Don't forget to visit Yerbabuena while you're in Mascota! - La Yerbabuena is a charming, colonial village a 10 minutes drive from the main plaza of Mascota which is the main town of the municipality. Yerbabuena is the first stop along a route that takes you to about 5 colonial villages through the backroads of rural Jalisco. Yerbabuena is known as the "Beverly Hills" of the area for its large homes and wealthy weekenders from Guadalajara. The little main plaza features a central garden with the traditional bandstand surrounded by colorful gardens, lovely colonial buildings and the obligatory old church. There are 2 lagoons, one right off the little plaza that still has the "lavadero," the area where women would do the family washing back in the day. Follow the boardwalk along the lagoon up to the larger lake, just a 5 minute walk. This larger lake has a public boardwalk all around it, a lovely shady area with huge trees, and a gazebo with beautiful views of the lake and mountain backdrop. The town also features an energy "vortex" or as the locals call it, a centro de energía. For a small, voluntary donation you can experience this unique and peaceful place which has been cleverly blended with traditional Catholic faith articles so as not to offend traditional rural customs. There are 2 little restaurants in town, generally only open on weekends, and a couple of small local convenience stores. One of these serves a few specialty drinks like Frappuccino. There is a charming hotel next to the church on the plaza. Yerbabuena is absolutely worth a visit!

Delightful day - Totally a wonderful day ! My apologies for not recalling the name of our guide or driver. They were both extraordinary. The insight and knowledge of your guide was so appreciated, definitely it was apparent that he wanted us to have a full experience. So we did. The area is beautiful, the food was delicious , many thanks to those that suppled the bountiful meals .Our driver, kind and gracious as our guide . This is definitely the company i will choice again and recommend to my family and friends Karin

Excellent day trip from Puerto Vallarta - A fun way to spend the day seeing a couple of Mexico’s Magic Towns. Our guide, Thomas, was excellent, knowledgeable, and friendly.

Trip to Talpa - Loved our trip. We were a group of 6, but the company can accommodate any size group. Our van was very clean and always on time. Driver was very professional and patient with our teenagers, he went out of his way to please all of us! Great food stops with great prices! Definitely recommend on your next trip to Puerto Vallarta.

A day well spent - What a great day ! “Gus had the answers to all my questions . He is a wealth of information . I have been traveling in Mexico for ten years and I learned a lot of history from Gus . It really was a great experience !

Brilliant insight into Mexican life. - If you are visiting the Pacific coast of Mexico, this is a trip not to miss if you are looking for the real Mexico, I travelled with 10 other people via air conditioned mini bus through Thompson holidays excursions. I wanted to see the Mexico in the films and experience some of the culture and customs away from the tourist areas. We left quite early in the morning and travelled into the Sierra Madre mountains for the day with our driver and amazing tour guides. After winding through the forrest and rock slides along the road, our first stop was the bridge over the canyon which was very impressive giving you a great view of the valley beneath, this also gave you some time for pictures and a look at the nearby shop. After about another 40 minute drive we arrived at Mascota, a small town in the hills where we visited a local school and were shown how the pupils made cheese in the school's own factory and sold it onto neighbouring town and villages. We then visited the home of our guide which was the local bakery and were invited in to see what a typical Mexican home looked like, we then crossed the road and visited the unfinished Temple de la Preciosa Sangre and local church which were amazing. We then made our way to Talpa, passing fields of blue cactus type plants used in the production of Tequila. When we reached Talpa there was the festival of "Our Lady Of Talpa" Talpa_de_Allende, with Mariachi band and festival float carrying a figure of the Saint. The procession then attended the cathedral for the formal service, I have never seen so many flowers in all my life. We then broke off and had time to do some sight seeing and try and buy some of the local produce, Talpa being the "sweet" production town in the area. Once again onto the bus for the return journey but after about 45 minutes stopping off at a Hacienda for some of the best Mexican food I have ever tasted and a look around and taking in the fantastic views of the volcano in the distance across the valley. We then made our way back to Puerto Vallarta enjoying a few cold beers along the way, a trip not to be missed :)

There is not much to see on this... - <p>There is not much to see on this trip. The first stop was Mascota. We visited the unfinished church and then went to the downtown area. We spent no more than an hour in Mascota. The next stop was at Talpa. About 3 millions pilgrims visit Talpa every year , mainly to visit Our Lady of Talpa Church. We spent about 2.5 hours at Talpa, had lunch at the down town area and then went back. There were not much to see at both towns. The trip is too long, mainly spent on the road, which is really bumpy and made the ride very uncomfortable. The tour guide, Francisco, is very knowledgeable and helpful. He tried his best to make the trip enjoyable. This trip would not be enjoyable for kids.</p>