Lake Chapala is nestled in the beautiful Sierra Madre mountains just 40 minutes south of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city. At an elevation of approximately 5,000 feet and ringed by mountains, Lakeside has a climate cited by National Geographic as one of the best in the world
Along with the weather and economic benefits, North Americans are also enraptured by the breathtaking scenery and picturesque towns and villages that hug the shoreline. So it’s no wonder that between 20,000 and, by some estimates, up to 30,000 Americans and Canadians have chosen to call Lake Chapala home. The local expatriate population consists of full-timers who live here year-’round, snowbirds who escape the cold and spend anywhere from one to six months here and, more recently, a growing number of sunbirds from southern US states who come here in the summer months to escape the stifling humidity, sweltering heat and worsening hurricanes.