Place is personal, subjective, and important—and as you consider places to live in Mexico, Mexperience helps you to consider your choices and shortlist locations that may suit your lifestyle needs.

Discover locations to live, work or retire in Mexico

To help you discover and explore potential places to live here, Mexperience publishes a curated list of locations to consider for living, working or retirement in Mexico—organized by popularity and notoriety and classified by the location type.

Our articles introduce you to key places where many foreign residents live now, emerging locations that are becoming increasingly popular with foreign residents, as well as those places that are less well known, or situated off-the-beaten path. We also publish a selection of detailed guides of places to live in Mexico:

Detailed living guides

For detailed guides to selected places to live and work or retire, connect to our section with Guides to Living Places in Mexico

This series of articles introduces you to a curated list of locations throughout Mexico that foreign residents consider to live, work or retire in Mexico.

Most popular places to live in Mexico

This article in the series introduces you to locations that have for a long time, or in recent times, garnered considerable popularity with foreign residents (retirees and others) and have active communities of foreign residents established at the location.

Chapala, Ajijic, and Jocotepec

Chapala, Ajijic and Jocotepec are the three towns situated on the north shore of Mexico’s Lake Chapala—the largest lake in Mexico.  The towns are situated about an hour’s drive south of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city.  These lakeside colonial towns are home to the highest concentration of foreign residents anywhere in Mexico.

Attractions of the location include an ideal year-round climate, easy access to Guadalajara’s amenities and international airport, and a long-established community of foreign residents who organize a wide range of social and cultural events in the locality.  Although the Lake Chapala area has historically been primarily a place for retirees, this is changing and people who are not yet retired, some with young families, have been relocating to this area in recent times.

Cozumel and Isla Mujeres

Although small island life is not for everyone, each of these islands, situated off the coast of Playa del Carmen and Cancún respectively, offer charms of their own. Cozumel is a larger island with more happening, and more amenities. Isla Mujeres is small, with hardly any traffic, and has beautiful calm beaches on one side and a rugged, dramatic coastline on the other (some houses overlook the latter). Cozumel has its own international airport (some flight routes are seasonal); and both islands are well-served with frequent sea ferries connecting them to the mainland.

Cuernavaca

Since Aztec times, Cuernavaca has been a fashionable place for capital dwellers to repair and recuperate; and even today the city remains a popular getaway destination at weekends, and during holidays.  It’s a city with hidden charms and a lot going for it: its proximity to the capital, its magnificent climate, and a colonial feel with a sincere character. While it’s not the most picturesque of Mexico’s colonial cities, it has an authentic Mexican feel.

The city is built on a mountain straddling five ravines that give this location unique microclimates: the northern limits of the city are forested and much cooler (cold in the winter); the climate between the north and the city center are temperate; and the areas south of the center get considerably warmer (hot in the summer) as you travel south.  Its climate, especially in the temperature zone, remains one of the best you’ll experience anywhere in Mexico and the city offers almost every service and amenity you may need, with easy access to the capital by road.

Guadalajara and Tlaquepaque

Guadalajara is one of Mexico’s important big cities, said to be ‘the most Mexican of Mexican cities’ that features a beautiful historic center and various districts or neighborhoods of interest to foreign residents, the most notable of which is Tlaquepaque.

The city is situated near Lake Chapala and Ajijic (see above), where most of foreign residents in this region live, although all of them repair to Guadalajara for services, shops, and amenities—and the international airport that is based on the south side of the city.

La Paz, Todos Santos, and Loreto

Situated in Baja California Sur, La Paz, Loreto, and Todos Santos are popular locations for living and retirement.

La Paz is the capital city of the state that offers a laid-back, relaxed pace of life with plenty of water sports and outdoor activities amidst the unspoiled nature on its doorstep; it also offers ample amenities and transport connections including an airport and a ferry port to the Mexican mainland.

Todos Santos, situated southwest of La Paz near the Pacific coast of the peninsula, is the bohemian arts quarter of this region and is ideally suited to people who want to find a town away from the more commercialized feel of nearby Los Cabos.

North of La Paz along the coast of the Gulf of California (formerly known as the Sea of Cortés) is Loreto, a location well-known for its planned residential communities —mostly retirees— enjoying a fine climate within a beautiful natural environment.

Los Cabos (Cabo San Lucas & San José del Cabo)

Los Cabos comprises a ‘corridor’ that connects two towns at the southern cape of the Baja California peninsula: Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo.

The area is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Mexico and it’s also one of the primary locations where foreign residents choose to live in this region and includes a well-established community of foreign retirees.

The agreeable climate (especially in the winter months), access to a comprehensive selection of amenities that foreign residents tend to seek in a destination —including excellent medical facilities, some of the world’s top rated golf courses, a well-developed local infrastructure, easy access via an international airport, and active local community groups— make Los Cabos one of the most attractive locations for living or retirement.

Some choose to spend only the winter months here and rent out their homes in the summer when they are away. Los Cabos is not for everybody, and it’s one of the more expensive places in Mexico to live and buy property; but for the many foreigners who choose to call this place home, full or part-time—they love it.

Mexico City

Mexico City remains a strong favorite with working-age foreign residents who arrive here for the (net)working opportunities and buzz of the capital; and with retirees who never tire of the alluring charm of this, one of the world’s largest and funkiest capital cities.

Some people who come know the capital intimately and fall in love with it tend to stay without being able to articulate quite why they do. Perhaps they adore being part of the vibrancy, the vast size and complexity and contrasts of this remarkable historical metropolis that has been a major inhabited settlement of civilization for over 600 years.

In addition to the unsurpassed selection of services to found here, Mexico City also offers some of the world’s finest museums, parks, restaurants, markets, shops and, being the center of economic and political power, has the best connections to everywhere you’d ever want to travel to inside Mexico and internationally.

Playa del Carmen and Tulum

Playa del Carmen and the town of Tulum (more popularly known is the archaeology park here that features spectacular views across the turquoise waters of the Mexican Caribbean), and both part of the ‘Riviera Maya,’ have become among the most sought-after places to live by foreign residents coming to Mexico in search of a beachside destination.

‘Playa’ (and to a lesser extent Tulum) have experienced tremendous growth in the last two decades. Not too far by road (three hours) from the historical and important city of Mérida, Playa and Tulum offer a beautiful Caribbean lifestyle with less commercial hype than its neighbor, Cancún, although in recent years, Playa del Carmen’s development has created a much more commercialized feel than was present here at the turn of the century. And with Cancún just 30 miles away, you can enjoy the excellent infrastructure and facilities it offers as well as access to a major international airport with direct connections to the US, Canada, and Europe (in season).

Puerto Vallarta and Punta de Mita

Puerto Vallarta and environs has a history and reputation all its own: this is one of Mexico’s fastest-growing areas and the influx in recent times of working-age foreign residents as well as retirees to this region has been unprecedented.

The reasons are clear: the heart of Puerto Vallarta has an authentic colonial city feel to it, and the extensive ‘bay area’ —that encompasses the area of Mismaloya on the southern edge of the bay to Bucerías/Cruz de Huanacaxtle in the north— offers a wonderful oceanfront seat along Mexico’s Pacific coastline.

This is a cosmopolitan, contemporary, and forward-looking region of Mexico. The winter climate is idyllic; July through October can be stifling with heat, although some people don’t mind this, or leave/travel during those months).

The availability of local services and amenities is extensive and improving every year; it’s a one of the most accessible locations in Mexico with good road and air connections, and it’s considered by many who live here ‘the best place in Mexico to be.’

In recent years, Nuevo Vallarta and other towns northward including Bucerías and Sayulita have also become popular; and about 27 miles north of Puerto Vallarta you’ll find the more exclusive area of Punta de Mita: with its rugged, picturesque and dramatic coastline, it’s home to some fine hotel-resorts, one of the country’s best golf courses, and higher-end residential developments.

San Miguel de Allende

San Miguel de Allende was a quiet backwater and bohemian hideaway in the 1960s and 1970s, a popular dwelling space for foreign artists, writers, and hippies living alternative lifestyles in the highlands of south-central Mexico. San Miguel’s popularity began to soar in the early 1990s and today this highland mountain town is one of the most popular colonial cities in Mexico to live in—sought after by foreign residents and Mexicans alike.

People who have known the town for decades say that its quaint roots have been forever altered by the influx of investment and people in recent times; it does, however, continue to rate as one of the top places in Mexico for living and retirement.

Situated at elevation in the rugged mountains in the state of Guanajuato, about a four-hour drive northwest from Mexico City, this old ‘silver city’ is one of the most picturesque of Mexico’s colonial enclaves; residential property in the historic center and neighborhoods adjacent to it is among the most expensive in all Mexico.

The town has a long history of attracting foreign residents and, like Lake Chapala, has very well-developed community groups and societies managed and frequented by foreigners and Mexicans living here.

It also has a strong arts culture, with language, art and writing schools and societies prevalent.  San Miguel offers an excellent selection of services and amenities, including good healthcare and medical facilities.  The light here is outstanding, although being a relatively remote town situated at elevation, it can get quite cool or cold during the winter months after sundown and during the early mornings.

Discover more places to live in Mexico

Connect to the other articles in this series and discover more places to live in Mexico:

• Discover emerging locations to live in Mexico: summarizes locations that have, in recent years, been catching the attention of foreign residents and have fledgling or developing communities of interest present.
• Discover underexplored locations to live in Mexico: features places that do not have significant numbers of foreign residents already established and are generally ‘off-the-beaten-path’ for most foreigners considering Mexico for living and retirement. These places can offer attractions that may be of interest to some potential foreign residents and retirees seeking someplace more traditional, unusual, and with a lower concentration of foreign residents living there.

Two calculations are required

There are two calculations you will need to make to determine the financial means you will need to have at your disposal to retire in Mexico:

• the first calculation is related to the financial requirements to qualify for a residency permit in Mexico, and
• the second calculation is related to your real living costs in Mexico that will be determined according to your individual circumstances, personal choices, and lifestyle plans.

Income or savings/investments required to obtain a residency permit

The financial requirements to qualify for a residency permit have risen in recent years.

Monthly income —v— savings/investments to qualify

Unless you intend to lead a ‘high octane’ lifestyle, the monthly income required to qualify for residency in Mexico is considerably higher than the typical costs of living in Mexico.

A corollary of this is that some people who want to retire in Mexico don’t have sufficient monthly income to qualify but do have sufficient income to live here.

If your pension income doesn’t meet the current income requirements, you can instead qualify based your savings/investments—and many people who have been saving throughout their lives will have sufficient savings and investments to qualify, even if their monthly income does not meet the minimum threshold.

The links in the box below contain detailed information to guide you about this. The include information about the current amounts of income or savings/investments you need to demonstrate to qualify for residency under the auspice of ‘economic solvency’ as well as other routes to residency besides ‘economic solvency.’

Income required to sustain your retirement in Mexico

The second calculation you’ll need to make concerns working out your real living costs in Mexico, and these will be determined by your individual circumstances, your intentions, and your lifestyle choices.

The question: “How much does it cost to live in Mexico?” has no specific answer because the amount of money you need to live and sustain yourself here will depend on an assortment of factors, the most common of which include:

• where in Mexico you choose to live: the most popular places also tend to be the most expensive to live in—from rents and house prices to everyday living expenses;
• whether you will rent or buy a home in Mexico;
• whether you have homeowner association fees to pay in addition to other expenses;
• the state of your general health and well-being: healthcare insurance premiums are higher for those with previous ailments, and while medications are less expensive in Mexico, they are still a cost and might have to be paid out of pocket;
• whether you’ll have a car or other vehicle(s) in Mexico to run and service;
• how often you travel, including trips back to your home country;
• what lifestyle choices you make including things like how and where you shop, how often you eat out, how much alcohol you consume (alcohol prices have been rising steadily in recent years), how much you spend on non-essentials, how much you spend on healthcare matters and medications, etc.;
• how much home help and other domestic assistance services you want or need: for example, whether you hire a housekeeper (and how often), a gardener, someone to maintain your swimming pool, if you have one, and other home services, e.g., nurses, or in-home care givers;
• how often you intend to travel within Mexico as well as how often you travel back-and-forth between Mexico and your home country.

Our guide to the cost of living in Mexico is a comprehensive resource that explores real living costs in Mexico and helps you to step back, make an assessment of your situation, and formulate a budget based on your individual circumstances.

Further research and resources

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.

• Comprehensive guide to living and lifestyles in Mexico
• Articles about lifestyle planning in Mexico
• Articles about living costs in Mexico
• Learn about obtaining residency in Mexico
• Latest articles about retirement in Mexico
• Is Mexico right for your retirement?
• Benefits Mexico offers to retirees
• Discovering potential places to live in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

However, Mexico is especially attractive to retirees because some of these features and benefits can be especially helpful to people in retirement.

This article summarizes the key benefits Mexico offers to retirees and connects you to detailed information and local knowledge published here on Mexperience for further reading and research.

Agreeable climates

Climate affects us every day, and Mexico offers agreeable climates, often temperate or warm, and cold only at higher elevations in certain regions—and then only for limited times during the year.  Connect to a wide range of articles and guides on Mexperience for more details about climate, seasons and weather in Mexico.

Plenty of choices for location types

Mexico offers retirees choices in the types of places they can live in; from coastal locations that offer winter warmth, to mountain towns at elevation that offer year-round temperate climates.

Some places are more urbanized, others offer a countryside idyll surrounded by nature.  ‘Remote’ places popular with foreign residents tend to be within an hour’s drive of a large town or city that offer services and amenities retirees often seek, including healthcare services and major stores.

Our articles about discovering places to live in Mexico offer practical insights that can help you to consider the various locations on offer and discover potential places to live in Mexico so you can narrow your short-list according to your situation and considered lifestyle needs.

Fresh, locally produced food and drinks

Mexico’s shops and markets provide you with an abundant assortment of fresh food, especially visible at the vibrant, fragrant, local open-air markets here.

The year-round availability of delicious fresh fruits and vegetables, accompanied by a parade of colorful drinks and beverages made using them, makes Mexico one of the most attractive countries to be in if you enjoy good wholesome food that is also affordable.

Mexperience helps you to discover food and drink in Mexico as part of of your retirement research and planning.

Ample range of local products and amenities

Retirees coming to Mexico, especially those from the US and Canada, are likely to feel at home when it comes to obtaining many of the products, services, and amenities they have become accustomed to in their home country.

Mexico’s retail markets are extensive and well-developed; and there’s a large and growing selection of online shopping choices too.

Many products and brands foreign retirees are accustomed to seeing back home will be available in Mexico, either at one of the many supermarkets, through specialist retailers, or through online shopping options.

There are still some exceptions, for example, black tea, and alternatives for smokers are conspicuously absent; but Mexico today offers more choice and variety than it ever has before, and the range and selection of products and amenities continues to improve each year.

Local leisure amenities, including cafés, bistros, restaurants, gymnasiums, event centers, cinemas, theme parks, national parks and reserves, campsites, etc. are plentiful and readily accessible.

Affordable living costs

Retirees have different cost structures compared to people moving to Mexico who are of working age and perhaps with children to raise; for examples:

• they have no school fees to pay or children to ferry around and take on school trips;
• most have no mortgages and may also have no other substantial debts to service; and
• they might also be able to live in Mexico without a car, which can save costs.

However, retirees have costs to consider and budget for in other areas that younger people might not have, perhaps healthcare costs being the major expense, and other assistance services, including home help and specialist care services that might have to be considered and duly funded.

Accessible transportation and communications

Most retirees travel within in Mexico to explore the country, as well as take trips to travel back to their home country to see family and friends (or they might receive visits in Mexico).

Some people retiring to Mexico might do so part time, spending only part of the year in Mexico, perhaps to overwinter here.

It’s for these reasons that good transport links, including decent roads and access to international airports, becomes important.

Mexico offers a well-developed and reliable transportation infrastructure that enable you to travel and be near other people who are close in your life, as well as excellent communications networks that enable you to keep touch at a distance, affordably.

Ample choices in accommodations

Retirees coming to Mexico who want to rent will find an ample choice of property types to choose from; our article about the practicalities of renting a home is worth reading to get local insights about that. (See link below.)

A wider selection of property types is available to retirees seeking a home to buy; and engaging the services of local real estate agent is an effective way search and buy a home here.

The links to the articles below help you to consider your accommodation choices when you’re thinking about retirement in Mexico.

World-class health and wellbeing services

Healthcare services and the availability of medicines is often near the top of retirees’ needs and concerns when they plan a move to Mexico.

All of Mexico’s popular retirement destinations are well served by doctors, dentists, opticians as well as a range of clinical and hospital services, including emergency care and specialized medical professionals and services.

Thriving retirement communities

In addition to the ample variety of types of locations on offer, the more popular locations to live in Mexico offer thriving and well-established retirement communities that help newcomers and long-time residents to get involved in local groups, societies, and events.  This is especially helpful when you are endeavoring to settle properly into Mexico, long term.

Safety, and economic stability

Although media reports about security matters have put-off some people from visiting or retiring to Mexico, foreign residents of all life stages report that they feel safe in Mexico, and that the reality they live here every day is characterized by regular routines and being part of strong local communities where people look out for each other and work together to resolve issues if problems arise.

Retirees also enjoy stable lifestyles here, too—as the macroeconomics of the country are well-managed, markets work well, and there is a wide and regular availability of goods and services available, including increasing ranges of goods available through online companies that specialize in offering less common and imported products.

Warm, welcoming culture and language

Although English is widely spoken across Mexico, especially in the most popular retiree enclaves and tourist towns, learning or improving your Spanish language skills will help you enormously as you settle into your retirement in Mexico because it will give you deeper access to the local culture and enable you to integrate in ways that those who don’t speak Spanish cannot.

Mexico’s rich culture and its canny ability to assimilate foreign things without losing its own identity, offers retirees the opportunity of experiencing unusual celebrations and traditions which are nonetheless familiar.

Retirees get a front-row seat to all this culture and the events that surround it, and while others may dream of visiting Mexico in-season to experience these events, they are part of everyday life here for retirees in Mexico.  It’s an enormous, and often overlooked, benefit of living here.

Further research and resources

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.

• Articles about lifestyle planning in Mexico
• Latest articles about retirement in Mexico
• Discovering potential places to live in Mexico
• Cultivating your home life in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

It’s therefore prudent to research locations in Mexico that you are likely to feel comfortable living in year-round —or during the times of the year that you intend to spend in Mexico— as you shortlist potential places to live, work, or retire here.

Mexico is a vast land, and offers ample choices regarding climate types which are determined by a combination of the location’s latitude, elevation in relation to sea-level, as well as other regional topographical influences.

This article introduces you to Mexico’s principal climate zones and also shares tips and insights about how to adapt to Mexico’s seasons and climate.

Highland areas

Higher altitude areas, most notably the picturesque colonial cities that many foreign residents enjoy living in here, offer year-round temperate climates, although some can experience hot spells in the spring and summer months.

Some regions at high elevations can get cold or freeze overnight, especially in the late fall, winter, and early spring seasons.  Mornings and evenings in these areas tend to be cool or cold; temperatures can collapse dramatically after sundown during the winter months. Fireplaces and wood-burning stoves can serve to take the edge off the cold.

Coastal plains

Coastal areas near sea-level tend to be hot and humid —sometimes uncomfortably so without air conditioning or a good airflow and ventilation— between April and October each year.

The low-lying coastal plains usually offer pleasantly warm climates between November and March, which is why so many retirees who overwinter in Mexico choose to live by the ocean.

The most pleasant (comfortably warm) weeks along the coasts are usually between mid-November and mid-February of the following year; by late February temperatures begin to rise substantially along the coastal plains.

Seasonal changes

Mexico has a rainy season and a dry season, and each one offers advantages and disadvantages.

Rain season storms, when they come, tend to be sharp, fierce, and happen in the late afternoon or overnight, leaving the air cooled and mornings fragrant and refreshed.

The Yucatán peninsula, parts of the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific, as well as Baja California can be susceptible to hurricanes, that occur mostly between July and October.

Adapting to Mexico’s seasons and weather

Regardless of where you live in Mexico, it will take some time to adapt to the local climate, weather and seasons as they change throughout the year. This section describes key aspects of Mexico’s climate and environment and connects you to extensive insights for further reading here on Mexperience.

Mexico’s climate and topography

Mexico is a vast land with varying climates by location, and those climates are influenced by a location’s latitude and the regional topography. If you choose to live in the mountain highlands you’ll experience temperate year-climates (some places can get quite cool or cold in the winter months); if you choose to live along the coastal plains, winters will usually be pleasantly warm, and summers hot and humid.

Learning to live at higher elevations

If you’re shortlisting any colonial cities, or places to live in the highlands (including Mexico City and Guadalajara) we recommend that you consider how you will cope living at elevation; most people can adjust easily to living in thinner air, but you ought to keep this in mind if you’re moving from a low-elevation area to living a mile or more up on a mountain.

Coping with the heat and humidity

If you’re shortlisting coastal towns and cities and areas along the coastal plains, including the Yucatán region of Mexico, consider how you may cope in climates with high heat and high humidity.

November through to early April can be gloriously warm and comfortable in low-lying areas; however, spring and summer can be swelteringly hot, and humid.

Mexico through the seasons

Mexperience helps you to discover Mexico’s weather and climates by region and location throughout the four seasons.

Mexico’s privileged location in relation to the equator, the length of daytime and darkness have a good equilibrium and the quality of the light in Mexico is extraordinary, too.

Mexico’s rainy and dry seasons

Mexico’s rainy season begins in May or June each year and gives way to the dry season in October or November. Regions affected by this cycle experience dramatic changes to the landscape; both the wet and dry seasons offer charms, and challenges.

Windstorms and the hurricane season

Windstorms in Mexico can be mystical and affect all regions regardless of topography and elevation.

The hurricane season tends to affect coastal areas the most, although strong hurricanes can drive heavy rains inland, too, causing local flooding and hazardous driving conditions on mountainous roads.

Discover Mexico’s weather and climates

Mexperience helps you to discover Mexico’s diverse topography and climate as you make your lifestyle and leisure plans:

• Learn about how Mexico is a land of three lands
• Discover Mexico’s climate through the seasons
• The rain season begins in May/June and yields to the dry season in October/November
• Check individual travel guides here on Mexperience for climate by location.
• You can get full details about the weather by region and season on our guide to climate in Mexico.
• Browse the latest articles about climate and weather in Mexico

Learning about and respecting local customs and social practices is an integral part of assimilating a new lifestyle in a country that is foreign to your home culture.

This guide helps you to navigate Mexico’s contemporary social etiquette and get acquainted with the social graces practiced here. It can also help to prevent you from making embarrassing or unnecessary faux pas.

Becoming familiar with Mexican social etiquette

This guide provides you with a detailed primer about Mexican social etiquette in everyday situations to help you learn about and adapt to local customs. This guide shares valuable insights if you plan to move to Mexico to live, work or retire.

If you plan to work in Mexico, whether you’re living here or visiting Mexico on a business trip, this guide in combination with our Guide to Business Etiquette in Mexico will help you to prepare for your meetings and negotiations.

Social graces and language

Mexico has very polite and courteous mannerisms built-in to its social norms and language. Politeness, patience, and tolerance in all situations —especially in difficult or frustrated ones— is always appreciated, and ultimately rewarded in Mexico.

Conversely, a display of impatience, anger, frustration, or lack of general respect in formal or informal situations can tend to fall on ‘deaf ears’ when dealing with most people in Mexico.

Although those around you may not outwardly react to your conflictive behavior, the ultimate outcome in a situation could be made worse for you through deliberate obstruction or total rejection of your wishes, not because it is impossible to fulfill them, but as a response to what is deemed to be your impoliteness.

Language formalities in Mexico

Politeness is built-in to social graces of Mexican culture, and this is most apparent in use of Spanish language.

• It’s common to use the Spanish language in its formal context —Usted— when dealing with people you do not know or who are senior to you.
• For friends, close associates, and informal situations, the informal —Tú— form of language is usually more appropriate.
• The use of formal language in informal situations in Mexico is often employed as a means to express irony, for example.

To better understand, and ultimately assimilate elements of Mexican social culture, you’ll need a good working knowledge of Spanish and spend time absorbing the nuances of how Mexican Spanish is employed everyday situations.

If your Spanish is rusty (or you’re monolingual), a language course can help.

When you have at least a basic working knowledge of Spanish, Mexperience’s PinPoint Spanish series helps you understand the nuances of how language is used in Mexico.

The etiquette of meeting & greeting people in Mexico

Meeting & greeting formalities are important in Mexico. Following social protocols will demonstrate your interest and sincerity, whereas ignoring them may be interpreted by others as coldness, or outright impoliteness.

Personal space

Mexicans tend to stand closer to each other than people do in the USA and Europe. This might feel a bit awkward to you at first if you are commonly used to having two feet or more of ‘air’ between you and other people (and especially those of the same gender as you), but in Mexico it’s quite common for people to stand and converse more closely than that with each other.  You don’t want to get too close, but stepping back too far may be taken as a sign of mistrust.

Men meeting & greeting other men

Men always shake hands when they meet and before they depart each other’s company.

Furthermore, an abrazo (hug) is shared between friends and may also be shared business associates with an established and productive working relationship. If you are unsure about whether to hug, allow the other person to lead: if, while shaking hands, he pulls you in toward him, follow through with your left arm on lightly his back—and give him 2 or 3 pats on the back.

Men meeting & greeting other women

It’s appropriate and courteous for a man to bow slightly when meeting a woman, regardless of familiarity, and whether the situation is a social or business occasion.

In business situations where familiarity is not yet established, men will politely shake women’s hands when they meet, and before they depart.  It is less usual for women to expect a kiss on the cheek, and most women will simply offer a handshake.

In social situations, and in business situations where a working relationship has been established, women might learn toward you to kiss when they are shaking your hand and if they do, you should follow through with a light kiss on the cheek—and only one kiss.

In regard to hugging, an abrazo (hug) is shared between friends and may also be shared between business associates with an established and productive relationship—hugs are light, and brief.  In business settings, men ought to allow the woman to lead in this matter.

Women meeting & greeting other women

In situations where women already know each other, women will always hug and kiss each other on the cheek.

When women are being introduced for the first time, whether socially or in a business context, a light handshake is a minimum gesture, and it’s also more common for women to share a light kiss and/or a light hug on a first meeting, but not always—wait for your host to lead if you’re unsure.

When departing, a handshake is a minimum gesture in a business context, and in social situations, and where business familiarity is well established, it is quite likely that women will kiss on the cheek and hug before they depart.

Before you part company

It’s important to say good-bye to people properly in Mexico. Leaving a meeting or situation without saying good-bye may be construed as poor form, impoliteness, or coldness on your part.

It’s not appropriate to simply say good-bye from a distance after you have been meeting somewhere together; there should be some physical contact, for example shaking of hands or hugs. See the section earlier in this guide for more insights about greeting protocols.

The use of professional titles in Mexico

Professional titles are an important part social and language etiquette in Mexico —they can be significant status symbol in some professional circles— and even in some informal situations.

Professionals with a degree are not referred to as Señor or Señora or Señorita in professional (and some social) situations, but instead by their professional title.

The most common professional titles in Mexico

When someone is using their professional title, they will be addressed as [Title] First name and Last Name, for example, La Licenciada Mariana Sanchez.

Here are the most common titles you will encounter in Mexico:

Licenciado/a — This is the most common and used to address anyone with a professional degree. Often used for addressing lawyers and Notary Publics, and any senior office worker, senior manager, or official.

Ingeniero/a — This refers to an engineer, and may be used when talking formally to anyone working in an engineering environment, and examples include: building and construction (but see Arquitecto, below), senior staff or managers working in manufacturing or design, and experts in information technology.

Doctor/a — Anyone who has earned a Doctorate in their discipline may refer to, or present, themselves as Doctor/a; it’s most commonly used to address professionals working in medical and pharmaceutical fields.

Arquitecto/a — This title is specifically reserved for those with a professional degree in architecture.

Maestro/a — This term is versatile, and can be used to describe a teacher, a master crafts person, someone who is adroit in the fine arts, and also an experienced or highly skilled builder or trades person, including a plumber, for example.  Read this article for further insights.

Professor/a — This term is used almost exclusively in academia, or to address an academic professor who happens to be working in an industrial or office environment.

When to use professional titles

Although professional titles remain an important and an integral part of social etiquette and language use in Mexico, it’s also reasonable to acknowledge that they are not as important as they have been in previous eras—especially among younger generations.

However, keep these points in mind:

• In the context of formal situations and/or situations of (legal) dispute or argument between parties, professional titles will often not only be employed, but emphasized, and this is part of the formality in those types of circumstances.
• When you are being introduced to someone by somebody else, the person making the introduction might refer to the third person by their professional title and in this case, follow the example and refer to the person by their title.
• If the person you are meeting immediately refers to themselves using their professional title, take that as a cue to know that the conversation will be formal, even if the situation may be a social or informal one.
• You might at some point during the course of a conversation be invited to use perhaps a first name—but the other party must lead this; never assume familiarity.

Dining etiquette in Mexico

Whether you’re dining our formally or informally with others in Mexico, there are certain rules of etiquette to consider as part of the gathering. Here are some local insights about the etiquette of eating out and dining socially here.

Invitations and bill settlement protocols

Regardless of whether the meal is informal, formal, or to discuss (potential) business matters, there are a few graces to consider about invitations and bill settlement.

• If you invite someone to eat out at a restaurant, it is presumed (and expected) that you will settle the bill, including the tip.
• If you are invited out to eat at a restaurant, it is also presumed that your host will settle, and polite to let them do so.
• It is customary for those who have been invited out to eat at a restaurant to offer to pay but this is a social grace, and one that should always be kindly and politely declined.
• If you are invited out to a restaurant for a meal you, too, should offer to pay, and then gracefully accept when your kind offer is politely declined.
• Splitting the bill is not typically practiced in Mexico, except in the case of close friends, or family. (Note: Restaurants will take split payment from patrons if asked to do so.)

Formats for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and supper

The format and length of meals out can vary and is most usually aligned with the time of day, type of meal, and the occasion.

Social breakfasts last for thirty minutes to an hour if the parties have a busy day ahead of them, or might go on for two or more hours depending on the situation.

Lunch or dinner is the main meal of the day in Mexico, and typically starts between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. You should always plan to spend at least two hours for this meal. It’s impolite to rush off immediately afterwards, unless there’s a prior understanding that you or the other party has other commitments to attend.

Dinners and suppers in Mexico tend to be ‘friends and family’ affairs; supper is taken from any time after 8 p.m. and can start as late as 10 p.m.  Business dinners and suppers are uncommon except between close business associates.

Being invited to dinner to a person’s own home is quite an honor, especially if the relationship is relatively new, or you have recently been cultivating a working or business relationship. You may take wine and/or flowers if you have been invited to dinner at someone’s home.  If you only take one item, we recommend you take flowers.  See gift-giving, later in this guide, for more insights.

Some observations on table etiquette

Here are some notes and tips in relation to table etiquette when you are dining in Mexico, whether at a restaurant or at someone’s home:

• If you are at a restaurant and dining formally, it’s customary to allow your host to order for you. If you are the host, it’s customary to ascertain your guest’s choices and order accordingly on their behalf.
• If you are dining informally, it’s more common for each person to order their own food directly with the waiter.
• If you don’t read/speak Spanish, some restaurants may offer a menu in English, or the menu might be bilingual.  If you’re the host, ensure that someone is at the table who can translate if your Spanish is not good; if you are the guest and there’s only a menu in Spanish, ask the host for guidance.
• Excess drinking is frowned upon in polite company Mexico; always regulate your alcohol intake when taking meals out on social or business occasions.
• It is local custom to offer toasts; the traditional toast in Mexico is “¡Salud!” (health).
• It is customary for the host to say “buen provecho,” or perhaps just “provecho” before commencing a meal; this also serves as a prompt to begin eating, and might be combined with a toast of ¡Salud!  The word provecho is the linguistic equivalent of the French, “bon apetit.“
• Some foods, like tacos, tortas, and tostadas are eaten using your fingers; using a knife and fork may be impractical and even look comical; if in doubt, follow the lead of your host(s).

Tipping etiquette at restaurants in Mexico

Mexico has a strong tipping culture and, if you are settling the bill, you must include a tip (unless the service was poor, that is unlikely).

• 10% to 15% of the total bill is customary, depending on the class of establishment and level of service you received.
• At Mexican diners and fondas and non-fancy restaurants 10% is sufficient; at higher-end restaurants and bistros, 15% is expected for good service.
• The 18%-25% rates now often expected at high-end restaurants in the United States are not practiced in Mexico; 15% is considered an acceptable ceiling for a meal tip.

Time and punctuality in Mexico

The English are so well known for their punctuality that, in Mexico, there’s a phrase people might use immediately after agreeing a time with you, “hora inglesa,” literally translated means “English time.”  The inference is that the time agreed should be strictly adhered to.

For social events, you could arrive 30 minutes later than the time on the formal invitation, or communicated by the host in some other way. In many countries, people rarely show up for informal parties at the exact time, preferring to arrive a little later on, and in Mexico this is quite common.

If you are sending out invitations to host a social gathering, whether its formal or informal, keep in mind that most guests are unlikely show up at the precise time you set on the invitation.

Importantly, it is not customary to define an ‘end time’ for social occasions in Mexico. Sometimes invitations to very formal events might specify a time at which the event will end, but in Mexico the end-time on your invitations ought be left open-ended (i.e., blank), with no end time specified on the invitation.

Dress code in Mexico

How people dress is another important aspect of Mexican social culture.  Here are some insights about attire depending on the climate and social or business situation.

Attire is influenced by local climate

The dress code in Mexico is in good part influenced by the local climate. Suits and heavy dresses in hot and sultry climates may not commonly be worn even for some formal situations (check locally) in which case smart-casual clothing that is light, comfortable, and elegant is often worn in more formal situations in hotter climate zones, whereas heavier formal attire (or heavier smart casual clothing) is often used in more temperate and cooler climates.

Formal meetings in temperate climate zones

For formal occasions in temperate climates —including business meetings, weddings and funerals, and other somber or serious occasions— men should always wear a suit and tie and women a formal dress.  During colder months, overcoats and scarves may be worn, and it’s also prudent to carry an umbrella during the rain season.

Formal meetings in hot climate zones

Except for very formal situations (and at venues where the building is air conditioned), attire for most formal meetings in hot climates is characterized by light and elegant clothing.  Heavy suits and dresses are simply impractical in hot, humid, environments.  Good quality cotton and linen garments can look elegant and provide a natural breathable fabric that will keep you cooler and more comfortable than synthetic fibers.  When dressing formally in a hot climate pay special attention to footwear; overall, “simple elegance” is what is called for.

Informal gatherings

For informal occasions, smart-casual or informal attire may be appropriate depending on the venue and situation.

For casual social gatherings, people’s attire tends to match the local climate: lighter for hotter climates, heavier smart-casual clothes for temperature and cool climates.  Beach shorts and T-shirts are commonly worn at informal gathering with friends coastal locations and in other hot climates; however, if you are meeting informally at a party where you don’t know that many people, something closer to smart-casual might be a better choice, absent a theme, e.g. pool or beach party.

During more formal or special occasions, for example birthdays and anniversaries, people will tend to dress-up. Older men might wear a coat or suit (with or without a necktie) whereas younger men and boys will tend to sport smart casual attire.  Older women will typically wear a formal dress (lighter natural fibers like cotton and linen are better in hot climates) and younger women and girls will wear smart-casual, often colorful, dresses.

Wedding attire in hot climates

Heavy suits are impractical in hot climates (e.g. Mérida in the summer or along the coasts) and so wedding attire might be less formal in hotter places, depending on the venue. Some weddings have “themes” in which case you ought to attend in attire to match. Check with the wedding hosts (or wedding planner if there is one).  Choose light cotton and linen attire that can look elegant and provide more comfort in hot weather than synthetic equivalents.

Meeting for the first time

If you are meeting people for the first time, it’s better to dress conservatively, especially if the meeting is for business or some other (potential) formal working association.

Attire ought to match the climate (see above), with an emphasis on simple elegance and attention to appropriate footwear.  Neutral colors including white and beige (ideal for hot climates), navy, black, or gray (better in temperature climates); or conservatively bright spring colors are ideal.

Dressing for the season

As we have mentioned in a related article, there are places in Mexico that can get cool or cold during the fall and winter months, so check the local climate where you are meeting.

Layers of clothing are often practical during the fall and winter, as mornings and evenings tends to be cool or cold at these times of year, especially in places situated at elevation, but daytime temperatures can get quire warm.  Cold fronts during the fall and winter months may require an overcoat as well.

Torrential afternoon rainstorms can be common during the rainy season, and it’s prudent to take an umbrella or a light raincoat if you might be outdoors or otherwise exposed to the elements.

The dry season, especially in the springtime between February and May, can get very hot and dusty in some places, so dress accordingly: light clothing (elegant for formal occasions), long sleeve shirts and a hat to protect from unbroken sunshine if you’re likely to be outside for extended period, e.g. a garden party.

You can learn more about Mexico’s Seasons here on Mexperience

Gift-giving etiquette in Mexico

Gift-giving is a significant aspect of Mexican social culture. Gifts are seen as symbols of affection and appreciation, and the absence of a gift on some occasions might be construed as impolite, or a form of “cold shoulder.”

Note that if you receive a gift, it is customary to open the gift immediately to show interest and appreciation for it.

Here are some tips about gift-giving practices in Mexico.

Lunch and dinner invitations

Although gifts are not required if you are invited to a lunch or dinner meal, they are appreciated.

A gift should always be offered if you are invited to someone’s home for lunch or dinner. Fresh flowers are always appreciated.  A bottle of wine (if your host drinks alcohol), or a small gift from your home country if you are visiting from abroad are also good gifts to take to a dinner party.

Gifts for personal assistants

Secretaries and executive assistants appreciate gifts in return for their assistance; for example, when a friend’s assistant helps you arrange some travel plans.  These gifts ought to be a token of appreciation (not a statement), and if you are male and the assistant is female, you ought to indicate that the gift is from you and your spouse/partner if you have one.

Gifts at birthdays

Birthday gift-giving is popular and frequently practiced in Mexico, especially among close friends and family members.  Sometimes the gift might be a meal out at a fashionable or fancy restaurant.

If you’re living in Mexico with a young family, you’re likely to be invited to your children’s friends’ birthday parties.  It’s appropriate to take a gift for the child being celebrated.

Gifts given at Christmastime

Christmas gift-giving is practiced in Mexico, usually on Christmas Eve, although children might also receive (additional) gifts on January 6th, Kings’ Day.

If you don’t know what to give

If you’re unsure about what to give, inquiring about what kind of gift the receiver would like to get may be considered discourteous, so avoid asking the person you intend to give something to what they would like.

If you know someone well who is close to the person you want to give to, you might ask them privately for guidance.

If you are visiting (or returning to) Mexico from abroad, you might bring something that is directly associated with your home country as a gift.

Mexico’s geography

Mexico is on the North American continent and ought not be referred to in conversations as being part of “South America” or “Central America.”  Mexico can correctly be referred to as being part of Latin America.

Learn the language and speak in Spanish

If you intend to live in Mexico, full-time or part-time, You ought make a genuine attempt to speak some Spanish.  Making an effort to speak Spanish, even at a basic conversational level, will be greeted with warmth and considered a gesture of respect and goodwill.

The Mexican flag

The Mexican flag is an important emotional and political national symbol and should never (under any circumstances) be exhibited, used, or referred to in mock, mimicry, or defamatory terms.

Walking past or between people, and leaving

When walking past someone who has yielded to you, or past people who are in conversation with each other (e.g., to excuse your passing between them); and when exiting an elevator, or leaving an office or a room when others will remain present, it is customary to say “con permiso” (or more simply, “permiso“). When someone else says (con) permiso, in these situations, it is customary to reply with the phrase “propio.”

Etiquette when visiting Mexico’s churches

Whether you are visiting a church as part of a leisure tour, attending mass, or some other formal event there, for example a wedding or funeral, you ought to observe certain rules of etiquette when entering the church.

• Be respectful in your attire: shorts, beachwear, cut-off tops, and other very casual clothing should not be worn inside the church.
• Men must always remove hats (including baseball caps), scarves and gloves.  Women may wear a head covering —that can include a hat/scarf, but not a baseball cap— and may be encouraged or expected to do so in some of the more traditional Catholic churches.
• Churches are a place of worship: be mindful of any religious services taking place and don’t interrupt the services.
• Do not use flash photography.  In some smaller communities, for example, rural Chiapas,  taking photographs in and even around the church is strictly forbidden.
  See also: Photography etiquette.
• It’s respectful to leave a donation (the donation box is typically near the main entrance/exit) to help with church expenses, whether you are touring or visiting for a specific event.  If you attend mass, the alms basket may be passed around and it’s appropriate to contribute.  Take cash with you.

Beware of hands on hips, and in pockets

Putting your hands on your hips is a sign of aggression in Mexico; and placing your hands inside your pockets when in conversation with someone, as in many countries, is regarded as bad manners.

Further research and resources

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.

• Making friends and cultivating social networks
• Adapting and settling-in to your lifestyle in Mexico
• Finding balance and purpose in your Mexico lifestyle
• Articles about lifestyle planning in Mexico
• Articles about Mexican culture
• Articles about local customs
• Essential skills for expats series

You’ll need to exercise patience during this period, and if you have a partner or family arriving with you, it’s important to be mindful of their needs and any emotional and practical support they may require as you work together to cultivate the beginning of your new lifestyle.

Mexico has a distinct feel and ambiance, and you will each need to give yourself time to adapt to the physical environment as well to the cultural changes and nuances you and your partner/family will find yourselves surrounded by.

This article offers some practical tips and resources that can help you prepare for the period of adapting and settlement in Mexico.

Exchange your residency visa for a residency card

To begin, a reminder: when you arrive in Mexico with a residency visa sticker(s) in your passport(s), you must begin the visa-to-residency-card exchange procedure within 30 calendar days of your arrival date and before the residency visa’s expiry date.

If you forget or omit to do this, or allow your visa to lapse, your visa will become void, and you’ll need to leave Mexico to restart the residency application from a Mexican consulate abroad.  If you need help with the visa exchange procedure, consider using our Mexico Immigration Assistance service.

Adapting to the local climate and elevation

If you have moved to one of the many towns or cities in Mexico situated at elevation —principally Mexico’s colonial cities and its three big cities— you may need to allow time for your body to become accustomed to the ‘thinner’ air prevalent in these places if you did not live at elevation before you came to Mexico.

You may also need to take time to adjust to the general climate where you chose to live, for example if you’re near the coast you may have to acclimatize to the heat and humidity, especially if you accustomed to the climate of a cooler or colder country.

Become acquainted with Mexican culture and local customs

If you have not yet read our guides and articles about Mexican culture and traditions, the settling-in period is good opportunity to do some research and get acquainted with Mexico’s culture.  Mexperience offers a wide selection of articles and guides to help you—connect to the resources using the link below.

Begin to develop your social and community network

A vital component of becoming integrated into your new lifestyle in Mexico is to seek out and connect with local people, community groups, and others with similar interests to you.   Learn more about exploring common routes and approaches that foreign residents use to discover and cultivate new connections and friendships as part of their lifestyle in Mexico.

Find a school for your children

If your you have school-age children to raise, the settling-in period is also a time to visit the schools on your shortlist and choose one for your children to attend. Getting your children into a school routine will help them to find and make new friends, settle into their new surroundings, and begin to engage with the local language and customs.

Learning or improving your Spanish

Language gives you access to the culture and makes your lifestyle experiences richer and more meaningful. Learning or improving your Spanish is an essential part of settling-in and making Mexico your home.  Mexperience offers articles, resources, and connections to help you.

Managing your money and using bank services

If you’re not already familiar with Mexico’s currency, take time to get acquainted with the coins and banknotes you’ll need to deal with every day; and you can open a Mexican bank account when you have your residency card.  Mexperience offers local knowledge and insights about money and finances in Mexico.

If you’re retired, apply for your INAPAM card

If you’re 60 years of age or older and hold a Mexican residency card, you can opt to apply for the INAPAM card that offers discounts to seniors living in Mexico across an ample range of products and services.

Settling-in to your home in Mexico

Whether you are renting or buying a house in Mexico, there will be a period of moving-in and settlement to your new home—and all the things that entails, including dressing the home with furniture and adornments, and might also include things like finding a gardener, a housekeeper, and someone to maintain your swimming pool if you have a private pool in your garden.

You’ll also need to learn about how to get all your domestic services in place: electricity supply, gas and water, telephone, internet access, etc.

The Mexperience guides to House Maintenance and Home Security in Mexico includes lots of practical guidance and local insights about managing and maintaining your home in Mexico.

Get connected to stay in touch

Although you might keep your home country mobile phone (at least for a while) you’re likely to benefit by getting a Mexican mobile phone number so that you can communicate locally at low cost, and others in Mexico can contact you easily.

If you plan to open a Mexican bank account, you’ll need a Mexican mobile phone number to be able to download and access the banking apps they provide.  Mexican mobile phone plans offer affordable choices with unlimited calls across North America and generous mobile data allowances in exchange for a modest monthly fee.

You’ll also need to consider how to get your home connected with internet: there are various choices of providers and if your home is situated in a rural or semi rural area, there are options including mobile data and satellite services.

Create your ‘essential local services’ list

When you move into you home in Mexico, compose a list of “essential services” providers locally. This ought to include:

• medical services like a local doctor, emergency clinic, dentist, opticians;
• local emergency service numbers—you can dial 911 in Mexico, but look for local service numbers as well;
• contact numbers for your gas suppliers, the water company, the electricity company, your drinking water supplier;
• contact details of anyone who attends your property regularly, e.g. your housekeeper, gardener, pool maintenance, etc.
• helpful service providers including fumigators, dry cleaning, local taxi services, etc.

This list is likely to grow over time and may include the names and contact numbers for helpful plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and other local domestic service providers.

If you live in a gated community, that list might already exist as part of the Homeowner’s Association pack—check locally.  If your home is not part of a gated community, then asking friends, colleagues, and neighbors, or local community and association groups (including online groups related to specific locations) is a useful way to begin compiling your list of essential local contacts.

Tip: If you already know a plumber, that person might also be an electrician (the two trades often accompany each other) or one trades person might be able to refer you to another as they might work with others on larger building projects, etc.  So ask your plumber if you need a carpenter or ironmonger, for example.

Discovering food and drink in Mexico

One of the most attractive aspects of living in Mexico is the access to lots of fresh, colorful, and flavorful food and refreshing drinks.  As you settle-in, you’ll begin to explore and discover your local shops, markets, and food purveyors.  Here are some articles and guides for further discovery.

Taking time out for leisure and recreation

Amidst the demanding routines of physically moving to Mexico and taking time to settle into your new life situations, it’s worth remembering that Mexico’s enormous choice of leisure and recreation activities (supported by its agreeable year-round climates) is now on your doorstep—and as a resident, you can take full advantage of everything Mexico offers you for leisure.

Mexperience helps you to discover places, travel experiences, and opportunities for enjoying your leisure time here, and our travel associates can help you to create custom itineraries if you need assistance with your leisure trips.

Further research and resources

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.

• Articles about lifestyle planning in Mexico
• Finding suitable accommodations
• Approaches to choosing or changing your Mexico lifestyle
• Discover places to live in Mexico
• Principal routes to legal residency in Mexico
• Latest articles about lifestyles in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

You’ll be able to find community and social groups to engage with in most Mexican towns and cities where foreigners live in any significant numbers in Mexico; and even in emerging towns and locations off the beaten path, foreign residents tend to find meeting points and gathering places that can include certain local cafés or bistros, or social gatherings organized homes of people already well-established locally.

This article explores common routes and approaches that foreign residents use to discover and cultivate new connections and friendships as part of their lifestyle in Mexico.

Ways to make friends and cultivate your social circles in Mexico

You’ll need to make a conscious effort to find and cultivate new social connections in Mexico. Creating a strong social network requires your investment of time and energy to find new acquaintances, some of whom might become friends, and then work regularly to cultivate those friendships.

There are lots of avenues you might explore do this—here are some examples:

Work placement

If you’ve come to Mexico as part of a work placement, the company you work for might provide a list of existing local social and community groups; larger companies tend to organize ‘away days’ or ‘team building events’ where the employees and their families can meet in a social setting and get to know each other—these connections can lead to other activities, new acquaintances, and potential new friends.

Sports and hobbies

If you play sports and/or have specific hobbies or interests that you pursue, you can search for and find sports teams that you can ask to play on, as well as clubs and societies you can apply to join. Joining a local golf club or the local gym also offers an opportunity to get involved locally and meet others; if you play an instrument, you may find a local band or orchestra to play in.

Walking your dog

If you have a dog, taking it on frequent walks in the local neighborhood or park is a good way of meeting your neighbors and meeting other dog owners.  Parks in large towns and cities have ‘dog play areas’ these days which also create a meeting point for humans watching over them.  As younger generations use these parks to walk their dogs, they provide an opportunity for older generations to invest in cultivating friendships with younger people.

Help and be kind with your neighbors

Get to know know your neighbors and be helpful.  If the people living in your vicinity are older, be mindful of any needs they might have, for example, you could offer to go shopping or take them shopping with you.  If they are younger and have a family, consider how you might help them.  Small acts of kindness and common courtesy can make a big impact.  For example, you might wheel trash cans back to the house after the garbage delivery has passed; you might gift them a plant for their garden. Even if neighbors don’t become close friends with you, it’s good practice to cultivate good relationships with the people you live among.

Hosting parties and events

Hosting a party at your home for your new friends and immediate neighbors helps you get to know them if you’ve recently moved in—as well as to develop friendship and sharing in the longer term.  These types of events also carry the potential to present serendipitous opportunities and make new connections locally, especially if your guests are encouraged to bring other people they know that you don’t yet know.

Churches and spiritual centers

If you attend a local church or spiritual center, you will be able to meet new people of faith and through those meetings have an opportunity to make and cultivate new friendships.

Join or create a common-interest group

Birds of a feather enjoy flocking together so a good way to find new people to connect with is to join interest groups doing  things you enjoy or have an interest in. Book clubs, writing groups, hobby groups (crafts, collecting, sewing, painting), walking and hiking, history and culture, etc.  If a group doesn’t exist locally, consider taking the initiative and starting one.  You can meet at local coffee houses, community centers, or yours or someone’s else’s home as may be appropriate.

Attend and support local events

Make an effort to find out about and attend local events. Art exhibitions, wine or food tasting days, music concerts, local theater groups, dance, and craft exhibitions and workshops are among the most common events that offer good opportunities to meet others and make new acquaintances.  To make this work, you often have to attend events regularly; every occasion might not offer-up an opportunity to meet other people you would ideally like to cultivate a friendship with, but some events will. Regular attendance and consistent effort is essential.

Become a regular patron at local establishments

Get out of the house and go for coffee or beverage, or a meal, at local establishments in your area—and make that habit a regular one.  Over time, you’ll get known and you’ll start to notice and meet other people who also regularly attend these places, and you might strike up conversation with them.  If you like watching major sporting events, don’t stay in to watch it—attend a local sports bar and join others with that common interest.

Reconnect with people you’ve lost touch with

Sometimes a fledgling friendship can get sidelined by the events and responsibilities of everyday life situations. Consider people you’ve met before who you subsequently lost contact with and make an effort to contact and reconnect with them.  You could offer to buy them a coffee or invite them out to a light meal as an opportunity to rekindle the acquaintance or friendship.

Meeting other parents

If you have school-age children, your local school is natural focal point for you to meet other parents, and through school meetings and other events (for example, school camping trips are popular here) there’s an opportunity to find and cultivate new acquaintances and friendships this way.

If you don’t have children, or are retired, there are other ways of finding and joining local groups, and a search online using social media channels, as well as notices on boards posted at popular local stores, cafés, and restaurants may connect you with new people and groups who, in turn, will connect you with others. In time, you’ll become part of the connections chain that introduces future new residents to your community.

Volunteering and community work

Volunteering is a way to give back to your local community and an ideal opportunity for making new friends. Search locally for existing initiatives that might be operating; or consider starting a new initiative of your own.

Entrepreneurship

Some people who are retired and who discover that they have spare time and patient capital in their lives decide to embark on a project to create a small enterprise.

Some might work for a local company to share their life’s knowledge and expertise, others might start a small business of their own—for example, they might open a local shop, or start a local business.  They might partner with a Mexican associate to achieve this.

Engaging with these types of self-employment can connect you to new people and opportunities you might not otherwise meet through social groups alone, and the investment you make can create new value for your local community.

Local anchors as connectors

Things come from things.  And new connections can emerge from existing connections.  An excellent way to begin to develop a circle of new friends is to encourage your existing contacts to introduce you to new people they know locally.

Another anchor you might consider is the realty agent (if you used one) to buy your home in Mexico. That person might be an excellent anchor for helping you to make your first connections when you first move to Mexico, including practical connections like local service suppliers you need as you settle-in.

The good agents will know about the local community groups, may introduce you to some local people they know, and could also help you find domestic helpers like housekeepers and gardeners. These personal introductions can serve as key anchors that enable you to develop your new social networks when you move to Mexico.

Some foreign residents go further and make and concerted effort to integrate with groups and communities beyond those organized by other foreign residents. Local churches, local community groups and associations, and local neighborhood associations are good places to do this.  Getting involved locally is also a positive way to develop your Spanish language skills.

Further research and resources

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.

• Articles about lifestyle planning in Mexico
• Approaches to choosing or changing your Mexico lifestyle
• Adapting and settling-in to your lifestyle in Mexico
• Discover places to live in Mexico
• Principal routes to legal residency in Mexico
• Latest articles about lifestyles in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

After the eventful period during which you’ll deal with the immediate needs and logistics associated with your physical move and settling-in period, you’ll enter a more ordinary pace and rhythm of everyday life situations as your life in Mexico begins to unfold in earnest.

This ‘second-stage’ settlement period will present opportunities and challenges. Ensuring that your situations are underpinned by healthy routines, a sense of purpose, and connections to other people will speed your adaption period and help you to create a balanced and fruitful lifestyle in Mexico.

This article outlines the important need to find purpose and routines as part of everyday situations, and also highlights some common risks to help you spot any potential difficulties.

Forming regular routines

How your daily routines begin to unfold will depend upon your life stage, the intentions you set out, and your lifestyle priorities. Routines during the first few months of your settling-in period will likely revolve around practical logistics that support your move; however, when those matters are discharged, more ‘mundane’ matters will take precedence.

Your daily routines are likely to vary depending upon your life stage and circumstances, for example:

If you are retired

You might have a significant amount of spare time to fill; or you might have specific interests and activities you intend to engage with that fill that time. Some retirees arrive and explore for ways to get involved locally, and some might also start a business or begin working for local companies or non-profit organizations to share their expertise, life experiences, and knowledge.

If you’re arriving as a couple without children

You might engage with specific interests you each have separately, or together, or a mixture of both.

Although the issue of finding strong routines might seem inconsequential at first, one of the key dangers a couple faces is that if one or the other is unable to settle into a regular routine —and find activities of interest to them— the move to Mexico can quickly become barren.

This is especially true if the other partner in the relation does have a regular routine and interests and is enjoying Mexico and can happen, for example, if one partner has a job, work project, or finds integration natural, and the other doesn’t; the situation can be exacerbated by language barriers.  See the section below about spotting risks and pitfalls for additional insights about this.

If you’re arriving as a family or a parent with minor children

Your routines are likely to be primarily formed around the children’s daily needs: schooling, and other social and scholastic matters are likely to take up a great deal of time and energy.

If your children are growing older, it’s sensible to think about how your routines will evolve when they finish school/college, and how your priorities and routines will respond to those changes.

If you arrive in Mexico as a single person without children

Your routines will likely be based entirely on the lifestyle intentions you set out with as part of your move to Mexico, that may include a retirement lifestyle, a work/project lifestyle, or combination of both.

Finding purpose in everyday situations

Regardless of your situation and life stage, you’ll need to make a conscientious effort to build new routines —daily, weekly, and monthly— as an integral part of your settling-in period when you move to Mexico.

Routines help to provide focus and are also the anchors that help to give life situations a purpose, and thus motivate you to engage more meaningfully in your everyday activities and pursuits.

Having purpose also mitigates potential risks associated with an absence of routines and purpose; unchecked, these can spiral downward and become detrimental to yours, your partner’s, or family’s well-being.

Social connections are key anchors

Making new friends, forming new associations, and getting involved in local community groups and activities comes naturally to some people; and for those with jobs, children, or work projects to do here, those activities can provide solid daily routine structures and contacts —professional and social— which in turn support their everyday life situations here in Mexico.

However, not everyone is naturally adept in the art of forming new social connections or may not have the formal structures that workplaces, schools, and other working groups provide as a primer and platform for making new friends.  The task becomes even more difficult if your Spanish language skills are not well-developed.

When you move to Mexico, it’s worthwhile taking some time to consider how you will respond to the matter of developing your human connections here, and consider what efforts you personally need to make to discover new social circles and cultivate acquaintances and friends within those—perhaps from ‘square one.’

Human connections, that include acquaintances, family, friends, colleagues, and associates, are a key support mechanism because they help to provide practical, social, and emotional support to us every day; and while these are important wherever you live, they take on additional importance when you have recently moved to a foreign country and you may find yourself needing to recreate networks of connections, people, and groups—possibly from square one.

As you plan your move and set-out your intentions, consider how you will cultivate the new connections that will play an important role in your everyday situations in Mexico—and might well become a determining factor of how well you settle into and enjoy Mexico as a place to live.

Pitfalls in the absence of purpose and routines

It’s worth touching on the matter of common pitfalls that can appear when you don’t have regular routines to engage in, you or someone close to you lacks purpose, and/or develops too few human connections when you or they come to Mexico to live.

Being mindful of these pitfalls may help you to spot warning signs that can point to the emergence of situations which can undermine your original plans and intentions.

Here are some key situations to be mindful of, based on experiences of some people who moved to Mexico.

Lack of social connections

Neglecting to cultivate social and community connections can quickly lead to isolation, and depression.  Depression can lead to abuse of addictive substances including alcohol and drugs—and this, in turn, limits your ability to socialize properly and develop wholesome routines and new human connections, creating a downward spiral that can be hard to break out of if goes unnoticed.

Vices and addictions

Limited social circles and/or closed-group communities can sometimes be a good breeding ground for a gradual but certain progression to alcoholism, and other substance abuse.

This seems especially prevalent among people with lots of spare —often barren— time on their hands.  Regular rounds of social events and dinner parties that are heavily drenched with alcohol can unwittingly facilitate alcoholism by stealth.

Alcoholism is perhaps one of the biggest hidden threats to foreign residents in Mexico who lack strong daily routines and/or clear purpose as they cultivate their life situations here.

Partners adapting to Mexico

When couples move to Mexico together, the move might be advocated, and thus propelled, more strongly by one of the two partners in the relationship—and when this happens the dominant influencer will often make a greater effort to integrate, establish routines, and find purpose than the other.

If this disequilibrium continues, living in Mexico can quickly evolve into an inhospitable experience for the partner who is not integrating well, and that can put tremendous strains on the relationship. One partner may summarily decide that they want to return to their home country, leaving the other to contend with the substantial issues that that type of unilateral decision would entail.

It’s especially problematic if one of the partners is in Mexico on a defined work contract; but can be equally devastating to a retired couple, one of whom adores Mexico and doesn’t want to leave, and another who believes that they are unable to adapt and integrate.

It’s worth reading our article about considering your motivations and intentions for moving to Mexico in the first place, and talking candidly with your partner about your shared desires, interests, and aspirations vis-à-vis moving to Mexico.

Being open and receptive to the other’s concerns or incertitude can minimize the possibility of critical situations —of type that can break plans and relationships— from developing in the first place.

If issues emerge after you arrive in Mexico, being cognizant of the potential difficulties can help a couple to respond constructively, and exercise flexibility and understanding of each other’s needs.

Children adapting to Mexico

Being mindful of family members who might move to Mexico with you, particularly children, and especially in the early months after your move to Mexico, is important.

Individuals respond to material changes in their lives in distinctive ways, and a move to a foreign country is perhaps one of the most materially significant changes that we can experience.

Children, especially younger children, tend to be the most adaptable, but some children might find the change hard to contend with, and adolescents and young adults may find it hard to grapple with the social, cultural, and language changes that a move to Mexico will bring to their lives.

The better private schools in Mexico will be mindful of families’ needs when they have moved here from abroad and will have support mechanisms in place to help parents and children cope, as well as to help and encourage them to adapt and integrate.

Mitigating the risks as you settle-in to Mexico

The situations described above are the most typical encountered by foreign residents in Mexico; there are others, and while you can never eliminate all risks, they can be mitigated through some forethought, planning, and self-awareness.

Here are some guiding tips:

Clarity of purpose

Be clear about your intentions for moving to Mexico. Define those intentions, know your priorities, and compose a plan—if you have a partner or family, be sure they are involved and engaged in every aspect of that plan.

Make an effort to integrate

After dealing with the logistics of moving and settling-in, make a determined effort to build and develop strong daily routines and find purpose in your Mexico lifestyles, regardless of your life stage.

Make friends

Invest earnestly in the effort it requires to develop local connections and associations with others when you arrive in Mexico; avoid becoming isolated or only having limited circles of friends.

Speak Spanish

Learn or improve your Spanish language skills; the importance of being able to converse in Spanish everyday cannot be underemphasized and ought not to be underestimated.

Be mindful of yourself and others

Spot the signs —in yourself, and your loved ones if they move with you— of isolation and depression and the vices that often accompany people if one or both those afflictions takes hold; provide support to those near you and seek professional support if you need it.

Bring people along

As you move to Mexico and begin to settle-in, be mindful of your partner’s and family’s needs and any troubles or doubts they might be experiencing as they learn to adapt to a new country and an unfamiliar environment; be prepared to flex and respond constructively to support them.

Further research and resources

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.

• Articles about lifestyle planning in Mexico
• Approaches to choosing or changing your Mexico lifestyle
• Making friends and cultivating social networks
• Adapting and settling-in to your lifestyle in Mexico
• Latest articles about lifestyles in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

Factors that may influence accommodation choices

Everyone’s situation has unique attributes when they’re moving, although there are several common factors that tend to influence the choices regarding accommodations, including:

• how long you intend to stay in Mexico—shorter stays will usually preclude a home purchase, but not all people who intend to stay long term will buy a house;
• your familiarity of Mexico—if you know Mexico and have friends or family here, this will likely influence your approach to finding accommodations; and
• any existing arrangements—some people already have property in Mexico they can move into, although sometimes the property is in a different location to where they want to live now; also
• specific circumstances and financial means—you might have specific reasons for wanting to rent or buy, and your decisions might be facilitated or restricted based on your financial means.

Renting before buying

If you do decide to buy property in Mexico, you might consider renting first to get a feel for the area(s) you’re thinking about moving into, before committing to a place or neighborhood—even if your preference is to buy and you have the financial means to do so.

If you already know the area you want to live in from previous experiences, you might only rent for a brief time in temporary accommodations while you scout for and buy a property in Mexico.  Some people buy soon after they arrive, perhaps on impulse, although most people rent (or stay with friends or family) at least for a short while beforehand.

Mexico’s house rental market

Most people who come to Mexico to live for the first time start out by renting a house here, and we recommend that people unfamiliar with the country begins by renting in the first instance—if only on a temporary basis.

Renting property gives you flexibility that can be helpful, although you’ll have to purchase a house in Mexico to benefit from the widest choice of property types available and obtain a dwelling space that suits your needs in detailed ways which rented properties are unlikely to be able to.  Renting property might also place other restrictions upon you; for example, many rentals don’t allow pets.

Rental properties are plentiful in Mexico, but the practicalities of finding a decent rental that is adequate for your needs takes time and effort, patience, and a degree of luck in respect of the listed properties during the timeframe that you are scouting the market.

Some real estate agents will help you scout for properties, although many agents prefer to only deal with property purchases and sales because the income available to them from rentals is materially lower than income generated from property sales.  If you intend to rent before you buy, let the agent know this, because some agents who don’t normally deal with rentals are sometimes prepared help potential future buyers to rent something locally in the near-term.

Buying a house in Mexico

People with intentions to stay longer in Mexico trend toward buying a property as soon as practical, as it can represent a better investment over the long term—provided that you choose wisely, that includes settling in a location that properly suits your lifestyle intentions, and that you don’t overpay for the property.  It’s better to buy less house in an optimum location than more house in a sub-optimal location.

Buying also gives you a much wider range of options than renting and enables you to shape the living spaces as you’d like them. It might also be sensible to buy sooner in a place where the market is buoyant, and prices are rising.

Choosing to buy a property in Mexico enables you to find a place that is more precisely suited to your lifestyle needs and can also encourage you to ‘put down roots’ in the location you have chosen—this is related to the level of commitment you have in relation to your move to Mexico.

Mexperience offers extensive articles and guides about real estate in Mexico that help you to discover the property market here, whether you are a buyer, an owner, or a seller.

Financing a property purchase

Many people moving to Mexico have capital available to them to purchase a home here —especially retirees— through investments and savings, or with equity that has accumulated in their existing home.

However, some people moving here might need or want to finance a home in Mexico.  Most foreign residents who buy property in Mexico do not need or seek credit, although real estate financing in Mexico is available through various specialized finance houses.  Our guide to real estate in Mexico includes a complete chapter about real estate finance.

Owning a house in Mexico

Home ownership is a responsibility whichever country your property is located in. Once you have moved to Mexico and taken possession of your home, whether you own your property in Mexico or are just renting it, there will be certain matters to organize and deal with on a regular basis to keep your house properly maintained and secured when you are home and away. With some local insights and forward planning, the maintenance and security of your home in Mexico should pose no major headaches or inconveniences.

Mexperience publishes a comprehensive guide to home maintenance and security in Mexico with tips and practical knowledge to help you manage your home in Mexico, keep it secure and prevent your Mexican home from falling into disrepair.

Insurance for your home in Mexico

Whether you’re buying or renting a home, it’s prudent to consider insurance for your home and personal possessions.

Mexico is subject to hurricanes (if your property is near the ocean) and earthquakes (whether you’re by the sea or inland) and it makes sense to protect your investment with an adequate home insurance coverage plan to protect your asset as well to cover you against third party liabilities, e.g., a tree falling onto your neighbor’s property and causing damage or injury.

If you’re only renting, you can buy an insurance plan to protect your personal items from loss due to flooding, burglary, etc.

Selling a house in Mexico

When you purchase property and eventually come to sell your home, there are different routes to market, agents to consider, processes to follow, and paperwork to organize.  Our guide to real estate in Mexico includes a full chapter dedicated to helping home sellers.

Working with a local realty agent

Finding and working with a local realty professional can be a worthwhile investment.

A well-established agent will be able to provide you with insights into the local area and community, brief you about locales and neighborhoods that could be appropriate (or otherwise) for your needs; and when you buy a house with the help of an agent, they might also assist you by connecting you to local groups, associations and perhaps even new acquittances that could become friends.

Renting out your Mexican home

If you purchase a home in Mexico, you might plan to rent out your Mexican home, in part or in its entirety.  Mexperience offers helpful articles that share insights about this, and our guide to real estate includes a chapter about renting.

Further research and resources

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.  Resources include:

• Articles about lifestyle planning in Mexico
• Discover places to live in Mexico
• Principal routes to legal residency in Mexico
• Latest articles about lifestyles in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

Some people who know Mexico and have been visiting here for many years may have a clear idea about where they want to live.  The place is known to them, they might already have an established network of acquaintances, friends, and contacts there; they are probably familiar with the location and the areas surrounding it, and they might even own a home there already which they have been using for extended visits without having moved to Mexico to live full-time.

Others may have some outline thoughts and ideas about the different regions, and some limited experience of having visited some places in Mexico. Some people will be approaching Mexico for the first time, with little or no prior knowledge of the country.

This article highlights and explores key factors and choices to contemplate as you consider short listing potential places to live or considering whether places you already know will be suitable for your lifestyle needs.

Key factors to consider when you’re researching places to live in Mexico

For many people, choosing a place to live in Mexico can be something of a blank canvass.  Our detailed article about matching your lifestyle needs with your location provides helpful foundational guidance that will help you to consider places beyond their notoriety or current popularity.

Key factors are summarized in the section below; and by connecting to our related articles and guides, you’ll be able to begin your search in earnest for potential places to live here.

Our series on places to live, work or retire in Mexico summarizes a list of specific locations to discover and consider.

Local climate and seasons

The climate and seasons are key factors you should consider when you’re exploring potential places to live in Mexico.  Places you visited on vacation might be fine for short periods, or during certain seasons; ideally, seek out locations that offer climates which will be agreeable to you and your intended lifestyle activities year-round.  Our article, land of three lands, describes Mexico’s three principal climate zones, and our article, hot coasts, cool colonial cities, describes the contrasts between living along the coastal plains and living in the highlands.

Consider the local topography

Also consider the topography—the terrain matters because it affects climate, accessibility, and practical matters like getting around and adjusting to living at elevation.

Mexico’s beautiful mountain towns are quaint and picturesque, but some of them are literally built-in to the side of a mountain and feature steep roads and sidewalks. In some mountain towns, houses are constructed on several ‘terraced levels’ to compensate for the steep terrain on which they are built.

The beautiful colonial cities of Guanajuato and Taxco are good examples of this.  If you have or develop any mobility issues, these sorts of places can be, or become, physically challenging to live in.

You might also to consider how you will cope with living at elevation; most people can adjust to living in thinner air, but you ought to keep this in mind if you’re moving from a low-elevation area to living a mile or higher up on a mountain.

Choosing between urban, semi-urban, and rural locations

Another key element to consider is whether you want to live in an urban, semi-urban, or rural location in Mexico.

Mexico’s cities offer all the services and amenities most foreign residents need and are also the most crowded.

Semi-rural locations are generally small or medium sized towns within a 30-to-60-minute drive of a big town or city.

Rural Mexico is unlike rural towns and villages in the US and Europe, for example; it offers some outstanding opportunities for picturesque countryside living, but it will require you to make some compromises and organize your lifestyle routines somewhat differently than if you are in a larger town or city.

The value of good a real estate agent

Working with a local real estate agent, especially when you’re buying a home, can be a worthwhile investment. Well established realty agents carry a wealth of local knowledge, and the best ones have lived and worked at the location they represent for several years or more.  A good local agent can apply their experience to give you invaluable insights and assistance in finding a home, and settling-in by connecting you to local contacts and helping you to make new acquaintances some of which might evolve into new friendships.

Speaking Spanish is important, regardless of location

It’s quite hard to live in Mexico and operate effectively on a day-to-day basis if you don’t speak at least some Spanish.

Living in or near a community of foreign residents will provide you with an immediate support network and there will be people there who can ‘show you the ropes’ and interpret for you if you are new in Mexico and speak little or no Spanish to start.  However, not all places that you might want to live in Mexico offer this, and so being able to converse in Spanish becomes essential.

Being able to converse in the local language offers access to the culture and enriches your overall experience of any foreign country. You will enjoy Mexico a lot more if you take some time to learn, or improve, your Spanish language skills.

Mexperience offers resources including an entire series of articles that help you to get acquainted with the context and nuances of Mexican Spanish language in everyday usage, and shares connections to language learning online, and at schools in Mexico.

Choosing between expat, local, and gated communities

When you have chosen a location to move to in Mexico, you will have three broad choices regarding the type of community and neighborhood you live in; these are:

Expat community locations: to live among other foreign residents, in well-established locations that are popular and often concentrated with other foreign residents; or

Gated communities: to live as part of a gated community that is most likely to be home for a mix of foreign residents and Mexicans; or

Traditional neighborhood: to live in traditional local Mexican neighborhoods.

Expat community locations

If you choose to live in a location that is popular and well-established with other foreign residents, —Lake Chapala, San Miguel de Allende, and Puerto Vallarta are prime examples— you’ll likely find yourself living in a neighborhood or area that has a relatively high concentration of other foreign residents living there, too.

This can provide excellent social and practical support, especially during your settling-in period, and can be enormously helpful as you begin to make new acquaintances and friends and need advice about contacts for services and amenities that you want or need locally.

You also have the advantage of moving into a mature community that has well-structured and organized groups and local societies that address many of the needs and interests of foreign residents.  They also provide helpful opportunities to meet socially with people who share your language and culture.

Many foreign residents move to these well-established places and cultivate thriving lifestyles there. The higher demand for these locations means that you are likely to pay a premium for property—whether you rent or buy.

A potential risk of creating a dependent lifestyle in these places is that you might settle yourself into some form of ‘lifestyle bubble’ that is somewhat removed from everyday Mexico and by design limits your social circles—but it doesn’t have to be this way: plenty of people enjoy the benefits of living in communities heavily populated by foreign residents and integrate constructively with local people, culture, and events; learning (or improving) your Spanish is a key skill in this respect.

Living in gated communities

Regardless of whether you live in a location that has an established community of foreign residents already living there, or somewhere less popular with foreigners, most towns and all cities offer the choice of living in a ‘gated community’—a private complex of residential homes that might also feature some shared spaces for social gatherings and other residential amenities like swimming pools, children’s play areas, sports facilities, gyms, and roof gardens.

Most condo units are part of a gated community. Our Guide to Real Estate in Mexico describes the types of homes available in Mexico, including those inside gated communities.

These gated communities offer several advantages, especially regarding management and security, as most of the matters related to maintenance, utilities, and upkeep are managed on behalf of the owners (or tenants) in exchange for a monthly Homeowners Association (HOA) fee.

The ratio of foreigners to Mexicans living in gated communities varies greatly and depends on the location, the locale, and the gated community itself.  If there is a strong contingent of foreign residents living there already, you might find connections there to expat groups, societies, and events through meeting your neighbors and local notice boards or private online social media groups run by the residents.

In gated communities where foreign residents are not highly concentrated, you can still make new connections and get involved in local community activities through meeting your new neighbors, kindling acquaintances, and developing new friendships.  Being neighborly is also an ideal way to improve your Spanish and many Mexicans enjoy talking with foreigners so that they can practice and improve their English.

Living in local Mexican neighborhoods

Some foreign residents seeking a place to live in Mexico might consciously make a choice to avoid places that already have strong contingents of other foreign residents living there; choosing instead to seek less popular places and to live in traditional Mexican neighborhoods where few other foreigners are likely to live in the immediate vicinity.

Most (but not all) foreigners who choose to live within the heart of a local Mexican community will know Mexico already, and their choice of community will come about either through knowing the location where you’ve chosen to live, or perhaps through having rented a home locally for a while and explored potential local options before deciding.

Some people who move to Mexico are more intrepid and carry within them the motivation and character to beat a new path for themselves and thrive without the need for a location already established by foreign residents, or within the managed structure of a gated community.  They might or might not know Mexico well; and some might live with Mexican partners or family here, which facilitates a move into a traditional Mexican neighborhood environment.

Property prices (rentals and purchases) are generally lower in local Mexican communities than in locations already settled with a high concentration of foreign residents.

Cultivating a lifestyle within a Mexican local community will require you to have a good-enough command of the Spanish language to be able to operate, especially regarding finding a house to rent or buy locally and maintaining that property—that you will also have to manage yourself.  Our guide about home maintenance and security offers in-depth practical tips for doing that.

You’ll also need to assimilate Mexican social culture more quickly, and possibly without the aid of other foreign residents nearby providing their personal experience and guidance; our free guide to social etiquette offers an excellent primer.

Factors that may influence your location shortlist

When you have considered what is influencing your choices about a places to live and undertaken some research of specific places to live, the next logical step is to compile a shortlist of places that you would consider moving to in Mexico.

Most people’s shortlist will likely be influenced by these significant factors:

Familiarity

Familiarity of the location(s) and area(s) is important.  If you have visited the location before, and recently enough, —perhaps on vacation— you will already have a feel for the place, and possibly a sense about whether it might be suitable as a place to live, work or retire.  Some additional research to discover its year-round climate (not just the seasons you have experienced there) and how it compares to your lifestyle intentions and requirements, will help you to determine whether any places already familiar to you in Mexico might be potential options for a location to live.

Environment type

Having established whether you want to live in an urban, semi-urban, or a rural location, you can further refine your options and filter your list on that basis.

Coastal plain or colonial highland

If you have decided that you want to be on or near the coast, or living inland at elevation, then that will provide another filter to narrow your choices; if you are open to coast or inland (highland) living, then your ultimate choice is likely to be determined by other factors —for examples, the availability of local services and amenities, and community connections— instead of climate.

Health, amenities, accessibility, communications, and schools

Other key factors you ought to consider include local access to health and clinical services, (especially if you have an existing medical condition and may require urgent assistance); access to local amenities that are important to you, e.g., stores, gyms, leisure or local community facilities, art and culture centers; proximity to transport hubs if you intend to travel a lot (e.g., airport); access to reliable telephony and internet services, especially if you intend to work professionally from home; and the availability of educational establishments if you have school-age children.  Our article about matching your location with your needs describes these things in detail.

Exploring places to live in Mexico

Our series about places to live and work or retire provides a list of key locations to discover and consider.

The references below offer further connections to helpful and insightful articles and guides that can help you to carefully consider significant matters as you discover and explore places to live in Mexico, consider key decision-making factors and, using that knowledge, compile a shortlist of locations for review.

Further research and resources

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.  Resources include:

• Articles about lifestyle planning in Mexico
• Discover places to live in Mexico
• Principal routes to legal residency in Mexico
• Latest articles about lifestyles in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

This series of articles introduces you to a curated list of locations throughout Mexico that foreign residents consider to live, work or retire in Mexico.

Emerging places to live in Mexico

This article in the series introduces you to locations in Mexico that do not have significant numbers of foreign residents already established and are generally places ‘off-the-beaten-path’.  These locations may be of interest to potential foreign residents and retirees seeking someplace more traditional, unusual, and with a lower concentration of foreign residents living there.

Acapulco

Acapulco continues to attract a certain type of foreign resident; usually those who know Mexico well and enjoy the old-world charms of these lands. Acapulco offers coastal living in a port city with an authentic and traditional Mexican feel featuring a wide range of local services and amenities.

Some head to the ‘old town’ of Acapulco —more or less west from the downtown areas— where, in the 1950s and 1960s (and for most of the 1970s) the rich and famous had homes. Those properties, now looking dated and some also severely dilapidated and in need of restoration, may be acquired at value prices.

If you want something more modern and up-scale (with prices to match), head south-southeast around the bay to the Diamante area. On this coast road from downtown Acapulco toward Diamante, you’ll also pass residences overlooking the outstanding Acapulco Bay (it’s said that only Hong Kong can better it for style), but you’ll need deep pockets for those mansions—if one happens to be for sale when you’re looking.

Acapulco’s heyday is long past, although the new Diamante area, near the airport with a relatively new international expo center adjacent, high-end hotel resorts, and contemporary residential developments, is proving a popular choice with potential new residents seeking modern facilities, tranquil living, and easy access to the traditional downtown and old town areas of Acapulco.

The Diamante area of Acapulco is now connected via a (tolled) road tunnel that makes the trip faster and easier than the narrow (but picturesque) coastal road that has become increasingly congested in recent times, especially during weekends and holidays.

Campeche

Campeche is a picture-postcard colonial city situated along the shorelines of Mexico’s Gulf coast. Relatively unknown, even by travelers, this ancient port city holds potential for foreign residents seeking a coastal lifestyle amidst a historic and visually attractive colonial setting.

Real estate developments have already begun to emerge here as the city begins to attract some attention from Mexican and foreign investors: high-end housing and condo communities are being built and sold across stretches of the beautiful coastline in this area.

It’s a city with a low concentration of foreign residents that attracts people seeking the ‘authentic’ feel of Mexico, without the commercialization and notoriety that has characterized some other coastal towns and cities.

Campeche is well served by an international airport offering connections to Mexico City and the USA and is also within an easy two-hour drive of the important and picturesque city of Mérida

Comala and Colima

Comala offers semi-rural living in Mexico, off the beaten path, and ideal for foreign residents seeking a place to live that offers an authentic Mexican experience where you can fully immerse yourself in local culture and cultivate a traditional lifestyle integrated within welcoming and friendly communities.

This countryside idyll is situated just 20 minutes by road from the capital city of Colima; about a 2.5-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara —Mexico’s second largest city— and approximately 90-minute drive east of the commercial port and resort town of Manzanillo—on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

When you’re looking for a place that’s far removed from the usual locations potential foreign residents tend to shortlist, amidst a rural idyll with easy access to urban services and amenities and good transport links, Comala can provide a countryside lifestyle amidst one of the most fertile and colorful regions of Mexico.

Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo

Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo are two adjacent and contrasting towns on the shores of Mexico’s Pacific coast, situated about 160 miles northwest of Acapulco. Most foreign residents and retirees who come here to live choose the traditional and quaint ‘village’ feel of Zihuatanejo instead of the modern ‘vacation resort’ of Ixtapa; although the latter offers a wider assortment of amenities on the doorstep. There is a good road connecting the two locations, which are only a few miles apart and the local airport offers connections to Mexico City as well as the USA (some flights are seasonal)

Puebla and Cholula

Puebla is a picturesque colonial city within easy reach of the capital by road, and well connected to the adjacent state of Morelos —home to Cuernavaca and Tepoztlán— via the spectacular Siglo XXI highway that offers unparalleled views of the Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes.

The heart of the old city is the most picturesque to live in; the rest of the city extends out and around from the historic center into a series of contemporary districts and neighborhoods more akin to the look and feel of Mexico City.

Puebla is one of Mexico’s more industrial cities (large corporations have offices and factories here) and some people who want (or need) to live near Puebla but want to be away from the city might choose the adjacent town of Cholula, famous for its churches, its university quarter, impressive views of the volcanoes, and host to one of the world’s largest pyramids (by volume).  Cholula offers a more serene and provincial feel; the town is also a popular tourist attraction that becomes busy during the weekends.

Puerto Escondido

Puerto Escondido, a surfers’ beach town and chic oceanside town is a ‘niche’ location for foreign residents and retirees considering places to live in Mexico.

This Pacific coastal enclave attracts surfers and the bohemians looking for rustic, authentic —often remote and undiscovered— Mexico by the sea. If you’re a surfer, an artist, a romanticist, or a hippy-at-heart (or for real), consider Puerto Escondido (and nearby Puerto Angel) as you scout for places to settle in Mexico.

Puerto Escondido is one of the more remote places you can choose to live in Mexico; you can fly here, but if you intend to move around on land, it’s a seven-hour drive to Acapulco; about a 90-minute drive to Puerto Angel, and an eight-hour drive to Oaxaca City over heavy mountainous terrain.

Puerto Escondido is one of those locations that attracts and retains certain types of foreign residents; if you’re attracted to alternative lifestyles, remote places, and stunning coastal scenery, a reconnaissance visit is essential to get to know the town, its people, and the surrounding areas.

San Cristobal de las Casas

San Cristóbal de las Casas is a highland mountain town, situated amidst the thickly wooded mountain jungles in the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico.

Like Pátzcuaro, its strong ties to traditional cultures and indigenous roots have kept its style and character very distinct to most other places in Mexico.  San Cristóbal is a place to consider when you’re looking for highland mountain living in a relatively remote area of Mexico.

The town is about a 90-minute drive from the nearest big city, the state capital city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez; and a two-hour drive to Comitán de Dominguez, a quaint and quiet colonial town very near the border with Guatemala.

San Cristóbal has a relatively low concentration of foreign residents and retirees, probably due to its remoteness; although for those who do choose to live here, the outstanding natural scenery, the strong indigenous heritage, and the rugged mountain-jungle terrain, are all an integral part of the attractions of this place.

It’s a location to consider when you’re seeking places off-the-beaten path amidst authentic and uncommercialized culture, and when you’re seeking to cultivate a local lifestyle among traditional indigenous highland communities.

San Felipe

San Felipe in Baja California has for many years been a favorite stopping point for travelers exploring the east side of the Mexican Baja peninsula.

Today, San Felipe is a retirement haven with significant investments in real estate projects that have created new infrastructure, services, amenities, and affordable retirement homes.

One of the key attractions for Americans with homes and families situated in the southern US is that San Felipe is just a two-hour drive south from the border (Mexicali) and its location offers an agreeable climate, an outstanding mountain backdrop, and attractive waterside living and leisure opportunities on the shores of the Golf of California (formerly known as the Sea of Cortés).

Veracruz

Veracruz is an important industrial port city on Mexico’s Gulf Coast. Although it may not strike most people considering places in Mexico for living or retirement as a potential location for a shortlist, the city offers certain charms of its own which are particularly attractive to people who know Mexico well and enjoy a fusion of Mexican and Caribbean cultures.

The historic center is frequently likened to pre-revolutionary Havana, and although its colonial buildings lack the majesty of those found in the Cuban capital, this remains a charismatic port city that attracts people seeking coastal living and authenticity away from the traditional tourist and foreign resident trails.

Veracruz city is situated less than four hours by road from the colonial city of Puebla, and about a five-hour hour road trip from Mexico City.

Discover more places to live in Mexico

Connect to the other articles in this series and discover more places to live in Mexico:

• Discover popular locations to live in Mexico: includes locations that have for a long time, or in recent times, garnered considerable popularity with foreign residents (retirees and others) and have active communities of interest established at the location.
• Discover emerging locations to live in Mexico: summarizes locations that have, in recent years, been catching the attention of foreign residents and have fledgling or developing communities of interest present.