Countryside & Cuisine
Pueblos Culinary Tour
Explore the countryside through its cacao, village kitchens and a meal prepared together beside a lagoon.
Meeting point
Puerto Vallarta . Nuevo Vallarta
The Countryside Table
Understanding a Place Through Its Food
The agricultural valleys behind the bay offer a close connection between the landscape and everyday cooking. Around San Juan de Abajo and Valle de Banderas, fields, family businesses and village gathering places introduce the setting in which these food traditions continue. Preparing a meal with a local chef brings those encounters together through ingredients guests have already seen and tasted.
Gallery
Cacao trees, village plazas and hands at work reveal the daily traditions behind the meal.
Experience the different scenarios you’ll encounter during your adventure, discover unforgettable places, and collect the best memories
Meet the guide and travel through the countryside
Arrive at the assigned check-in point at least 45 minutes before departure. Meet the bilingual guide and board an air-conditioned van. Travel through the agricultural landscape around San Juan de Abajo and Valle de Banderas, with views toward the Sierra Madre foothills.
Discover cacao and taste its transformation
Visit a cacao farm to learn how cacao becomes chocolate. Taste dark chocolate and a traditional cacao drink while learning about their preparation. This visit introduces an ingredient that returns later in the day during the mole negro cooking lesson.
Explore village life and tortilla making
Visit a traditional tortillería to learn about the daily preparation of tortillas and taste them freshly made. Continue with a guided walk through Valle de Banderas, taking in the plaza, kiosk and church while hearing about the community and its history.
Cook with a local chef beside the lagoon
Continue to a countryside house with a garden beside a lagoon. Join the chef for a practical lesson in mole negro, salsas and masa preparations such as sopes or tortillas. Adult guests can also prepare drinks using tequila, mezcal and the provided cocktail ingredients.
Share lunch and return to the coast
1. Gather for a family-style outdoor lunch featuring the dishes prepared together, with water and the included alcoholic drinks for adult guests. Enjoy the garden and time to relax in a hammock before rejoining the group for the return journey by van.
Choose Your Experience
Select the option that best suits your plans, with pricing based on guest count, vehicle or experience type.
General Access
109 USD
1 guest . ages 12+
Kids Access
$ 85 USD
1 child . ages 9-11
The Experience
See the Experience
Guests meet their guide and settle into an air-conditioned van as the journey leads inland from the coast. Along the road, cultivated fields and small communities open toward the Sierra Madre foothills. The guide introduces the produce grown in the valley while companions look out across the countryside and begin getting to know one another. At the cacao farm, the group gathers beneath the trees to learn how cacao becomes chocolate. Guests examine the ingredients, follow the explanation and taste dark chocolate alongside a traditional cacao drink. Questions turn to flavor and preparation, with the chocolate providing an introduction to the mole they will cook later.
Logistics
Everything you need to know before your experience, from what’s included to meeting details and important requirements.
What's Included
Countryside transportation in an air-conditioned van . Professional bilingual guide . Cacao farm visit with dark chocolate and traditional cacao drink tastings . Traditional tortillería visit . Guided walk through Valle de Banderas, including its plaza and church . Hands-on cooking lesson with a local chef . Preparation of mole negro, salsas and traditional masa dishes . Lunch . Beer . Tequila . Water
Not Included
Access fee
Souvenirs and personal purchases
Additional snacks purchased along the route
Meeting / Pickup Information
Puerto Vallarta . Marina Vallarta
Nuevo Vallarta . Paseo de las Palmas 39
What to Bring
Comfortable walking shoes or tennis shoes
Light sweater
Hat
Biodegradable sunscreen
Extra money for souvenirs and additional snacks
Requirements & Restrictions
Minimum age . 6 years
This experience is not recommended for guests with limited mobility
Expect approximately 40 minutes of walking distributed between stops
Cancellation Policy
24 hours . 100 refund
Less than 12 hours . 50% refund
Less than 12 hours – No sows . No refund
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Pueblos follows the relationship between agricultural life and the food served at the table. The countryside provides context for the ingredients, while village businesses reveal the practiced work that turns them into everyday staples. By the time the cooking begins, familiar flavors have acquired a more tangible origin.
Cacao offers a particularly useful thread through the experience. Tasting it before the lesson encourages guests to notice its character and then consider its role alongside dried chiles in mole negro. The connection between the farm visit and the finished dish gives the day a clear progression.
The tortillería introduces another kind of knowledge: repetition, touch and judgment developed through daily practice. Watching the preparation closely can be as instructive as taking part. The village walk broadens that encounter, placing food traditions within the community’s streets and gathering spaces.
During the cooking lesson, attention shifts to the choices that shape a dish. Guests can ask how the chef judges texture, adjusts seasoning and recognizes when the preparation is ready. These observations offer practical understanding that extends beyond simply following a recipe.
The shared meal gives everyone time to reflect on those details. Travelers interested in cooking can discuss technique, while companions drawn to local culture can continue conversations begun earlier in the day. The garden setting allows the experience to finish at an easy pace before the journey back.
YOUR EXPERIENCE AWAITS
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