Chapala and Ajijic Mexico Retire Cheap in Paradise

Chapala Ajijic Mexico Low Cost of Living
Chapala Ajijic Mexico Retire Cheap in Paradise
-Best Walking Tours of Chapala and Ajijic
-Best Restaurants
-Best Cheap Hotels
-Best Flights, Buses, Trains
Best Travel or Retire Cheap to Paradise Locations in the World

Chapala and Ajijic Mexico Retire Cheap in Paradise

[kkstarratings] This is Dan from Vagabond Buddha. This is my Chapala and Ajijic Mexico Retire Cheap in Paradise post. Chapala and Ajijic Mexico are top choices for Americans, Canadians, and Europeans who want to live or retire cheap in Mexico. They are certainly lovely rural locations where you will find peace and quiet and other expats and Mexicans to play with.

I have been traveling since 2007 looking for the perfect place to live. I have been to 65 countries so far. The top areas in the running for retiring or living cheap in Paradise for me, seem to focus on Mexico, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe. But since I love warm weather year round, I lean more towards Mexico and Southeast Asia. If I was stuck in Eastern Europe in the winter, that would be cold.

Today I am in Chapala and Ajijic so I will focus on that for now. But first ….

Here are some fun facts we found on Wikipedia about Chapala and Ajijic:

Chapala is 28 miles (45 km) south-southeast of Guadalajara on Lake Chapala.
Lake of Chapala is Mexico’s largest freshwater lake.
Chapala is mostly a weekend getaway for the inhabitants of Guadalajara.
Around 50,000 people live inside the city limits of Chapala. That includes the 15,000 people living in Ajijic.
The 15,000 international expats live mostly in Ajijic. The expats are predominantly from the USA and Canada.
The most famous expat who has lived in Chapala was Tennessee Williams. While living in Chapala, he wrote “The Poker Night,” which later became “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
The walk from the center of Chapala to the center of Ajijic is about 9 kilometers (5.5 miles).

Best Walking Tour and Map of Chapala and Ajijic

Here is my Youtube video of the following Chapala and Ajijic walking tours:

Chapala

Just click ==>this link<== to get started on your Chapala walking tour.

Plaza Civica Municipal: Walk a few blocks around the main plaza in Chapala. Then head down to the Lake.

Palacio Municipal de Chapala: Chapala City Hall will be on your right as you walk towards Lake Chapala.

Parish of San Francisco: Make sure to look inside the beautiful San Francisco Parish Church on your way to the waterfront.

Malecón De Chapala: Walk left along Malecon De Chapala. The Malecon is the sidewalk along Lake in Chapala. While at the boat docks on the waterfront in Chapala, consider whether you would like to take a boat tour of Lake Chapala. Tour operators will approach you or look for their signs and ask what tours are available.

Parque de la Christiania: Keep heading along the lakefront until you get to this park. Keep walking through the park. When the park ends work your way back to the street and turn right. After 4 or 5 blocks you’ll end up at the following cultural center.

Centro Cultural de Chapala: This above cultura center used to be the old railroad station that carried passengers from Guadalajara to Lake Chapala. Now it is a large art museum. Make sure to walk around this beautiful property. Then grab an Uber Taxi to the next stop, which is in the neighboring town of Ajijic walking tour. Take the Uber Taxi to Plaza Principal de Ajijic in Ajijic, which is 9 kilometers west (5.5 miles).

Ajijic

Just click ==>this link<== to get started on your Ajijic walking tour.

Plaza Principal de Ajijic: This is the central plaza in this small town. There was an arts and crafts market on the day we arrived.

Malecón Ajijic: This is the beautiful waterfront walk on Lake Chapala in Ajijic.

Lake Chapala Society: This is where the expats all meet to find people with similar interest and language. Here is their website describing the schedule of events.

Activities: Golf, Horseback Riding, Hiking, Motorcycle Tours, Art Walks, Spas, and Thermal Pools. Click this link to find out more about available activities.

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If you book my recommended flights, tours (Viator Tours, GetYourGuide Tours), or accommodations, you will pay nothing extra, but we will earn a small commission. If you would like to learn how to make money online, or how to live internationally possibly with less money than you spend at home, please subscribe to Vagabond Buddha or get a free copy of my Ebook.

Best Restaurants in Chapala

Machinima Vegetarian Restaurant: This was so delicious and priced reasonably.

Cafe Grano Cafe: Nice place to sit on the main plaza in Ajijic and have a chile relleno and other local Mexican favorites.

Tremezzo Italian Restaurant: Feeling like Italian?

If you book my recommended flights, tours (Viator Tours, GetYourGuide Tours), or accommodations, you will pay nothing extra, but we will earn a small commission.

Best Cheap Hotels in Chapala and Ajijic

Hotel Villa San Francisco (Chapala, México): This place is gorgeous and such a great deal at $60 USD per night when we checked.

Casa Luz (Ajijic, Mexico): Look at the ratings and price on this for only $45 USD per night when we checked.

Airbnb Apartment: Here is a bright colorful studio for $30 USD on the day we searched. (If you are new to Airbnb, use this code http://www.airbnb.com/c/dbell50 for a big discount).

If you book my recommended flights, tours (Viator Tours, GetYourGuide Tours), or accommodations, you will pay nothing extra, but we will earn a small commission.

I started living internationally over 11 years ago. If you would like to learn how to make money online, or how to live internationally possibly with less money than you spend at home, please subscribe to Vagabond Buddha or get a free copy of my Ebook.

Best Flights, Buses, Trains

There is no airport in Chapala. But the closest airport is Guadalajara International Airport (Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla) (GDL). It is about 20 miles from GDL to Chapala and costs around 240 Pesos ($12 USD) to Chapala.

International or National Flights: Use Skyscanner to find the cheapest flights no matter where I am going in the world. Get a Mexican SIM card for your smartphone when you land. Roaming in Mexico is complete highway robbery.

Buses: You have to come to Guadalajara to get a bus to Chapala/Ajijic. Both ETN and Primera have buses throughout Mexico to Chapala. You can visit the English ETN website or right click any web page from a Google Chrome browser, to translate any website into English. Once in Guadalajara, take an Uber to the Old Bus Station (Antigua Central Camionera) in Guadalajara, Mexico. At this bus station, one way tickets to Chapala or Ajijic cost about 80 Pesos ($4 USD). The bus departs every hour from 7AM to 5PM. The bus drops you in Chapala at the Chapala Bus Terminal or in Ajijic on the main road. You can walk from either to your accommodations to take an Uber for just a few dollars.

Uber: I use Uber when I am in Mexico. I like the International record of who picked me up and who dropped me, and where. Plus, I know the license plate number when they arrive. Plus, I don’t have to negotiate price or destination in Spanish.

Train: There is just one passenger train still running in Mexico and it does not go to Chapala.

Thank you for stopping by Vagabond Buddha, Dan

Warning: I am not offering you these prices. These are just my notes and estimates from the time of my visit and this post. Your costs will likely be drastically different if significant inflation or deflation occurs or the market changes after this post. I will not update these numbers until I am on the ground again here, if ever.