | €134.57 | 3 from 1 review | Garden plus river swim and kayaks at an adventure park |
| Birds of Tropical Paradise | 6 hours | €115.38 | No reviews yet | Birdwatching in a group of at most eight |
The last two have almost no track record. One rating from one traveller is not a rating, and the birdwatching tour has none, so treat them as listings, not recommendations.
Going on your own
What the garden itself publishes: the El Tuito bus runs every 30 minutes, takes about 45 minutes and costs 50 pesos each way; by car it is about 35 minutes from the Old Town, with free parking on site. Entrance is 300 pesos for adults and children over 10, 150 pesos for ages 5 to 10, and free under 5. It opens from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Hacienda de Oro restaurant kitchen from 9 to 5.
Check the day before you go. From 1 April to 30 November the garden is closed on Mondays, and it is open every day only from 1 December to 31 March. It is also closed on 25 December and 1 January. The garden’s own advice is sturdy shoes, water, sunscreen and insect repellent, and to come early, because it gets hot later in the day.
If you have a hire car anyway, this is an easy half day, and you can compare car hire in Puerto Vallarta before you commit. For one garden visit it is not a reason to rent one.
The tour that adds a distillery and a coffee factory
The 6-hour tour covers the garden’s trails with a bilingual guide in English and Spanish, then a tequila distillery with a tasting, then an organic coffee factory. Hotel pickup is included, as are your garden ticket, a bottle of water and an air-conditioned van. The page lists wheelchair users as not suitable and recommends comfortable shoes, a sun hat and insect repellent.
The reviews are consistent about the guide, who scores 4.7 out of 5 on the page, while the van scores lower, 4.3. The page says the garden collection covers 8 hectares and calls it the most-visited public collection of orchids in Mexico; that is the operator’s wording, not ours.
Be honest with yourself about the day: the plants are one stop of three. If you only want the plants, the bus is cheaper and the whole day is yours. If you also want to try tequila and see how coffee is processed, with no driving, the tour is worth the difference. Our tequila guide covers whether the distillery stop is enough or whether Tequila town is worth the trip, and the city tour guide compares this one with the other tours that include it.
Check availability for the Botanical Gardens, Distillery and Coffee Tour
The buggy, if you would rather drive
In the Sun Buggy tour you drive your own buggy from garden to the El Baston Del Rey tequila factory to lunch at Mismaloya, a short walk to a lookout with the iguana statue, and then body boarding or snorkelling at Los Arcos. Admission to the garden, lunch, snorkelling and boogie boards are included; alcoholic drinks are not. The page says the buggies have manual transmissions, that at least one in four guests must be able to drive, and that drivers must be 25 or older. Bring your driving licence and cash. It is rated 4.8 from 24 reviews, though one reviewer found the steering sloppy and the gears easy to miss. Wheelchair users are not eligible.
See dates and prices for the Sun Buggy tour
The two newer listings
The walking tour pairs the garden with Los Veranos Adventure Park: a riverside meal, tequila tasting, kayaks and the river, and an animal sanctuary. Its booking page lists children under 4, pregnant women and people with heart problems as not suitable, and offers six meeting points, from Marina Vallarta to Boca de Tomatlán. It takes place rain or shine.
The birdwatching tour stops at Los Arcos and Mismaloya before the garden, where it allows three hours with a guide, and includes breakfast and lunch. Its booking page lists children under 6, pregnant women, people with mobility impairments or visual impairments, or wheelchair users as not suitable. Both are worth a look if the description matches what you want; neither has the reviews to recommend over the first tour.
Our recommendation
Garden only: take the El Tuito bus, avoid Mondays between April and November, and pay at the gate.
Garden, tequila and coffee, no driving: the 6-hour Botanical Gardens, Distillery and Coffee Tour at €79.29. It is the only one of the four with a large number of reviews.
A day with something to drive: the Sun Buggy tour at €125.14, but only if two of you are happy with a manual gearbox and one is 25 or older.
If the plants are not essential, Puerto Vallarta without a tour shows what the town gives you for the price of a bus fare.
