In this episode of Entrepreneur Expat, we’ll be covering all the best places for expats interested in moving to Mexico. This is a list we put together based on living in Mexico, our travels through Mexico and also some second-hand information from friends and connections.
Moving to Mexico Resources:
- Download our free Moving to Mexico Beginner’s Guide here.
- Interested in having a location independent business? Download our free guide with our favorite automations for online business here.
Now let’s get into some the best places for expats who are interested in moving to Mexico.
Guadalajara
Now, obviously we’re a bit biased when it comes to Guadalajara because that’s where we chose to live. We did an entire episode of the top 10 reasons why we chose to live in Guadalajara after traveling through Mexico. You can check out that video here.
Puerto Vallarta
If you’re a future Canadian expat looking to move to Mexico, you’ve likely heard of Puerto Vallarta because that’s where you will find a lot of Canadians. Puerto Vallarta is a beautiful beach city that is more family friendly than the Playa del Carmen type of cities. It’s also known for being great for retirees and also a city that embraces the LGBTQ community.
There are also some great expat hot spots near Vallarta like Sayulita, San Pancho and Bucerias which have smaller beach town vibe.
Playa del Carmen
Playa del Carmen is a hot spot particularly for younger American expats. We’re not going to lie, it’s basically just like Miami which is where Amanda is from.
It’s a rapidly growing city that looks completely different than it did 15 years ago and has quite the party scene. If you’re into scuba diving and water sports like Justin is, then you’ll find plenty of water sport activities in Playa del Carmen and nearby Isla Mujeres.
Chapala and Ajijic
Chapala and Ajijic are two towns along side the largest lake in Mexico, Lake Chapala. It’s about an hour out of Guadalajars and a far more relaxed pace. Both towns have become very popular with American and Canadian expats moving to Mexico and you can find some beautiful properties to buy there.
Mexico City
Mexico City is like the New York of Latin America. It’s massive (22 million people!) and it’s known for it’s museums, culture, food, great neighborhoods, beautiful parks and overall vibrant metropolitan vibe.
A lot of expats who enjoy the fast-paced city life enjoy Mexico City. For us personally, we tried to check it out as a possible place to live but it was too chaotic. You can watch the video above to find out just how chaotic it can get to travel around Mexico city. We decided we’ll visit and spend a week at the amazing museums instead.
One thing to note is if you travel often and need access to an international airport, you can fly to pretty much anywhere in the world from Mexico City.
Cancun
Cancun is another beach city that to us felt like Miami, however a lot of expats enjoy living there. One major pro of Cancun is you are close to a lot of things including Tulum, Playa del Carmen, and Mayan ruins like Chichen Itza.
Cancun also has a well connected airport because of the millions of tourists that visit each year.
Cabo
Los Cabos is further north in Baja California and has beautiful beaches (you’re noticing a theme with Mexico, right?). Most people are familiar with Cabo San Lucas but there are other great places to check out like La Paz and Todos Santos. Cabo is nice because if you want the party life you can find it, but if you want to chill out you can also find more relaxed areas.
Merida
Merida is very popular among expats lately. It’s a smaller town on the Yucatan peninsula and it’s actually known as being one of the safest areas in Latin America. One thing to note is Merida is very hot so expect to buy some mini splits and have higher electricity costs.