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#1
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Laredo to Puerto Vallarta
I recently posted an inquiry about driving from Laredo to Mazatlan. On the
advice of several posters, we have decided to travel to Puerto Vallarta instead. I would greatly appreciate recommendations on a driving route from Laredo, TX to Puerto Vallarta. On the map I have, it appears that the most direct route involves a long stretch (Saltillo to Guadaljara) that is not on toll roads (I believe it is MX 54, through Zacatecas). There are toll roads from Monterrey to Guadalajara, but they seem to go pretty far out of the way, to Torreon for instance. My question boils down to this: is it quicker to take the direct route from Saltillo to Guadalajara (no toll roads) or the circuitous toll road that goes further West through Torreon? Also, has anybody taken the direct route from Saltillo to Guadalajara? What is the road like? Thanks! R. Duke |
#2
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Laredo to Puerto Vallarta
Hello,
I've made the trip at least half way from Saltillo to Zacatecas, but be warned its a long, long ride on a two-lane, very twisty road. We got discouraged at the slow progress that we were making and aborted about midway to Zacatecas and headed due south to San Luis Potosi. I definately wouldn't drive this route at night. Bring extra supplies just in case "Raoul Duke" wrote in message .. . I recently posted an inquiry about driving from Laredo to Mazatlan. On the advice of several posters, we have decided to travel to Puerto Vallarta instead. I would greatly appreciate recommendations on a driving route from Laredo, TX to Puerto Vallarta. On the map I have, it appears that the most direct route involves a long stretch (Saltillo to Guadaljara) that is not on toll roads (I believe it is MX 54, through Zacatecas). There are toll roads from Monterrey to Guadalajara, but they seem to go pretty far out of the way, to Torreon for instance. My question boils down to this: is it quicker to take the direct route from Saltillo to Guadalajara (no toll roads) or the circuitous toll road that goes further West through Torreon? Also, has anybody taken the direct route from Saltillo to Guadalajara? What is the road like? Thanks! R. Duke |
#3
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Laredo to Puerto Vallarta
I think you'll find it easier, and faster, to take US hwys to
Nogales, and drive down Mex 15 to Mazatlan... No matter how you cut it, you'll be crossing the Sierra Madres, which will make for slow going. You can drive 80 mph on US roads. In Mexico your average speed will be about half that.... There's no way you can reduce a three week trip into one week......... Don |
#4
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Laredo to Puerto Vallarta
"Guess Who?" wrote in message ... I think you'll find it easier, and faster, to take US hwys to Nogales, and drive down Mex 15 to Mazatlan... No matter how you cut it, you'll be crossing the Sierra Madres, which will make for slow going. You can drive 80 mph on US roads. In Mexico your average speed will be about half that.... There's no way you can reduce a three week trip into one week......... Wow, that seems like a long way around from east Texas, particularly when you consider that he can drive toll roads all the way from Laredo, except for the small stretches between Durango and Mazatlan and Tepic to Puerto Vallarta. Unless there is storm damage or other problems I usually drive the Mexican toll roads at 65 to 70 mph and get passed regularly. If I get an early start I can drive from here in Tucson, through Nogales and to Los Mochis by dark (including the stop for visas and the temporary import permit for the vehicle). I can overnight in Los Mochis and be in Mazatlan early the next afternoon. (By mid-afternoon I can be well south of Mazatlan and have the bar-b-que set up on the beach.) Some of the younger people will drive overnight from here and be in Mazatlan in less than 24 hours. How you figure he needs 3 weeks escapes me, unless it includes that long detour north and west of where he wants to go. Dennis |
#5
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Laredo to Puerto Vallarta
Dennis
You're a lot more savy about Mexican roads than I am, but counting tolls,higher gas, and reduced driving time, do you think he can get from Dallas to to Mazatlan "easier" taking I10, to Mex 15, than Mexican roads, all the way through Mexico, to PV, and then North to the surfing beaches? How much closer is it? Maybe I'm wrong about how I'd go? Don PS I figured three weeks is about right for a decent surfin' safari. For a ten day trip, how much time will he spend driving either way? |
#6
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Laredo to Puerto Vallarta
"Guess Who?" wrote in message ... Dennis You're a lot more savy about Mexican roads than I am, but counting tolls,higher gas, and reduced driving time, do you think he can get from Dallas to to Mazatlan "easier" taking I10, to Mex 15, than Mexican roads, all the way through Mexico, to PV, and then North to the surfing beaches? How much closer is it? Maybe I'm wrong about how I'd go? Don PS I figured three weeks is about right for a decent surfin' safari. For a ten day trip, how much time will he spend driving either way? The tolls are probably about the same for either Mex 40 from Nuevo Laredo to Puerto Vallarta or Mex 15 from Nogales to Puerto Vallarta. If anything it should be a bit cheaper from Nuevo Laredo because of the section of non-toll road. According to the Guia Roji road atlas it's 742 miles from Nogales to Mazatlan and 716 from Nuevo Laredo to Mazatlan. From there to Puerto Vallarta is roughly 200 more. Add in that looooong drive from Dallas to Nogales and even at over $2.15 a gallon for gas in Mexico he's not going to save any money by driving to Nogales. Driving time will depend a lot on stamina and tolerance for night driving in Mexico. Personally my comfortable limit is about 350 miles a day in either country, with almost all of that being during the day in Mexico. Anything more than that and it's not much fun for me. With rare exceptions, during the day, I find the toll roads in Mexico just as easy as the freeways in the States. I like Mex 15, but over the years as they re-pave the pavement is getting a high sharp edge in many places that can be just as nasty as having no shoulder at all. I've seen numerous accidents that look like they were caused by losing concentration and wandering over that edge. Sooooo, for you or me I'd quess about three days each way from Nuevo Laredo to Puerto Vallarta if we were pushing it. For a bunch of young guys sharing the driving and staying on the road at night--probably two. What's a decent trip will of course vary with the individual. I would certainly agree that 3 weeks sounds a lot better than say one week, with over half of that spent driving. But then if they had 3 weeks, depending on their skill level, I might suggest they head further south to Puerto Escondido, which seems to be where the hardcore surfers head. (It's a hoot to see surfers meet in the middle of nowhere as they migrate from one country to another and one coast to another. You can be a long way from water and all you'll hear from those guys is waves, breaks and boards.) Dennis |
#7
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Laredo to Puerto Vallarta
Dennis
It's a guy & gal, driving from Dallas. I agree with your milage figure, but I've driven from Portland, OR, to SLO, CA, in one day, and I'd never do 800 miles in Mexico..... YMMV I guess when you're young enough, everything is different......... Don |
#8
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Laredo to Puerto Vallarta
Driving at night in Mexico, my strategy has been to get behind an 18 wheeler
and follow him at a safe distance. This helps guarantee that anything in from of me will be pushed out of the way or crushed before I run over it. During night driving I have run into some nasty piles of dead dog meat, but usually I avoided them by being some distance behind the truck that I was following. My max distance in Mexico at night was driving from Mex. City starting around midnight, to Laredo TX. I almost stopped in San Luis Potosi around 4:00 AM or so, but persisted and finally did make it to the border around 11 or 12 that morning. The sunrise was really pretty in Matehuela, but there were a lot of people going to work by bicycle, so I had to be careful. "Guess Who?" wrote in message ... Dennis It's a guy & gal, driving from Dallas. I agree with your milage figure, but I've driven from Portland, OR, to SLO, CA, in one day, and I'd never do 800 miles in Mexico..... YMMV I guess when you're young enough, everything is different......... Don . |
#9
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Laredo to Puerto Vallarta
I think you'll find it easier, and faster, to take US hwys to
Nogales, and drive down Mex 15 to Mazatlan... I think that's pretty far out of the way. I live in South Texas (the part that sticks down into Northern Mexico). Puerto Vallarta is actually quite a bit closer to South Texas than San Diego is, on account of the way the Mexican coast curves toward the east the further south you go. No matter how you cut it, you'll be crossing the Sierra Madres, which will make for slow going. You can drive 80 mph on US roads. In Mexico your average speed will be about half that.... There's no way you can reduce a three week trip into one week......... Time. If only I had more time . . . Thanks for the info! |
#10
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Laredo to Puerto Vallarta
It's a guy & gal, driving from Dallas. I agree with your milage
figure, but I've driven from Portland, OR, to SLO, CA, in one day, and I'd never do 800 miles in Mexico..... YMMV I guess when you're young enough, everything is different......... Don Thanks to all of you for the info. Actually, it will be 4-5 guys, late 20s to early 30s, packed into an SUV. All of us have a great deal of experience doing marathon road trips. I know this is crazy, but our plan is as follows: Leave our respective homes in So. Tex. and meet up in Laredo in the early evening. Have the truck "pre-registered" so as to facillitate an easy border crossing. Go balls out to Monterrey, and push on toward Guadalajara through the night, switching drivers, and consuming massive amounts of "Toro Rojo" (Red Bull energy drink--I swear by the stuff for long drives) and Coffee along the way. Hopefully arrive Guadalajara by mid morning to early afternoon, and then push on toward Puerto Vallarta (and onto our surf destination) by sometime in the evening. Total distance from Laredo is about 600 miles, I believe. My concern was, since we have resigned ourselves to driving at night, should we go a bit out of the way West and stay on toll roads, or should we go straight from Saltillo to Zacatecas and onto Guadalajara on the non toll roads? RD |
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