What are the best places in Mexico to live and retire?

Merida Yucatan is one of the richest provincial cities in Mexico, and is an excellent option for settling down to live, due to its excellent infrastructure, amenities and major air connections to the United States and Mexico City.
 
Currently, its estimated 14,000 to 20,000 foreigners live full or part time in Yucatan.
 
Som eproperties in the Historic Center of Merida are sold for over USD $25,000 and their value may increase by eight or ten times, even more if they are...

Merida Yucatan is one of the richest provincial cities in Mexico, and is an excellent option for settling down to live, due to its excellent infrastructure, amenities and major air connections to the United States and Mexico City.
 
Currently, its estimated 14,000 to 20,000 foreigners live full or part time in Yucatan.
 
Som eproperties in the Historic Center of Merida are sold for over USD $25,000 and their value may increase by eight or ten times, even more if they are restored homes.
 
In recent years, Merida has seen its streets explode with art and culture. Something is always happening in Merida, such as concerts, festivities, parades and celebrations, which are a common sight in this vibrant city. You can also join groups engaged in rescuing dogs and cats, and help to make Merida a more attractive destination. Foreign expatriates also meet in reading workshops, such as the Merida English Language Library; as well as in art workshops, travel groups, wine-tasting groups, biking groups, dancing and language classes. There is no better way to learn Spanish than enrolling in a language school, and there are a large number of these institutions in Merida.

 
Merida residents flock to the port cities of Celestun, Sisal or Telchac to stroll along its beaches and take a dip in the emerald green waters of the Gulf of Mexico.  Undiscovered beachfront fishing villages are always bustling with food and craft vendors, local residents and beach-goers, and the waters just off the coast are calm, clean and good for swimming.
 
Grab a seat at one of the many palapas (thatched-roof restaurants) that extend the length of the beachfront for an excellent spot to sample some of Yucatan’s distinct regional cuisine. Seafood dishes are popular and include sopa de mariscos (seafood soup), pescado tikin-xic (grouper seasoned with achiote).
 
Progreso is also a popular cruise ship destination, and the city is famous for its pier that extends an impressive four miles into the Gulf of Mexico. Cruise ship passengers arriving in Progreso are often bused the length of the pier before embarking on Progreso excursions, many heading inland to visit the city of Merida or tour the Mayan ruins at Uxmal and Chichén Itza.
 
Come and visit us and decide for yourself.

(Pictured above: Alfonso Galindo with daughter Zara at Izamal, Yucatan.  Pictured below: Alfonso Galindo at Puerto Morelos, Yucatan Peninsula.)

The first best place in Mexico to live and retire is of course here in the Lake Chapala / Ajijic area. People flock here in Chapala because we’re 30 minutes from the second largest city in Mexico without having to deal with city traffic, city smog, city noise, etc. Chapala is the best proximity, and we have a microclimate here thanks to the lake, the forest, and the mountains that surround Chapala. Chapala has its own microclimate, so this is the best place, although I’ve been in some...

The first best place in Mexico to live and retire is of course here in the Lake Chapala / Ajijic area. People flock here in Chapala because we’re 30 minutes from the second largest city in Mexico without having to deal with city traffic, city smog, city noise, etc. Chapala is the best proximity, and we have a microclimate here thanks to the lake, the forest, and the mountains that surround Chapala. Chapala has its own microclimate, so this is the best place, although I’ve been in some other places that are also pretty cool.

If I had to live in the city, I’d live in the San Luis Potosí, which is very progressive, and has a major thoroughfare running right through it. Potosí is on the edge of the mountains, and not far from there is incredible scenery, whitewater rafting, you name it. San Luis Potosí is a pretty cool place. There are a lot of English-speaking locals in Potosí. My band and I have played a lot of music there on our travels.

Puerto Vallarta is a big place and is a tourist destination in Mexico. Living in Puerto Vallarta is like living in a ski town in the US, where you get tired of tourists. What I like about that area in Mexico though it is not in Puerto Vallarta proper, but I like the Bay of Banderas. You can get out of Puerto Vallarta and live in some of the little villages around there, and enjoy the coastal living. It’s seasonal, just 6 months out of the year, then you’ll get choked down in the summertime there when it’s so humid and so hot that you just can’t stand it, and you can’t take enough showers.

Other cool places in Mexico would be more inland, more of the mountain areas. Mexico is 70% mountainous. People seem to think Mexico is all desert because they’ve been to Tijuana, or they’ve been across the Laredo border. I always wanted to send out a Christmas card of me and my wife sitting on a donkey next to a cactus with a bottle of tequila in my hand with no grass around, because that’s the concept they have of Mexico. They say, “Oh my God, you live in Mexico. Where’s your serape? Where are your huaraches?” They don’t have any idea.

Mexico City is the cleanest big city I’ve ever been in downtown, I kid you not. Have you ever been downtown Mexico City? Oh my goodness. It’s so clean. In Mexico City, they have mini buses and not these big nasty black-smoke buses. These little mini buses that only hold 12 people are everywhere in Mexico City. The city is incredibly clean, and has fountains and amazing architecture and landscape. I was very impressed.

There are some cool mini towns. San Miguel de Allende is a very artsy place. A lot of expats live there , and it’s really popular. I’ve also been to Leon, which is another big city in Mexico, and has the best airfare to US. Leon is a pretty well laid out town, and it’s the hub of leather products. Merida is kind of an up and coming progressive area, but it’s in a tropical climate, so it’s a little humid and sticky in the summer months.

There are a lot of coastal towns in Mexico that I’ve been to. I like the sleepy village of La Manzanilla, which is not to be confused with Manzanillo, the largest port in Mexico now. When you drive from here to Manzanillo, the highway is perfect- you’d feel like you’re on the interstate in the US. Mexico makes a lot of money from the Manzanillo port, so they keep these highways up where trucks are rolling nice. There are also toll roads where you’ll go through beautiful canyons, and the road is excellent. Manzanillo is an easy place to get to in three and a half hours from here in the Ajijic / Chapala area, but just north of there, for another hour, is La Manzanilla, a sleepy village with a beautiful bay, Tenacatita.

There are also other little towns around La Manzanilla, but if you really want to go somewhere and sit back, write a book, paint a scene, and just escape, La Manzanilla is the place to do it.

(The surreal sculpture of Las Pozas, Xilitla, San Luis Potosí, Mexico, pictured.)