San Sebastian Tour

This is a tour you don’t want to miss. First of all, our tour guide, David, was exceptional in knowing the history of the area and a lot of information about the small town of San Sebastián. well worth the long and winding drive up the mountain. Cobblestone streets were a challenge so bring good shoes. Tequila distillery was so pretty and good tequila. It was a long day but fun.

Juan Carlos and Omar were the greatest tour guides ever. We had a blast on our tour, and we have them to thank for that!! They were so wonderful with my grandmother and made sure she was catered to and could enjoy the tour as well. We can’t say enough good things, we are so grateful for Juan Carlos!! And Omar!! Love, Emily and Beverly

make sure you get a window view .We were in the back with no view for 2 hrs Would not recomend it to anybody

Alfonso (Guide) and Antonio (Driver) did a good job of taking us to San Sebastian. I liked the tour but there are details that can be corrected to have a better experience and would be to bring a smaller unit so that people going to the back can see through the windows and the noise of the A/C can let you hear the information that is being given (a sprinter is not a good idea)... We learned a lot about the history of Mexico but I would have liked more to learn about the specific history of San Sebastián and learn a little more about the traditions and culture of the magical people but above all I would have liked to be given at least 1 hour and 30 minutes in the village to walk on its streets and be able to take pictures.... It just gave us time to go for a snow and get back on the drive... They took us to the small coffee plantation, a jewelry store, sweet shop, the food is included and very rich and took us to see a loom.

We so looked forward to this tour, and were delighted when our van picked us up at 9:20 am sharp near our hotel in Nuevo Vallarta. We were with one other English speaking couple, and our tour guide immediately greeted us warmly and we got on our way. He said we were making a stop in Puerto Vallarta on the way to pick up more guests, and he would start the presentation after pickup. (no problem). We arrived in PV and picked up 6 more guests, plus we had another person in the van who we were tehn introduced to as Daniel, who was shadowing today as he was going to be a new tour guide with Riviera Tours. (all good). Our main guide, informed us when we left PV (about 10 am) that it would be about 1 hour 40 minutes drive to San Sebastian. (we expected that - again, no problem). He began his presentation in the van with a good speaker system so all could hear, but this is when the problems began. He would excitedly share something in Spanish for about 5 minutes, then translate into about 30 seconds of English, and then revert back to Spanish. I picked up a few words here and there in Spanish, and knew he was skipping a lot for us English speakers. So I would ask a couple of questions to see if he would circle back to what he missed.. (ie.. I noticed you said "arboles"... can you tell us about the trees?) Our first stop, he asked if anyone needed to use the baños, and we did, so a bunch of us piled out at this roadside restaurant (this is at the 45 min mark approx, so we thought almost halfway) and we filed to the washrooms. I then saw our main guide and all the Mexican men in our van hovering over an open grill, and they all came back to the van with food, and the men gave some to their wives. Whatever this part of the stop was, he did not share it with the English speakers. We didn't know this was available to us. Our next stop, he had our very wonderful and capable driver, (shout out to Eric, he really was great) stop at Las Palmas, where we filed out and stood at a town square and learned the connection between Las Palmas and San Sebastian. Here our main guide engaged Daniel (the newbie, but seriously very capable and will be an EXCELLENT tour guide) to be his translater, although he really didn't need one. Our main guide spoke perfect english, he just for some reason chose not to much more after this. Thankfully Daniel translated almost everything for us and things got much better and we didn't feel anymore like we were being left out. Just before 12 noon (2 hours 40 min in) we made a stop at a Panederia (bakery) beside the beautiful bridge and were able to buy delicious baked goods and coffee. We were hungry, but he wisely told us not to eat too much because we would spoil our lunch which was coming soon. We stopped here for about 20 minutes and then made our way across the bridge to the tequila distillery. This was the best stop of the day. Alex was our host and did a fantastic job telling us all about his family's production and about how tequila and raicilla are distilled. He was very generous with his portions and his story telling was delightful. We left around 1 pm (still not in San Sebastian yet..) and drove the next hour and 15 min or so until we arrived in San Sebastian.. .our first stop at a jewellry store. We filed out of the van and into a very expensive silver and opal store. We thought we were getting a tour and the rich history of the silver mining in San Sebastian, but it was just a very beautiful and expensive jewelry store. (It was truly beautiful and well laid out) Lunch was the next stop at 2:45 pm (2 hours and 45 min after he told us not to spoil our lunch at the bakery). We sat down, waiting nearly half an hour (they served the tour guides and driver first, then the guests) at a very lovely restaurant and had an authentic Mexican meal that was very good. I was done before some of the guests, so I wandered out and across the street to an open courtyard inside a building that seemed to be the mining museum. The others soon joined and followed me, and our main guide very quickly told us a bit of the history in this building - and that it was a library now, but we didn't have opportunity to go into the museum itself. (this was something we most wanted to see, and were told we would be able to visit the mining museum when we booked the trip). Next we walked the cobbled streets about town, went into another store selling mouth watering peanut brittle and beautiful Mexican pottery and art. More walking about the beautiful town and seeing some of the original buildings, into the old jail where we learned about how bandits and /murderers/rapists were executed there. This was interesting, chilling and surreal. Lastly, just before 5 pm, we went into the beautiful church, and learned the incredible history of Saint Sebastian from Spain during the 3rd century, for whom this town was named (after the town San Sebastian in Spain). This and the tequila tasting were the 2 main highlights of the trip. Our main guide asked if anyone had to use the baños before we left town, and we were told the coffee plantation was still coming, so i knew i could wait. As we got into the van and were leaving town, we learned we were too late, and we had to skip the coffee plantation and would head straight home. An hour and about 45 punishing minutes later we were dropped off at our hotel. The ride was mostly silent the whole way back as our Mexican friends all fell asleep (i'm not sure how?) but we were constantly holding on through all the twists and turns. I tried a few times to engage our guide in conversation, asking questions, but received curt answers. We expected the long drive and the curvy bumpy drive and were prepared for that. We also expected a stop along the way for a break to use washrooms (we had this on the way, but not on the way back) We expected the hilly cobblestone rough streets to walk on and were prepared for that. What we were not expecting was a guide that catered to Spanish speakers, and told us that "lunch was coming" at noon when there were 3 more stops first, and that we would arrive in San Sebastian in 1 hour 40 min and it was closer to 5 hours. What we did not expect was to miss two of the stops (mining museum and coffee plantation) and for the trip to be mostly a shopping trip. I would have loved to have been able to stop roadside to take beautiful photos of the Agave fields we passed by or the mountain vistas. (costs nothing!) As I mentioned to my husband, I'm glad I took the trip, once. We did see a lot of lovely things, and learned some history, and saw a beautiful colonial town. At the end of the trip, he said lightly and jokingly if we wanted to tip our guide and driver, that would be welcome. We made a mistake here and i guess we didn't tip enough, and his response to it left a very bad taste in our mouth and truly ruined our evening. We paid considerably to go on this trip, and we bought things and tipped along the way to the different stops. We were not overly impressed with our guide, and didn't feel he did his best for us. I had never been on a trip like this, and assumed that we were paying them by booking the trip, and didn't realize he was expecting a hefty tip as well. The other English speaking couple with us did tip him very generously, and we only know this because he very angrily showed us their tip beside ours - and said loudly that ours was not good enough, and how dare we call that a tip. We were flabbergasted.. and didn't know what to say.. so we walked away. I wish in hindsight we had personally thanked and tipped Daniel, our english translater and the shadow guide.. as well as Eric, our amazing driver. They are amazing. I am not mentioning the name of our guide, because I'm hoping that he was just having a bad day - and this is not the norm for him.

Yesterday we took the San Sebastian tour with Miguel and his driver Omar. We all enjoyed it immensely. Miguel was very knowledgeable sharing information the whole way. Omar was a great driver and we all felt very safe. We all loved the lunch and there was lots of it. For sure we will recommend this tour our friends and family. Thanks again Miguel and Omar from your Canadian Friends, Kay, Irene and Darlene

My rating would have been 5 if four of us had not been crammed into the very back of the van for a nearly 2 hr ride into the mountain town. We could not fully hear our guide and we were very hot and uncomfortable. For me, not sitting by a window, I could see nothing of the countryside. The seats should NOT be considered as seats at all! The coffee plantation along the way was interesting but the baked goods were, unfortunately, not very tasty. The history was interesting and I bought baked goods to support the remaining sweet family members. The tequilla stop was nice and the tequilla was very good. Our lunch was good and seemed to be authentic—corn tortillas, chicken mole, muchaca, rice, and beans were all quite tasty and included in the price of the tour. Strolling the town was even more interesting due to the San Sebastián celebration…a lovely 16 yo girl explained in detail the weaving process on her family’s loom-very interesting. Our guide was Miguel, and I believe our very good driver was Luis. Miguel offered much interesting info and is a Mexican who is very proud of his beautiful country..other than the uncomfortable drive the tour was very much worth taking!

Last Wednesday my wife and I had the privilege of having taken a tour to San Sebastian del Oestre. I say privilege because, our tour guide, Miguel, not only provided detailed information throughout the excursion, but gave us a history of Mexico. In addition to a trip to the silver mining town, we also stopped a local jewelry store where I was able to purchase a Mexican opal for the wife. We had a wonderful lunch in town that was part of the tour. We also had the opportunity to stop at a family-owned taquilla distiller. Although we got to taste the varieties of taquilla, we unfortunately were unable to purchase any because we only had carry-ons and not check-in bags. I also want to acknowledge our very fine driver, Daniel, who was an exceptional and safe driver. We strongly recommend you take this tour. I know the next time I return to Puerto Vallarta, I will schedule another tour with Riviera Tours.

Warmest people, beautiful location, and tequila. Ask for Signor Miguel Delgadillo, the tour guide. He will keep you safe, well hydrated, well fed, and entertained. Highly recommended.

The best part of the tour was the guide, David. He was very knowledgeable and personable. Kind of a grandfatherly type. The van was not comfortable because of very limited legroom. The air conditioning was adequate, however. There was not a lot to see in San Sebastian, although David really tried to give as much detail as possible on its history. The lunch was just OK, simple Mexican fare and nothing special. Plan appropriately because the lunch is not scheduled before 2 PM. The stops were average, the best being the delightful tequila distillery. There was not much to see at the coffee place, but bags of their coffee were reasonably priced. The jewelry shop was very expensive and the chocolate shop was a bust- not much selection and we were unable to see the chocolate making process I guess because of the late afternoon.