1

That is a lot of traveling for 9 days! Yes, there are direct buses from Puebla to Acapulco (see www.estrellablanca.com.mx) but the journey is around 7 hours. Acapulco to Zihuatenejo is 5 hours and Zihuatenejo to Mexico City at least 9 hours.

At the moment there are no excessive dangers in Acapulco but New Year is very, very packed. Accommodation rates treble and if you haven't already booked a room you may find they have all gone. So if you are really set on a manic, chaotic, New Years party then make sure you have accommodation before you get there!

Personally I would cut out the Zihuatenejo leg to save time and/or wait until Jan 2nd before going to Acapulco when it will be quieter and cheaper. But if you are set on your plan then good luck!

2

...or else just go straight to Zihua and spend NY around there. Acapulco will be packed as #1 said, and mostly with Mexicans and Mexican families. Yes there have been violent incidents in the city lately, even in tourist areas, but none AFAIK have involved tourists. Zihua and/or Ixtapa would probably be more fun, but should also be pretty busy as well...

3

You might check out Interjet Airlines. Good rates & an excellent airline. Fly Mexico city to Acapulco, bus 41/2 hours to Zihua & fly back to MC again on Interjet. Flights under $60 US in booked early. They use Airbuses a very comfortable planes.

4

Hello there. I've just got back from about 8 days in Acapulco in October from the 16-23. And had a good time even though is not as nice as it used to be due to the lack of foreign tourism in view of what happened years back when there were several drug related shootouts near the tourist areas. That's why I saw very few foreign tourist that I could probably count with one hand. Zero cruise ships at the cruise terminal. But that's also why nowadays hotels and restaurants offer very reasonable prices and probably cheaper than other areas in Mexico, specially Cancun. But any way I saw lots of police and army forces with machine guns mounted on top of pick up trucks patrolling the streets on the Costera which is the boulevard thst runs along the ocean. I even rode the city buses with no reason to feel intimidated. It's true if you read the local newspaper all you see is awful photos of murdered people all over the area. Before I left, checking on line on some of the hotels that at one time used to be five star hotels all I read was bad reviews. So, I found Hotel Oviedo a low budget hotel with good reviews. I booked a reservation on booking.com for about $23 a night with A/C and cable TV, thinking that I was probably going to be dissapointed. But to my surprise I was very pleased with the hotel and in the elevator I ran into several elderly americans and canadians old ladies/men that rent long term apartments in the same hotel. The hotel is near El Zocalo within walking distance from La Quebrada, the cliff diving place. The only problem is that, it's not located in the tourist area and after dark is not recommended to be walking around the streets. Good luck.

5

I agree that this is too much of an itinerary. Zihuatanejo is basically a sleepy fishing village-- very pretty- based around the bay-- however it is more for lounging and quiet days and you will not miss much by skipping it altogether. I would focus on Acapulco , Mexico City, and Puebla. Acapulco has some of the trendiest discos in the world, and you will not have a hard time finding a good time. Any hotel along the tourist strip of "The Costera" would be fine and safe. For Mexico City, I would recommend the historic town square as a good area to be centrally located.

6

If I had to choose I would pick Zihuatanejo Hands Down. Not sure where NY got the sleepy Village of this Vibrant 100,000 Plus "Village" but it has all the amenities most would desire. I went to Acapulco planning on staying a week a couple of years ago but left after 2 mights catching the first bus for Zihua.
Better beaches,less crime & great restaurants.