The Explorer · free tool
Where could you retire abroad?
Drag the sliders to match what matters to you. The map and rankings update live — 108 destinations, with clear pros and cons on every one.
Researched, sourced, and dated — updated weekly.Monthly budget$3,000/mo
$1,500$6,000
What matters to you
Affordabilitymed
Healthcaremed
Warm climatemed
Safetymed
Close to the USmed
Expat communitymed
English-friendlymed
#1 Lake Chapala (Ajijic) Mexico
83/100
$2,578/mo · eternal spring
lakesmall-towncolonial-town
#2 Coronado Panama
81/100
$3,000/mo · tropical
beachsmall-townquiet
#3 Escazú Costa Rica
80/100
$3,317/mo · eternal spring · over budget
big-citywalkablecultural
#4 Panama City Panama
80/100
$3,400/mo · tropical · over budget
big-citywalkablelively
#5 George Town (Penang) Malaysia
78/100
$2,426/mo · tropical
walkableculturalbeach
#6 Cabo San Lucas Mexico
77/100
$4,352/mo · arid · over budget
beach-townresortdesert
#7 Playa del Carmen Mexico
76/100
$2,888/mo · tropical
beachwalkablelively
#8 Mérida Mexico
75/100
$2,483/mo · tropical
colonial-townwalkablecultural
#9 San Miguel de Allende Mexico
75/100
$3,086/mo · eternal spring
colonial-townwalkablecultural
#10 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
75/100
$2,527/mo · tropical
big-cityculturalwalkable
#11 Puerto Vallarta Mexico
74/100
$3,311/mo · tropical · over budget
beachwalkablelively
#12 Atenas Costa Rica
74/100
$2,714/mo · eternal spring
small-townmountaineternal-spring
#13 Boquete Panama
74/100
$2,700/mo · eternal spring
mountainsmall-towneternal-spring
#14 Bangkok Thailand
73/100
$2,931/mo · tropical
big-citylivelycultural
#15 San Ignacio Belize
73/100
$2,400/mo · tropical
small-townjunglenature
#16 Dumaguete Philippines
73/100
$1,721/mo · tropical
beachsmall-townwalkable
#17 Málaga Spain
72/100
$3,273/mo · mediterranean
beachwalkablecultural
#18 Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam
72/100
$2,028/mo · tropical
big-citylivelycultural
#19 Ambergris Caye (San Pedro) Belize
72/100
$3,200/mo · tropical
beachislandCaribbean
#20 Lisbon Portugal
71/100
$4,283/mo · mediterranean · over budget
big-citywalkablecultural
#21 Cascais Portugal
71/100
$4,181/mo · mediterranean · over budget
beachcoastalwalkable
#22 Hua Hin Thailand
70/100
$2,426/mo · tropical
beachsmall-townquiet
#23 Grecia Costa Rica
70/100
$2,312/mo · eternal spring
small-towneternal-springwalkable
#24 Placencia Belize
70/100
$2,900/mo · tropical
beachCaribbeansmall-town
#25 Roatán Honduras
70/100
$2,500/mo · tropical
islandbeachCaribbean
#26 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Spain
70/100
$2,967/mo · eternal spring
beachcoastaleternal-spring
#27 Porto Portugal
69/100
$3,273/mo · mediterranean
colonial-townwalkablecultural
#28 Funchal Portugal
69/100
$3,172/mo · eternal spring
islandwalkablemountain
#29 Tamarindo Costa Rica
69/100
$4,021/mo · tropical · over budget
beachwalkablelively
#30 Chiang Mai Thailand
69/100
$2,527/mo · tropical
mountainculturalsmall-town
#31 Todos Santos Mexico
69/100
$2,682/mo · arid
beach-townartsybohemian
#32 Lagos Portugal
68/100
$3,478/mo · mediterranean · over budget
beachwalkablesmall-town
#33 Medellín Colombia
68/100
$2,886/mo · eternal spring
big-cityeternal-springmountain
#34 Phuket Thailand
68/100
$2,830/mo · tropical
beachtropical-islandlively
#35 La Paz Mexico
67/100
$2,380/mo · arid
beachsmall-townwalkable
#36 Prague Czechia
67/100
$3,077/mo · four seasons
big-citywalkablecultural
#37 Lima (Miraflores) Peru
67/100
$2,352/mo · arid
big-citywalkablecoastal
#38 Mexico City Mexico
66/100
$3,208/mo · eternal spring
big-cityculturalwalkable
#39 Tavira Portugal
66/100
$3,273/mo · mediterranean
colonial-townbeachwalkable
#40 Alicante Spain
66/100
$3,172/mo · mediterranean
beachwalkablelively
#41 Barcelona Spain
66/100
$4,181/mo · mediterranean · over budget
big-citybeachwalkable
#42 Quito Ecuador
65/100
$2,300/mo · eternal spring
big-citycolonial-townmountain
#43 Antigua Guatemala Guatemala
65/100
$2,801/mo · eternal spring
colonial-townwalkablemountain
#44 Panajachel (Lake Atitlán) Guatemala
65/100
$1,600/mo · eternal spring
lakesmall-towneternal-spring
#45 Ubud (Bali) Indonesia
65/100
$2,861/mo · tropical
tropical-islandculturalnature
#46 Oaxaca (Oaxaca de Juárez) Mexico
64/100
$2,483/mo · eternal spring
colonial-townculturalwalkable
#47 Mazatlán Mexico
64/100
$3,086/mo · tropical
beachcolonial-townwalkable
#48 Da Nang Vietnam
64/100
$1,927/mo · tropical
beachlivelywalkable-beachfront
#49 Paphos Cyprus
64/100
$3,070/mo · mediterranean
beachmediterraneanwarm
#50 Hoi An Vietnam
64/100
$1,826/mo · tropical
small-townriversidehistoric
#51 Fethiye Turkey
64/100
$1,900/mo · mediterranean
coastalresort-townlaid-back
#52 Madrid Spain
63/100
$4,486/mo · four seasons · over budget
big-citywalkablecultural
#53 Sliema Malta
63/100
$3,873/mo · mediterranean · over budget
beachwalkablelively
#54 Split Croatia
63/100
$2,659/mo · mediterranean
beachcoastalwalkable
#55 Tulum Mexico
63/100
$3,311/mo · tropical · over budget
beach-towntropicaltrendy
#56 Coimbra Portugal
63/100
$2,659/mo · mediterranean
small-townwalkablecultural
#57 Antalya Turkey
63/100
$2,100/mo · mediterranean
coastalresort-townbig-city
#58 Chania Greece
62/100
$2,864/mo · mediterranean
beachcolonial-townwalkable
#59 Bocas del Toro Panama
62/100
$2,300/mo · tropical
islandbeachCaribbean
#60 Pedasí Panama
62/100
$2,200/mo · tropical
small-townbeachlaid-back
#61 Cape Town South Africa
62/100
$2,848/mo · mediterranean
coastalbig-cityscenic
#62 Corfu Greece
62/100
$2,353/mo · mediterranean
islandcoastalgreen
#63 Budapest Hungary
62/100
$2,790/mo · four seasons
big-citywalkablecultural
#64 Limassol Cyprus
61/100
$3,683/mo · mediterranean · over budget
coastalbig-citylively
#65 Valencia Spain
60/100
$3,376/mo · mediterranean · over budget
big-citywalkablebeach
#66 Santa Marta Colombia
60/100
$2,202/mo · tropical
beachtropicallively
#67 Athens Greece
60/100
$3,376/mo · mediterranean · over budget
big-citywalkablecultural
#68 Nice France
60/100
$4,486/mo · mediterranean · over budget
beachwalkablebig-city
#69 Granada Nicaragua
60/100
$2,200/mo · tropical
colonial-townlakewalkable
#70 Nosara Costa Rica
60/100
$4,197/mo · tropical · over budget
beachsurf-townwellness
#71 Palma de Mallorca Spain
60/100
$3,976/mo · mediterranean · over budget
coastalbig-citywalkable
#72 Cartagena Colombia
60/100
$2,642/mo · tropical
colonial-towncoastalwalkable
#73 Las Terrenas Dominican Republic
59/100
$2,997/mo · tropical
beachsmall-townwalkable
#74 Querétaro Mexico
59/100
$2,380/mo · eternal spring
colonial-townwalkablecultural
#75 Sevilla Spain
59/100
$2,967/mo · mediterranean
big-citywalkablecultural
#76 Granada Spain
59/100
$2,353/mo · four seasons
small-townwalkablecultural
#77 Ponta Delgada Portugal
59/100
$2,257/mo · four seasons
small-towncoastalnature
#78 Bilbao Spain
59/100
$3,478/mo · four seasons · over budget
big-cityculturalfoodie
#79 Ljubljana Slovenia
59/100
$3,478/mo · four seasons · over budget
walkablegreenrelaxed
#80 Cuenca Ecuador
58/100
$2,000/mo · eternal spring
colonial-townwalkablemountain
#81 Palermo Italy
58/100
$2,558/mo · mediterranean
big-citycoastalcultural
#82 San Sebastián Spain
57/100
$4,384/mo · four seasons · over budget
coastalbeachcultural
#83 Bologna Italy
57/100
$3,376/mo · four seasons · over budget
big-citywalkablecultural
#84 Bordeaux France
57/100
$4,384/mo · four seasons · over budget
wine-countrywalkablecultural
#85 Thessaloniki Greece
57/100
$2,659/mo · mediterranean
big-citycoastalcultural
#86 Dubrovnik Croatia
57/100
$3,273/mo · mediterranean
coastalhistoricwalkable
#87 Vilcabamba Ecuador
57/100
$1,500/mo · eternal spring
mountainvillagerural
#88 Setúbal Portugal
56/100
$2,967/mo · mediterranean
coastalbeachworking-town
#89 Tbilisi Georgia
56/100
$1,732/mo · four seasons
big-cityculturalhistoric
#90 Buenos Aires Argentina
55/100
$3,200/mo · four seasons
big-cityculturalwalkable
#91 Bari Italy
55/100
$2,558/mo · mediterranean
coastalbig-cityhistoric
#92 Florence Italy
54/100
$3,873/mo · mediterranean · over budget
colonial-townwalkablecultural
#93 Lucca Italy
54/100
$3,873/mo · mediterranean · over budget
colonial-townwalkablecultural
#94 Pau France
54/100
$3,273/mo · four seasons
mountain-townwalkablehistoric
#95 Nafplio Greece
54/100
$2,659/mo · mediterranean
small-towncoastalwalkable
#96 Kotor Montenegro
54/100
$2,257/mo · mediterranean
coastalhistoricscenic
#97 Montpellier France
53/100
$3,478/mo · mediterranean · over budget
mediterraneanwalkablecultural
#98 Marrakech Morocco
52/100
$2,598/mo · arid
exotichistoriccultural
#99 Plovdiv Bulgaria
52/100
$1,926/mo · four seasons
culturalhistoricwalkable
#100 Puebla Mexico
51/100
$2,155/mo · eternal spring
colonial-townwalkablecultural
#101 Cagliari Italy
51/100
$2,762/mo · mediterranean
coastalbeachrelaxed
#102 Lecce Italy
50/100
$2,353/mo · mediterranean
colonial-townculturalwalkable
#103 Punta del Este Uruguay
49/100
$3,769/mo · four seasons · over budget
beachupscaleresort
#104 Colonia del Sacramento Uruguay
49/100
$2,600/mo · four seasons
colonial-townsmall-townwalkable
#105 Cusco Peru
49/100
$1,925/mo · eternal spring
mountaincolonial-townhistoric
#106 Montevideo Uruguay
47/100
$2,975/mo · four seasons
big-citywalkablecultural
#107 Mendoza Argentina
47/100
$2,400/mo · arid
wine-countrysmall-citynature
#108 Sarandë Albania
46/100
$1,987/mo · mediterranean
beachcoastalmediterranean
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